Sidmouth Runners endure a brutal Sunday experience

Following the success of the previous coach trip to Exeter where the Sunday runners ran along the river to Exmouth then on to Budleigh Salterton and Newton Poppleford under a watery sun, another coach trip was planned this time to follow the East Devon Way from either Exmouth or Four Firs on Woodbury Common back to Sidbury.

As the hardy 18-mile group posed for their starting photo by the estuary in Exmouth, the wind was an indicator of what was to come and by the time the 12.5-mile group were dropped off, the rain had started too.

Becky Knapman, who ran in the 18-mile group, said they were indebted to Richard King who had left a box of sandwiches, falafels, energy bars and sports drinks hidden halfway along the route, which gave them a much-needed energy boost and lifted their spirits as they carried on running into the wind with the torrential rain battering them from every angle.

Head coach Kyle Baker decided to run at his own pace and get back home as quickly as possible and soon left the 12.5-milers behind in the capable hands of Charlie Fawell and Terry Bewes, who had also downloaded the route.

Unfortunately, this didn’t mean the group went in the right direction to start with but by mile three they were back on the right track, navigating their way through deep puddles of water, stoney terrain and lots of mud.

It was not a pleasant, easy run for either group but despite being cold and very wet, they did not give up, they encouraged each other, helped each other dig out extra layers from their bags when their fingers wouldn’t work (using their teeth!) and stuck together in true Mighty Green Spirit.

This was very evident when Terry took a spectacular tumble in Harpford Woods. The group stayed with him while the damage was assessed, and a phone call made to off-duty community nurse Nikita Kay for a lift home.

Even though he was protesting he only had a few more miles to go, he realised he had damaged his elbow and sensibly called it a day, allowing daughter Alexa to accompany him out of the woods.

Knowing Terry was going to be in safe hands the group continued up through the donkey field, across Fire Beacon and towards East Hill strips. It was here that Alexa managed to catch up with the group and they ran down into Sidbury together, relieved that they would soon be heading home to warm up.

Sharing their experiences on their ‘Sunday Runs Are Fun’ What’s App group later that day, it seemed everyone struggled to get out of their wet layers, Terry even more so with his painful arm, and it took a while to warm up despite plenty of hot drinks, warm baths and helpings of jam sponge and custard!

These Mighty Greens certainly tested themselves on this training run, they dug deep and pushed through, great preparation for the upcoming Grizzly and Exe to Axe races. Unfortunately, no Grizzly for Terry, he did break his elbow and is now in plaster for the next 6-8 weeks!

What a difference a week makes! In glorious sunshine, five Mighty Greens took part in LME’s Bradleys Spring 10k along Exmouth seafront. Colin Ryan, fully recovered from last week’s 18-mile adventure, was the first Sidmouth Running Club member over the line, finishing with a new PB in 44:14, 19th out of a field of 154.

Nikita Kay had a fantastic run too, knocking a whopping three minutes off her PB, finishing in 55:04. With her London marathon training in full swing, Marion Johnson finished first in her age category in 1:04:09 and Claire Hawes and Emma Grainger finished in 1:08:33 and 1:14:57 respectively.