THE Devon County 10,000m Track Championships held at Exeter Arena on September 7 is considered one of the toughest track races. Competition was fierce with over fifty athletes entered from across the county. In the first of two races Tavistock Athletic Club fielded five runners. First to finish was Richard Drage in 5th place with 33mins 49.3secs winning his M45 age category. Richard was closely followed by Adam Holland in 7th place. His excellent time of 34mins 1.3secs was over a minute quicker than his personal best for 10k set on the road. Adam won the silver medal in his U20 age category in the County Championships. Jim Cole, who had won the Bratton Hill race just three days earlier, made his debut track appearance for the club. Despite not being fully recovered from his winning performance at Bratton, Jim still ran well to finish 10th in 34mins 58.2secs. Steve Groombridge finished 11th in 35mins 22.1secs. Steve was a convincing winner of his M50 age category and took gold in the County Championships. Tony Symons was unfortunately forced to retire mid race due to illness. Tavistock athletes are now busy preparing for the fast approaching cross country season. The senior men?s team is hoping to improve on last year?s second place in the Westward Cross-country league. The first fixture of the six race series is on October 9 at Redruth.
