Coast, mud and adventure for Torbay AAC

Torbay AAC has had a busy start to the month with lots of events around Devon and Cornwall.

The fun began with Gemma Radcliffe at Purple Gecko Events Polruan shuffle 2024 in Cornwall. Another fantastic race from the PGE team, with mud, subsided coast path, more mud, plenty of steps and a bunch of lovely people!

The coastal path adventures started at Looe, taking in beautiful Polperro and finishing up at Polruan, taking the trails truly off road for a coastal running extravaganza.

It was on a rare Spring morning that the rain held off that 16 TAAC runners tackled the “swift half”. The Bideford Half Marathon was a speedy affair with club members logging some fast times.  Anthony Raine, Deb Webber, Ian Hayward, Rachael Collins, Glen Hawkins, Iaen Sell, Mark Atkinson, Sarah Harrison, Nadine Lee and Heather Eve all were up for the challenge of a fast half.

Results: 48 Alex Snell 1:20:07, 170 Anthony Raine 1:32:51, 248 Nick Robinson 1:38:53, 277 Heather Eve 1:41:07, 278 Mark Atkinson 1:41:07, 280 Ian Hayward 1:41:28, 281 Sarah Harrison 1:41:28 (2nd fv50), 291 James Hartridge 1:42:25, 333 Iaen Sell 1:44:31, 382 Nadine Lee 1:47:35, 413 Pete Henderson 1:49:46, 668 Deb Webber 2:09:15, 796 Rachel Collins 2:20:34, 847 Glen Hawkins 2:26:39, 874 Faye Martin 2:30:35, 875 Charlotte Phillipou 2:30:35.

Karen and Paul Frissen and Katie Harvey took on the Granite Way 20-mile event on Sunday, with Paul describing it as ‘a good event, well organised with excellent marshalls’. The day dawned bright and sunny and we were lucky with the weather.

Results: Katie Harvey 3:01:42, Paul Frissen 3:03:40, Karen Frissen was 2nd fv 55 3:08:50.

Last weekend saw the sixth and final Westward League cross-country event in Redruth. Seven junior and four senior TAAC athletes made the trip down to battle through the muddy fields - slipping, sliding, and doing their best to keep upright - with a few rain and hail showers along the way to keep things even more exciting. Grit and determination shone through with strong performances all round.

Results on the day: 3 Annelise Little U13G 13.37, 1 Paige Quinn U15G 16.27, 12 Roux Tucker U11B 7.41, 3 Leon Snell U13B 11.45, 13 Marlow Kirby U13B 13.18, 6 Oscar Eve U17M 21.52, 7 Gwilym Lewis U17M 23.28, 45 Heather Eve SW 24.05, 28 Alex Snell SM 35.01, 68 Anthony Raine SM 42.10, 72 James Hartridge SM 44.02

The club also secured some team and individual trophies in the overall league, based on the 4 best results achieved throughout the season:

Joshua Bradley-Reece/Oscar Eve/Gwilym Lewis

1st U17M team

Paige Quinn 2nd U15G

Scarlett Muscott 3rd U15G

Heather Eve 2nd FV45

And finally, Alex Snell was the proud and well-deserved recipient of the Trevor Honeychurch Trophy. Trevor Honeychurch was one of the founder organisers of the Westward League and a keen cross country enthusiast. His wife donated the trophy to the club in his memory to be awarded to the best Senior Male cross-country runner in Torbay AAC each year.