DURING the last week Okehampton Running Club members took part in a variety of races on three different terrains and also in a mixture of weather conditions.

On June 21 Roger Voaden celebrated the longest day by winning the gold medal for the veteran 50 age group in the Devon County Championships 10,000m held on the track at Tavistock. He completed the race in 38 minutes 45.13 seconds despite the extreme heat.

On Saturday morning a group of ORC’s went to the Tamar Lakes Parkrun. The runners were pleased that it was noticeably cooler than earlier in the week, with misty and slightly windy conditions. Chris Turner was first home and an excellent third place overall in 19.08. He was followed by John Binns in 22.49, Jackie Dawes (third female 45-49) in 24.47, Mags Jarvis (first women 60-64) in 26.49.

Geoff Hill ran with his daughter Shelby, who achieved a new PB for the course and was the first girl aged 10 years in 32.52. Jackie and Chris also ran PB’s for the course.

Chris, Geoff and Shelby Hill, Jackie and Mags after the Tamar Lakes Parkrun.

On Sunday there were two events that ORC’s took part in. These were the Torbay Half Marathon and the North Devon Half Marathon.

The Torbay Half Marathon got underway in cloudy conditions. The race followed a route along Torbay road from Paignton Green to Torquay and back, with a second ‘lap’ before the finish just past Paignton Pier.

The ORC runners found the course tough going but still did themselves proud. First home was Geoff Hill in 1 hour 26 minutes 34 seconds which was close to his personal best. Ray Lawrence was second ORC to finish with a time of 1.32.10.

Mike Westland was delighted with his time of 1.58.35 as he was severely troubled by a knee problem in the second half of the race. Lora Medland finished in 2.05.41, just outside the time she achieved last year.

Tracey Mills, Katy Speak and Carole Cornwall took part in the North Devon Half Marathon which has quickly established itself as one of the most challenging and visually stunning events in the UK.

It took place in the North Devon Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, starting and finishing at Woolacombe.

The first seven miles of the race was along the North Devon Coast path and it included running across the length of Croyde Beach. Here the race started in misty rain but finished in bright sunshine.

Tracey was first to finish in 2.36.54 followed by Carole in 2.41.09 and Katy in 2.41.11, all good times considering the difficulty of the route.