It was always going to be challenging for Exmouth Harriers to surpass the successes of 2022 but the club excelled again in 171 races, writes Des White.
The Harriers were represented in races all over the world, including some in France, Spain, Cyprus, Italy, USA, Greece, Austria and Germany during the 12 months of 2023 on the road, the track, over the country and trails plus a few Triathlons.
In the 171 races, the Harriers were represented by 105 runners in races that varied from 1 mile on the track to 100 miles on the South West Coast Path and almost everything in-between.
Also, during the past 12 months, the Harriers took part in 87 different parkruns, mainly in the UK but also included some in Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Italy.
As well as competing in external races in 2023, the Exmouth Harriers hosted two events; the Exmouth Express five-mile road race on the Exmouth seafront in February and the Westdown Wander nine-mile multi-terrain race on the Exmouth beach, the Jurassic Coast path and the Budleigh Trail in November.
In August, the Harriers joined with Budleigh Runners to host 5 and 11 mile fun runs on the trails and footpaths between the two towns called Run for Life and in the process raised over £500 for the Exmouth RNLI.
It’s very difficult to pick out best performances but probably the stand-out ones during 2023 were Jenny Reay with her two gold medals in the European Masters W65 10,000m on the track and the 10km road race in Italy in September and Chris Murrin, who ran in 15 Marathons during the 12 months, taking his overall total to 122.
During the year the club, welcomed a number of new members with the current membership now over 125. The Exmouth Harriers website has details of how to become a member - www.exmouthharriers.co.uk
Exmouth Harriers would like to thank everyone involved with the club and all the race organisers who have made it possible for the club to race in well organised, safe and controlled events during 2023.
There is no doubt runners will be out and about over the festive period, the enthusiasm for this wonderful sport never stops. Happy New Year from Exmouth Harriers.
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