Grizzly day dawned nice and bright and for most of the race running conditions were wet and slippery, but adorned with pleasant spring weather, writes Dave Mutter.
Then, towards the end, just after Alan Morbey from the Met Office finished, the heavens opened with horizontal sheet and mini tsunami waves on Branscombe beach making for a torrid 45 minutes!
An army of helpers were placed around the nearly 20-mile tortuous route and everyone seemed to have a tiring, but super day with 1,416 completing the full Grizzly and 446 the 10 mile cub run that finished with a hose down by the volunteer firemen.
The Grizzly was won in fine style by last year’s winner Ceri Rees of Wild Running in a very fast 2:17:45. He took the lead in the early stages and just pulled away finishing with a classic sprint across the line.
Henry Irvine of Torbay AAC was second in 2:19:56 and AVR’s Matt Clist was first for the home club, finishing third overall in 2:21:55 - a superb performance.
Clare Prosser of Wells City Harriers was the first lady home, 22nd overall in 2:38:59 with Sarah Burns-Morwood the second lady, 54th overall, 2:53:17 and Elizabeth Dyson of Haldon Trail Runners 3rd, 2:53:38. There were 51 AVR finishers, all with their own tales of the race and there were some brilliant performances with Liam Roberts fourth in 2:24:50.
James Green ran with Matt Clist for the first 14 miles, but had to ease off a tad near the Fountain Head and finished sixth, 2:29:27 just ahead of Tim Lenton who was seventh, 2:30:02. Other AVR results were:- Patrick Devine-Wright, 18th, 2:38:34; James Jackson, 30th, 2:44:14; Amy Greenhalgh, 63rd, 2:53:59; Lin Lascelles, 68th, 2:54:40; Thomas Woodruff, 69th, 2:54:48; Ian Apps, 71st, 2:55:18; Martin Lascelles, 79th, 2:56:24; Rupert Pady, 108th, 3:01:57; Murat James Guler, 114th, 3:03:16; Clare Hansford, 219th, 3:17:42; Tony Smith, 230th, 3:18:29; Patrick Kinsella, 232nd, 3:18:35; James Sibley, 254th, 3:20:53; Eleanor Wood, 300th, 3:24:53; Roger Bramley, 327th, 3:28:18; Carol Austin, 332nd, 3:28:54; Shaun Denslow, 348th, 3:30:03; Geoff Woodward, 369th, 3:31:38; Emma Kiernan, 372nd, 3:31:50; Revd Simon d’Albertanson, 385th, 3:32:39; Simon Gould, 431st, 3:37:53; Adele Foxwell, 434th, 3:38:12; Kirsty Bate, 481st 3:41:23; Jonathan Day, 483rd, 3:41:32; Joshua Hopson, 514th, 3:43:45; Holly Edwards, 534th, 3:45:23; Stephen Reynolds, 547th, 3:46:03; Anna Mcloughlin, 606th, 3:50:03; Ian Clements, 607th, 3:50:04; Dan Ayling, 745th, 4:00:28; Heather Lowman-Riggs, 750th, 4:01:02; Keith Agland, 767th, 4:02:28; Chris Hill, 779th, 4:03:31; John Larcombe, 853rd, 4:10:16; Mark Rose, 859th, 4:11:00; Alan Morbey, 865th, 4:11:30; Margaret Pearce, 866th, 4:11:31; Steven Maclure, 914th, 4:14:58; Richard Dodge, 931st, 4:16:06; Mark Harding-Perrott, 1041st, 4:25:57; Samantha Miller, 1061st, 4:27:55; Sarah Herfet, 1091st, 4:29:59; Jessica Tubbs, 1096th, 4:30:30; Susan Tubbs, 1097th, 4:30:31; Tracey Anning-Beckett, 1220th, 4:48:00; Andrew Smart, 1299th, 5:05:28; Angela Kerr, 1371st, 5:26:31 and Martin Kerr 1392nd, 5:40:05.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here