Congratulations to Tom Packer, who was the only Exmouth Harrier to race over the weekend, and it proved to be an inspired decision, writes Des White.

Tom took part in the 39th running of the Abingdon Marathon and recorded a fantastic personal best time of 3.10.58, finishing in 185th place out of the 741 finishers.

The relatively flat 26.2 mile course passed through the centre of Abingdon and the villages of Drayton, Milton and Sutton Courtenay as well as passing through the Milton Park business estate along the way.

Tom said after the finish: “That was good marathon experience for me, I didn’t push too hard at the start and tried to maintain an even pace.”

Tom is aiming to run a sub three-hour marathon in the 2024 TCS London Marathon on Sunday, April 21. Good luck to him in this quest in arguably the most iconic marathon on the global calendar.

Exmouth Harriers are putting on a nine-mile mixed terrain race - The Westdown Wander - starting at 11am on Sunday, November 26. It will be the 2nd edition of the race and this year “chip timing” will be used to record everyone’s time. 

The race HQ is at The Bath House Pub on the Esplanade, Exmouth. The race will start on the Exmouth Beach by Carlton slipway and head to Orcombe Point (on the beach), then follow the SW coastal path past the geoneedle towards Budleigh Salterton, passing Westdown Beacon on the way, before turning left past East Devon Golf club house.

The route then follows footpaths, and cycleways back to Exmouth, before finishing on the footpath behind The Ocean on the seafront. The race is open to everyone over 17 years old, the entry is £18 (affiliated) and £20 (un-affiliated).

All finishers will receive a Necktube and there will be prizes for the first three men and ladies to finish. Full details including a link to the entry website are on the Exmouth Harriers website www.exmouthharriers.co.uk