On Sunday, the final “official” Grizzly practice run was done around the backwoods of Branscombe.

The AVR gang were joined by many Honiton RC runners and a lady from the Serpentine RC in London. Just to give you an idea of how demanding the course is, this lady can run a marathon in 3:30, but at the end of only nine of the 20 Grizzly miles she was quite exhausted. All the more reason to come out and cheer the runners on their way on March 13.

?September 2010 was the last time super veteran Harry Moore was able to race. After an operation he was told to stop running for at least four months and, anyway, he felt so bad there was no way he could. Time heals, as the saying goes, and Harry felt fit enough to run in the Fulfords Five mile on Sunday, but at a greatly reduced and safe pace. The aim was just to get around uninjured in the howling wind. Harry achieved this and was warmly welcomed back into the running scene when he crossed the line in 73 mins.

?Last Friday night saw eight hardy souls braving the winds and running the 14-mile Herepath Trail around Staple Fitzpaine near Taunton.

This excellent route was created a few years ago for walking, cycling and horse riding and is virtually all off-road.

Part of its challenge when starting from Staple Hill is that the first few miles are all downhill with a corresponding 800ft climb over the last four miles.

Three AVRs, Garry Perratt, Eleanor Wood and Graham Newton, were joined by nocturnal regulars Exmouth Harrier Jon Croome and Chris Gill from Tiverton Harriers, Chris' mate Ben and newcomers Lizzie and Mike Kendon. After some worries about the strength of the wind at Staple Hill they found that it was very warm in the woods and Garry even had to take his trousers off after a mile. (Luckily he was wearing shorts underneath!)

Garry's navigation was more-or-less spot on and the happy octet returned to the high winds just over two hours after they had started, after another most enjoyable run.