Exmoor National Park was the perfect setting for Red Bull Steeplechase, Sunday October 9th. The unique knock-out 23 mile race saw almost 400 competitors take on the rugged landscape on a sunny morning in Devon.
The competitors were split into two categories, male and female, to tackle four steeples where at each point the slowest runners were eliminated from the group. This format leaves only the fittest to go head to head to battle for the winning position on Lynmouth seafront.
In first position in the men’s category was Ricky Lightfoot from Cumbria with an impressive finish time of 02:41:22 finish, followed by James McMullan at a time of 02:50:16 and then Ceri Rees 02:54:04 in third position.
On crossing the finish line, Ricky Lightfoot said “It was my first Red Bull Steeplechase and it was great! I really enjoyed the course and running along the coastline was stunning. The track had lots of challenges but once you cross the last steeple and you’re heading downhill, you can see the finish line next to the crystal blue water of Lynmouth - you can’t ask for better than that!”
The fastest female on the day was London’s Claire Rogers who crossed the line with a time of 03:19:57, followed by Mary Menon 03:23:26 in second place and then Victoria Crawford 03:28:22 in third.
Claire Rogers said, “I am so pleased to win such a fabulous race. It has been an amazing day – I had so much fun crawling up the muddy steeples but my favourite parts had to be the sections of flats through the forests. I made sure to do lots of endurance training in the weeks before the race, I’m not a huge runner, but I think a race like this is a real stamina test.”
Top 10 men finishers
1. Ricky Lightfoot 02:41:22 No. 184
2. James McMullan 02:41:22 No. 213
3. Ceri Rees 02:54:04 No. 273
4. Dave Morgan 02:56:06 No. 223
5. Richard Philips 02:58:06 No. 259
6. Simon Longthorpe 03:01:18 No. 188
7. Jeff Pyrah 03:01:22 No. 267
8. Hugh Torry 03:01:43 No. 333
9. Thomas Beedell 03:04:29 No. 24
10. Max Dillon 03:04:49 No. 91
Top 10 women finishers
1. Claire Rogers 03:19:57 No. 454
2. Mary Menon 03:23:26 No. 439
3. Victoria Crawford 03:28:22 No. 399
4. Carla Molinaro 03:29:39 No. 443
5. Liza Barry 03:40: 30 No. 375
6. Emma Wardall 03:41:23 No. 486
7. Ahlem Ben Gubila 03:43: 56 No. 376
8. Christina Pennock 03:50:53 No. 448
9. Becky Williamson 03:52:17 No. 491
10. Rosie Evans 03:55:18 No. 407
