THERE was some good running from Okehampton Running Club members in two very contrasting races on Sunday.

At the Hameldown Hammer, set in the heart of Dartmoor and starting in Widecombe in the Moor, six ORCs took on a tough, challenging trail race on what turned out to be a very windy day.

Four of them ran the full Hammer, a half marathon race with over 600 metres of ascent, while the other two tried out the new, slightly shorter route, the Hameldown 7EVEN, ‘The Long 10K’, which still has in excess of 300 metres of ascent and still includes a double ascent of the Hameldown ridge.

Okehampton’s off-road specialist Christine Fritsch was the first ORC home in the Hammer in 2.46.37 with Ang Martin just seconds behind in 2.46.39, while Jo-Anne Turner and Alison Holiday ran together finishing in 3.04.41. Katy Speak and Carole Cornwall ran the 7EVEN.

For three ORCs it was all about speed over a fast and flat course at the Exeter City 10K.

The route for this was a two lap run, starting with a lap around Duckes Meadow sports field, then heading out towards the quay through the Riverside Valley Park before returning to the sports field for another lap.

Advertised as a fast and potential PB course, this race turned out to be exactly that for the Okehampton runners, with all three scoring new personal bests. First to finish was Rob Kelly, with yet another great run in 37.06 followed by Chris Turner in 39.24. The only lady ORC was Lora Medland, who having only just set a new half marathon PB at this venue two weeks ago, repeated her success over 10K, finishing in 52.06.