IT WAS a busy week for Tavistock Athletic Club, competing in a wide variety of events with some outstanding results.

Amazingly, most seem to have avoided the bad weather, though water levels caused the shortening of one local race.

Gutsiest performance of the week has to be that of TAC’s Les Wilkinson, the only TAC athlete to take on the Rame Head Marathon on Saturday. On an extremely tough course that involved nearly 4,000ft of elevation gain, she finished in 5hr, 49min 40s to take the FV60 age category title.

Elsewhere, shorter 5k and 10k races dominated. On Wednesday, three TAC runners took on the latest in the Armada 5k series in Saltram Park.

In her first showing at this event, Elise Mendes finished in 25:33 followed by Tony Shearer in 26:16 and Kate Rogers in 29:00. A day early, at the latest of the Westbury 5k series, Adam Holland took 7th place overall and 3rd MV40, in 15:52.

Another popular 5k took place in Exeter on Saturday, known as the Start Fitness Fast 5000, a fast and flat closed-road race offering great potential for personal best times.

TAC fielded three very strong runners, all returning times under 20 minutes in spite of difficult windy conditions. First home was Grant Harvey in 17:31, then Holly Fitzgerald in 18:23 and Hannah Smith in 19:12.

Also taking place on Saturday was the ever-popular Buckland Bounder race, a regular feature of the Buckland Monachorum Summer Fair.

Although the hilly course was shortened due to surface water and was very slippery underfoot, five TAC runners turned out, tempted by the free pint offered at the race finish.

Tom Brogden took third place overall and won his MV40 category in 35:20. Carole Walters was second lady overall and won her FV60 category in 47:12. Also performing extremely well in the conditions were Tim Haimes (55:25), Anna Luff-Kirvell (57:39) and Sarah Turner (58:57).

Finally, on Sunday, Nikki and Anna Kelly journeyed to Wales to take part in the Barry Island 10k. Nikki completed in a great time of 40:13, finishing 5th in her FSen category, with Anna finished in 59:13, well up into the top third of the FSen category.

Pictured are the TAC racers at the Buckland Bounder, enjoying their free, post-run pints.

TAC as a club was formed in 1985 and now has over 300 members across the Junior (8 years +) and Senior groups. They have a variety of training groups and committed coaches that can cater for all abilities from raw beginners to the more experienced and ambitious athletes.

They pride themselves on being a friendly club and new members, whatever their ability, are always welcome. Also, they are very fortunate in that they have great local facilities for training: – A well-maintained 400-metre track which provides an excellent opportunity for training and hosting track and field events – and of course the surroundings, Dartmoor.

Training sessions take place on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings and also on a Saturday morning. The main session, and probably the best one to introduce you to the club, is on Tuesday evening.