The middle weekend of November was a busy one for Exmouth Harriers with members running to success in Devon and Hampshire, writes Kate Baker.
In Devon, 16 Harriers lined up for the annual Drogo 10, a challenging multi-terrain 10-mile race organised by South West Road Runners that starts and finishes at Castle Drogo, taking in some steep ups and downs along the way!
First across the line and overall winner was Simon Minting in an impressive 1:04:32, followed shortly after by Anthony Hatchard in 1:07:22, taking second place in his age category.
First home for the women’s team was Hannah Bown in 1:18:25, taking third in her age category, whilst Sue Hill was second in hers with a time of 1:36:08. Alison White was third in her category with 1:48:04.
The Exmouth Harriers’ times at the Drogo 10 were: Simon Minting, 1:04:32; Anthony Hatchard, 1:07:22; Hannah Bown, 1:18:25; Susan Hill, 1:36:08; Louise Hempstead, Jason Drew 1:13:12; Dave Stone, 1:15:43; 1:36:08, Ben White; 1:40:38; Dawn Teed, 1:46:04; Alison White, 1:48:31; Martin Collins, 1:58:19; Simon Beer, 1:23:00; Lee Grant, 1:26:20; Terry McKie, 1:27:13; Des White, 1:32:18; Emma White 1:36:00.
In Hampshire, the Gosport half marathon is a flat, no frills road race which is part of the Hampshire Road Race League.
Runners make their way along the seafront to Lee-on-Solent from Gosport and repeat. It is famed for being a fast, personal best (PB) potential course and competition is always high. Five Exmouth Harriers were present to take on Hampshire’s finest.
Winning the race was Exmouth Harrier Tom Merson in a time of 1.07.33 (a new course record), while closely behind in fourth was Rob Ellis with 1.12.46 - a huge six minutes of his previous PB!
Finishing in 11th place was Ryan Snell with 1.15.05, which is an incredible time as he had already run over 100 miles that week in preparation for the upcoming Valencia marathon.
Mike Musgrove finished with a time of 1.23.14 having picked up an injury at mile nine and Paula Hawkins finished with a time of 1.42.14 - coming 545th out of nearly 2,000 runners!
All in all, the trip to Gosport was great day away for such a small club of only 100 members against all the much larger clubs of Hampshire.
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