RACES at this time of year tend to be about having some fun round a muddy course while wearing some not-too practical fancy dress. This was the case for most of this week’s Okehampton runners taking part in races guaranteed to result in mud covered shoes and waterlogged clothes and there were several over the Christmas period.

The seven mile Extremely Jolly race at Escot House in Ottery St Mary on December 22 offered multiple chances to get completely wet at river crossings and copious amounts of mud to run through, but also boasted another opportunity for the runners to get even wetter by shooting down a waterslide over a slippery, wet tarpaulin.

Okehampton Running Club had five runners at the event, all finishing in the top 50 places and led home by Angus Farrelly in 1 hour 08 minutes 10 seconds, with just a minute separating him from super-veteran Ian Page in 1.09.10.

Jo Page, Karen Vallance and Emma Dean had fun running together and finished in 1.12.40.

On Sunday, December 23 saw the Christmas mud and hill ritual of the Torrington Christmas Caper. This mixed a tough competitive off-road race with a great tradition of ridiculous fancy dress and is renowned for its great atmosphere. The course is just under ten miles of muddy fields, waterlogged tracks, woodland trails, and some stretches of the Tarka Trail.

ORC had 17 runners, some serious, some just out to enjoy one of the last races of the year. For Okehampton runners only there was an opportunity to re-fuel on mince pies, chocolates and have a drink of mulled wine at the halfway point, provided by fellow ORCs Jane and Derek Jackson.

At the sharp end of the race there was no time to stop for Paul Carter who had a great run to come 17th overall and first male veteran 50 in 1.12.02 with club mate Stephen Sincock not far behind and taking second MV50 in 1.13.31. Jo Page was next, who, despite not feeling too well, clocked a great time of 1.17.45 in a full Mrs Santa costume to take the first senior lady prize.

The chance to stop for a drink and mince pie was particularly welcome for Gill and Phil Spinney who were running as a Christmas pudding and a moose, an uncomfortably hot choice for a mild day, but their efforts did win them the best fancy dress prize.

Other ORC times; Alec Robinson; 1.20.42, Hayden Bond; 1.23.40, Mike Baker; 1.24.10, Jean-Paul Quertier; 1.24.39, Jason Ewing; 1.27.22, Kathleen Sincock; 1.35.25, Tom Andrew, Jo Turner, Karen King, Geraldine Walter, Mags Jarvis and Christine Fritsch all ran together finishing in 1.51.49, with Phil and Gill Spinney together in 2.20.26.

One ORC though had a much more serious task ahead of him on December 23, when Phil Read took on his first full marathon, running the Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon. Phil joined the club through the beginners group a couple of years ago and has never tackled anything more than a half marathon distance before, so this was a big step up for him. The race started on Southsea Pier and followed the coast out to Hayling Island and back with the terrain a mix of shingle beach, some slippery and muddy paths, as well as some road. Luckily conditions on Sunday were ideal with little wind and Phil ran a great race, pacing himself well and feeling strong throughout to finish in a good time of 4.04.17.

While the majority of ORCs chose Torrington for their festive mud race, one member, Liam Keen, took on the alternative mud-fest of Mud Crew’s ‘The Scrooge’. Held at the Lost Gardens of Heligan near Mevagissey this race was billed as seven miles of muddy trail running and festive fancy dress mayhem but this understates the real nature of the course where, in wet conditions, the runners may end up wading through chest-high water or even swimming. Despite not having been running much recently Liam enjoyed himself here finishing in 2.09.45 having clocked two miles more than advertised.