The Toddle was no doddle...

On Sunday, twenty Teignbridge Trotters travelled the short distance to Christow, for the 10th Teign Valley Toddle, hosted by the Teign Valley running club. The 10.25 mile course, extended slightly from previous years, contains several punishing hills and is run totally on road.

The race was started by running legend Bruce Tulloh, famed for breaking, in 1969, the record for running the 3,000 miles from Los Angeles to New York in 65 days, thereby reducing the previous record by 8 days.

Conditions for the race were almost ideal with a light drizzle to cool the 89 runners, as they headed off towards the Teign Valley road. Ronnie Jones led the Trotters and the rest of the field, as he romped home to win the race in a magnificent 1:02:02, with Dave Tomlin as 2nd Trotter, crossing the line 4th overall, in 1:03:25.

The 3rd member of the squad to finish was a recent addition to the fold: Wavell Vigers, running his first race with the Trotters, finished in 11th position with an impressive 1:08:46.

The remaining runners were: Roger Hayes (1:11:33), Ewan Walton (1:12:55), Wilf Taylor (1:13:48), Roger Hales (1:14:58), Gary Watson (1:17:27), John Skinner (1:19:01), Mark Wotton (1:19:19), Bruce Campbell (1:20:44), Gia D`Aprano (1:21:08), Dave Dunn (1:21:1x), Nathan Elphick (1:22:35), Syd Willocks (1:22:57), Milos Erben (1:25:52), Graham Penn (1:25:54), Jim Donovan (1:27:54), Sharon Bowman (1:28:12) and Eleanor Taylor (1:29:26).

Meanwhile, a further splash of Royal Blue was to be seen in South Devon, at the inaugural Churston Flyer, the replacement race for the Brixham 10k. Billed by the organisers, South Devon AC as `a fast, flat five-mile run through quiet country lanes`, the event started and finished at Churston Ferrers Grammar School.

First Trotter to finish was Adrian Bailey, 11th overall in a field of 125 finishers, in an enviable 31:41. He was closely followed by Tom Burman in 12th position, with a time of 32:00 and Howard Cotton 17th in 33:16.

Other runners were: Gary Caunter (35:32), John Caunter (37:14), Tina Caunter (41:37), Steve Rawlinson (43:32), Marion Witham (47:15) and Julie Crump (52:24).

At Burnham on Sea in Somerset, a Trotter trio were running the Half Marathon, alongside 280 other competitors. Mark Becker pulled out all the stops and passed the post 78th overall, in a time of 1:35:18. 98th was Mark Hamling in 1:38:53, followed by Jo Becker with 2:21:29.

Further west, another trio were flying the flag at the Newquay 10k, admirably hosted by Newquay Road Runners. James Henderson had a good race in the wet but warm conditions and crossed the line 105th out of 517 finishers, in a time of 42:16. Graeme Baker posted a creditable 47:55, to gain 3rd MV65. Angela Weeks was 2nd FV65 in a time of 1:08:10, with congratulations due for creating a new club FV65 10k record.

Photo`s (Graham Penn)

Upper: The team at Christow before the start of the Teign Valley Toddle.

Centre: Toddle winner Ronnie Jones.

Lower: Bruce Tulloh.