Sidmouth 10km

Yesterday, on Sunday 3^rd November, Gilbert Stephens Solicitors were proud to support staff from our Sidmouth office who competed in the town’s 10km race. The Sidmouth 10km was a highly anticipated event with a brilliant course overlooking the beautiful Sidmouth sea front.

Alexandra Croft, Solicitor; Sue-Ellen Lee, Legal Secretary; Laura Newbery-Butcher, Legal Secretary, and her husband Leigh, all participated in the race. The runners were proud to be sporting the firm’s bright green running tops, which made them easily noticeable among the sea of runners.

The race started at 10am at Sidford Social Hall and followed the entire length of The Byes down onto the sea front. Runners then looped back around and competed their second lap. The route was largely flat with two very steep long hills up Beatlands and Cliff Road and then back down Hillside Road.

Whilst all runners had been recovering from injuries or colds in the run up to the big race, the encouragement they received from supporters on the side lines was astounding and helped get them over the finish line.

“It was a fantastic atmosphere on the day with so many people in the town coming down to support us. The route was fully marshalled with plenty of volunteers helping us to cross the roads safely”, says Laura.

Despite the circumstances, all runners crossed the finish line with superb times. Leigh finished first in an impressive 56 minutes, with Alexandra following closely behind in 1 hour and 1 minute. Sue-Ellen completed the race in 1 hour and 9 minutes, and Laura finished in 1 hour and 17 minutes.

Alexandra says “whilst we did not complete the race in record time, I am pleased that our training certainly put us in good stead for the day. However, next time we will definitely practice some more hill training!”.

The Sidmouth 10km race is certainly not the last race the Sidmouth office will be participating in this year. Sue-Ellen, Laura and Leigh will be competing in the Bicton Blister Lite later this month, whilst Alexandra will be participating in the Bath half marathon in March 2020.