THE aptly named Grizzly Race was sold out within 24 hours of the entries opening. Runners from all over the country, including those from Okehampton Running Club, flocked to the seafront at Seaton to put themselves through the gruelling 20 miles.

With freezing conditions, a strong wind and snow falling soon after the "off" competitors needed every ounce of strength to take them over stretches of leg wearying shingle beach, lung bursting climbs, through the notorious Grizzly bog and after all this the "Stairway to Heaven" up a near vertical cliff before being rewarded with the sight of the finish.

Adrian Kettle led the five entrants from ORCs with a strong run and did well to finish in 71st place in 3hours 03.26minutes. Karen Skye was not far behind (3.13.56), then Lucy Skye (3.53.51) with Jo Fletcher and Leanne Rice who ran together (4.39.30).

Lucy and Karen ran the Grizzly last year so knew what was ahead of them but for Adrian, Jo and Leanne it was their first Grizzly experience.

The inaugural Siblyback 10K in the Dig Deep Series took place in less than ideal conditions and many competitors finding their times well down on their best. ORC's Mags Jarvis was therefore pleased to beat her previous 10K time by 20 seconds finishing in 50.54mins. She was the seventh lady home and achieved a gold award.

The committee recently held an excellent and informative talk on First Aid for the coaches and members.