Alongside the Grizzly on Sunday, Honiton Running Club juniors turned up in their enthusiastic droves for the Grizfest on Saturday afternoon, writes Judy Davey. This event takes in Seaton esplanade with two short sections of pebble beach added in for extra gnarliness!

First up was the Junior Grizzly for ages 11 to 15 with a 4km course, with Imogen Clarke third girl overall and five Honiton runners in the top 10 and eight in the top 20 (Aubrey Green 5th, George Hair 6th, Yossi Maclure 7th, Hamish McKechnie 9th and Rafi Maclure 10th). Aubrey and George were both second in their respective age categories, M15 and M13.

Continuing the strong performances were Sam Twaddle in 12th, Oli Triner in 17th and Tommy Wright in 18th. Imogen Clarke was 23rd overall, but notably third overall and second in her age category. Faber Green was 27th with Emily Pepper coming in third in her age category, ninth girl and 33rd overall. Incredible effort by all the runners.

The Junior Cub run is a 2km route for ages 8-11 with a whooping 100 plus runners taking part. Unfortunately, Gabi Pepper took a tumble in the starting melee and retired with a few scrapes and bruises.

Sam Hair took a very impressive third place overall (second in age category) with Isaac Clarke coming fifth (fourth in age category) and Wilf Poynter seventh (sixth in age category). Wilbur McKechnie came 29th followed by Arthur Bornet in 38th. Lily and Freya Tapp also ran, coming 14th and sixth in their age categories respectively.

A further 99 took on the Grizzly Fun run with Reggie and Lily Crabb storming round, with Ethel Bornet hot on their heels. Thank you to Axe Valley Runners for putting the Grizfest on. Wonderful to see grit and determination from even the youngest runners.

Midweek Herald: Grizzly 2024