THIS weekend's races for the Teignbridge Trotters members included a variety of distances and themes after the wind and rain of recent weeks. The morning after the superb Teignbridge Trotters annual awards night, the tough and hardy were out and participating in the Extremely Jolly Christmas Cracker at Escot Estate near Ottery St Mary.

Paul & Shaz Sharples, Cheryl Dunn, Vicky Hales and Kim Nicols ran 10km in conditions that included mud, rocky paths, fields, woods and a few hills. Festive fancy dress was the order of the day with a water slide in the last half mile home. This was described as a great medal and fun Christmas event.

At the same time, the up and down Wellington monument race was taking place, courtesy of those at Taunton Athletic Club. The race is just over 10k, at 6.27 miles (10090 metres). Starting from Hemyock village square, the route climbs to and circles the Wellington Monument, returning along the same road to finish at the local village primary school.

One mile of firm stone track, a steep ascent and descent of approximately ½ mile form part of this undulating, hilly, scenic and rural course. Chloe reported " Dad and I ran together. It was a great event and the competition was strong with 159 finishers. Chloe came away with 4th female and 2nd Female senior. Steve got 2nd MV50. Ruth was 2nd F60+".

Chloe Weeks in 28th & finished in 45:10, Steve Weeks in 29th & finished in 45:10 and Ruth Johnson in 126th & finished in 1:03:32. Great efforts by all accounts from the tired Trotters.

Elsewhere, Derek Skinner took part in the revised Cockington Xmas Caper in Torquay on the 14th, the event having been postponed the week prior.

"A smaller field than usual due to other commitments from runners, a tough 8.50 miles, twist and turns, plenty of wiggles around the trail course and 1,750ft of elevation. Not much mud but a lot of debris under foot due to storm” was the official line from Derek, who finished in 1:38:00.

Meanwhile, Tim Synge ventured over to Cornwall on Monday 16 to take part in Purple Gecko’s end-of-year 30-miler, the Fairytale of Newquay. This is a run along the coast path from Newquay to Harlyn Bay and back again. The weather was good, dry underfoot (apart from the beach crossings which generally seemed to involve fording a stream).

A lot of the route is along level cliff tops with occasional drops into bays and beaches but still manages to pack in nearly 5,000 feet of ascent.

Tim got to the turnaround point in a fraction over three hours, in spite of a headwind, but slowed on the return leg to deliver a finishing time of 6:53. He had this to say: “This was my first Purple Gecko event and it was well organised and very friendly. A great route with almost no route finding required.”