Storm Brian provided some blustery challenges for the 67 participants of the Salcombe Coastal Marathon last weekend on Saturday, October 21.

Despite the weather warnings, the runners and walkers braved the coastal path on the rearranged route from North Upton Caravan Park to Salcombe and then back towards Bantham beach.

One runner carrying an anemometer recorded 100kmh gusts on the way out to Salcombe and an incredible 165kmh gusts on the return journey.

Stewart Bondi, organiser of the event made the decision to continue to run the event earlier in the week on Wednesday, with an alternative route planned. This meant that the runners would only run the event on the Western half of the coastal route and not on the Eastern half.

Consequently, starting the route at Bantham meant that the winds were coming from behind, blowing the competitors inland, creating a safer environment. Additionally, some inland alternatives were included to ensure the safety of the participants.

The first marathon runner to complete the course was David Searle who completed the route in 02.56 hours. He is a 25 year old Kingsbridge resident who earlier in August this year won the Pure Trails 52 miles Dartmoor Crossing Extreme.

Other great performances were put in by Ross Porter and Angie Cann and for the half marathon Danny Painter and Tom Coates ran impressive times.

Stewart said that, “everyone thoroughly enjoyed the challenge,” despite the disruptive weather and would like to congratulate all those that completed the event.

The weather warnings being released in the week leading up to the event did discourage some of the less experienced coastal runners who decided with event organisers that it wouldn’t be suitable to compete in these conditions.

For those who did compete, they missed the worst of the high seas hitting the coastline, because fortunately the high tides were in the early morning and late evening which avoided the race times.

However, for any participants struggling there were marshals around to aid in any way they could, the option to quit the race and a chance to stop at the half marathon point.

Graham Edwards, an amputee who was helping to marshall the event was given the opportunity by Stewart to participate in the last five miles of the event, from Hope Cove to Bantham.

He described how the strong winds, “were almost blowing me over and I think I would have gone off the cliff if I didn’t have walking sticks.”

“But the wind only made the challenge more fun,” explained Graham who was thrilled to have taken part in the challenge.

Happily, the organisers could report that there were no injuries and everyone enjoyed the challenge.The event raised much needed funds for the South West Coast Path Association who care for the iconic coast path and PORT-ER, the amputee charity. In total, an impressive £3,500 have been raised for the two charities this year.

If this has inspired you, the next event will be held on Saturday, May 5, 2018, in hopefully better weather conditions. To get more information or to join the mailing list please send an email to [email protected] and to learn more about the association look here.