IT WAS all go at the annual Erme Valley relays located at Ivybridge Rugby Club on the evening of Friday, June 27.

The Erme Valley Running Club races are always good with a decent turnout of 80 teams, a real mix of age, youth, speed and participation for the team!

Teignbridge Trotters, as usual, turn up in force with nine teams. They had a number of first-timers who did well, looking good in the vest and cheered on by comrades.

A special welcome and congratulations go to the new members- Caitlin Moss, George Tranckle, and Jon Pressling- all of whom took part and performed brilliantly in their debut relay outing for the club.

Ben & Deb Elphick said, "It was great to see everyone enjoying both the racing and the social side of the event. Erme Valley always delivers a challenging course that pushes you to your limits, and this year was no exception. There were some truly outstanding performances across the board, and as captains, we’re incredibly grateful to everyone who stepped up and gave it their all."

Alex Sparks was the fastest Trotter, finishing in 12:48 and earning third overall. Second was Oli Reynolds 13:17 in ninth place and third Ben Akyol 14:22 26th.

First female was Chloe Olford 15:41 74th, second Chloe Weeks 16:51 124th and third Freya Morrissey 17:23 140th.

In eighth place was the first MV40 team, in a time of 60:25 included Ben Akyol, Jon Pressling, Ian Langler, & Ben Elphick.

The second-placed mixed team of Alex Sparks, Freya Morrissey, Greg Cook, & Chloe Alford were 11th overall in 61:30. Trotter’s first-place FV55 team included Lucy Payne, Sharon Sharples, Claire Gilard, & Deb Hart in 89:10, 74th overall. As Del reported, "With the cloudy conditions and slight temperature drop it was perfect for a two and a half mile not so flat relay race…very well organised again by the Erme Valley Harriers.

“If you do this regularly, some years you can find this really tough as I did last year being in between marathons and all that but this one seemed to fly by which was great…also nice to see a permanent big corporation tent set up where you can chill and much more space for the prize giving than in the upstairs bar.” It was a great relay night with hundreds of runners and supporters involved in local grassroots sport. The next local running club relay comes soon at the Paignton Velopark on August 1. The Totnes 10K & Fun Run takes place on August 3, which the club are hosting from Borough Park in Totnes.

More details are available from the Teignbridge Trotters website with places rapidly filling up. The event is a highlight in the local sporting calendar with the fun run attracting 150 children and parents to run two laps of the park.

Trotters training takes place from Newton Abbot Recreational Trust, Newton Abbot (TQ12 2AR) on Monday and Wednesday evenings at 7.00pm sharp.

Anyone wishing to come along for the first time is more than welcome, they cater for all abilities. Please take a look at the sessions available and choose one suitable to your standard of running. There is no obligation to join, try it out for two or three weeks before deciding!