01 Jul It’s a Famous Five for South Devon AC’s young aces
South Devon Athletic Club’s junior section made it five wins in a row in the most prestigious local athletics meeting of the year.
The annual Pearson Cup competition pits four local clubs against each other, with South Devon’s athletes up against teams from Torbay AC, Newton Abbot AC and Dartmouth AC.
And the team of 35 – backed up by their coaches and around 70 supporters – kept their grip on a cup they have held since 2021 with a commanding all-round display.
This year’s event was hosted by Dartmouth AC, and the winning South Devon team excelled in sprinting, endurance running, throwing, long jump and high jump.
Afterwards a club spokesman said: “It was an amazing achievement, and it was great to share it in such a family-centred way.
“To the athletes, your coaches are so proud of you, big congratulations.”
Elsewhere, some of the club’s slightly older runners travelled to Ivybridge for the ever-popular Erme Valley Relays, run on a hilly two-and-a-half-mile circuit in the lanes around the town’s rugby club.
The event, superbly organised by Erme Valley Harriers, saw SDAC’s food-focused teams in close combat.
Team Vindaloo led the way, with Marc Walpot, Kate Foley, Shaun Kirk and Rob Foster crossing the line with a total time of 73m 56s. Team Chow Mein (Vince Langdon, Guy Henderson, Kerry Bell and Colin Peters) recorded 79m 09s and Team Fish and Chips (James Spalding, Matthew Senior, James Nash and Dan Tagg) finished in 80m 44s.
Meanwhile, father and son duo Mark and George Holman completed the gruelling Loop event. The 20-mile course starts and finishes at Broadsands, taking in Kingswear and the hilly coast path to Brixham before returning.
The high-mileage Holmans survived the exhausting climbs and soaring temperatures to finish comfortably inside the cut-off time.