IN TRUE Halloween spirit, seven members of Okehampton Running Club braved the dark night of Haldon Forest and tried their best to avoid being eaten by zombies on Saturday, November 1.

The course consisted of a 5km loop with both five and 10km distances on offer. There were some fantastic fancy dress costumes which added to the atmosphere of the event.

Keeley Phillips took part in the 5km Canicross event with Loki and finished in 31.30.

Ruairi Duffield (33.36), Garry Wallace (35.14), Pearl Barnes (36.19) and Louise Chancellor (45.22) took part in the 5km race, running for their lives to get back to civilisation ahead of the undead!

Lou Duffield (1.14.32) was being chased down by Zombie Matt Grint (1.02.44) in the 10km race.

On the day prior, Friday, Pete Roissetter took on the Kullamanen 100-mile ultra challenge, in very challenging conditions of the cold, dark night, with a strong coastal wind and horizontal rain.

Over 50% of the competitors dropped out along the course, but Pete battled through and was very pleased to finish in 31hours 10 minutes.

Back to Saturday and several from Okehampton Running Club took part in a variety of races at Roadford Lakes, organised by Sportiva events.

All runners put in a great performance, Ed Dumpleton completing the trail 10k, Eddie Bragg and Simon O’Neill completing the trail half marathon and LJ and Maria Ward completing the 10k Canicross. A special congratulations to Ed who was competing in his first race in over six years.

The first of a trio of Sunday activities takes us to Bideford, with Luke Stannus, Chris Turner and Claudine Benstead amongst the ORCs involved.

This was for the Bideford 10 Miler, organised by Bideford Amateur Athletics Club. The course heads out on road and then returns on the tarka trail, taking in incredible views of the Taw and Torridge estuary.

A special mention to Luke Stannus, who set a new club 10-mile record and ran third fastest U20 Brit this year.

A quartet comprising of Jo Page, Mary Roberts, Rob Kelly and Paul Carter took on the Cornish Marathon on that same day, this happens to be Cornwall’s only all-road marathon.

All ORCs put in great performances with Rob finishing as seventh overall and fourth MV45 (2:26:47), Jo finishing as second lady and first FV40 (3:15:30- a new FV40 club record), Paul finishing as second MV60 (3:15:30) and Mary finishing in 4:43:46.

Last but certainly not least, it’s the turn of the social run.

16 ORCs ran a 5.5-mile social run around Meldon reservoir, consisting of lots of chatter, beautiful views and a nice steady pace. Unlike most of the weekend, the weather was kind, but the coffee and cake were still very welcome at the end.

Okehampton Running Club boasts 150 members of all age and abilities who share a love for running.

They meet at the Pavilion in Simmons Park at 6:20 every Tuesday and Thursday with new members always welcome.

There are six groups for different abilities running each night, so there should be one to suit you. Each group is taken out by a qualified leader to help guide you in your training.