THE Tavy 7 has always been popular but organisers, Tavistock Athletic Club, were pinching themselves in disbelief as hundreds flocked to Whitchurch Down for this year?s event.
They had to close entries 10 days before the race and turned down a further 100 or so postal applications and dozens more who turned up on the day for the 1200 midday race. The limit had already been increased to 500 but clearly that was still not enough to satisfy demand.
Add to that the Fun Run, which almost doubled it?s field from last year to 194 this time around, and there can be no doubt that this was a bumper year for the race.
And what a fairytale ending it was with Emerson Combestock returning ?home? to win the main race. Emerson grew up with Tavistock AC before leaving the area some years ago. Now a member of the Coventry Godiva club he stormed through the finish line with over a minute to spare on his nearest rival in a course record time of 36 minutes 59 seconds.
Anne Luke, from Tamar Trotters, was first lady home in 45:04 and she was delighted as she crossed the line in 29th overall position.
The race was also graced with the presence of Bob Brown, the runner from Stoke Climsland who came to international fame in the summer with his ultra-marathon exploits in the USA.
Bob claimed one of the biggest crowns in endurance racing by winning the California to New York ultra-marathon - 3,100 miles in total, averaging 50 miles a day for 2 months.
The off-road 1.5 mile Fun Run course was also heralded a success with a record field this year.
Tavistock Athletic Club Juniors did really well with Tom Lawson coming home in overall 2nd place in a great time of 8 minutes 59 seconds. The next Tavy AC runner in was Jake Rendle finishing in a good overall 5th place in 9:34.
In the girls? event Laura Aspen also had an excellent run coming in overall 8th place and finishing as the 2nd girl in a time of 9:54. Suzy Blandford also ran well to finish in 22nd place in a time of 10:56.