Honiton Running Club (HRC) managed a turnout of 18 runners for the Albion Runners Ham to Lyme Ultra Marathon, writes Judy Davey.

The start was Ham Hill and the finish was Lyme Regis although some runners chose to start from Lyme Regis, run to Ham Hill and then turn around and run back again.

However, none of the HRC members were that foolhardy! Although officially a race for most it was just about completing the distance.

Ben Stone and Alasdair Moffett ran together for the entire race and managed to go off course within the first mile. The opportunity to go wrong was huge and most runners did at one time or another. Chris Entwhistle came in behind Alasdair and Ben and Gavin Rice followed some time later. Gavin bravely took on the bike leg of the Honiton Triathlon the day after.

Judy and Steve Davey were next with Steve struggling for the last eight miles. With Judy’s encouragement, they managed to cross the line almost together with Judy finishing as third lady and Steve nearly passing out once he stopped.

Next came Sherrie Hair and Suzanne and Simon Spiller. Suzanne and Simon ran the race last year so had a bit of an advantage with route navigation, but even they were very unsure at some points. Stephen Boyes is quite used to ultra-events but this was his first time for this one.

Dan Strawbridge had only been persuaded to run two days earlier and as his training consisted of a 10-mile run the previous weekend he did very well to finish.

Tim Wigram and Richard (Tricky) Terry were next back with Tricky being the person responsible for persuading Dan to take part with the comment: ‘If I can do it, you can’, or words to that effect! Sharon Wells is another seasoned ultra-runner and she had tackled this event last year.

However, she found it too hot and put in a much slower time than before. Steve and Michelle Selley and Anna Dalzell ran together with Michelle and Anna having to encourage Steve along the way when he started to feel a bit strange.

Mark Newson ran with Clare Melbourne. Clare is a determined runner who shows grit and determination with every race she does and keeps on going at the same pace to finish strongly. Thanks to Brent Dicks for driving the mini bus and supporting HRC runners in many other ways including spare kit storage and just popping up at every food station to offer encouraging words.