The 2006 Grizzly Run, Seaton, Devon

The 2006 Grizzly will be remembered for the rain and the freezing 3 degree Celsius easterly gale. The race route had needed to be revised after a cliff fall near Weston Mouth had made this section unsafe reducing the overall race distance to 18.5 miles.

After 24hours of intermittent rain before the race, the course conditions were always going to be challenging.

The runners at the front had the advantage of running over relatively ‘firm’ ground; the hundreds of runners who followed were running through churned up mud.

Hills turned into mudslides making progress uphill difficult and in the dreaded bog itself, there were 12” deep foot holes coming down a steep descent into the thigh deep mud of the bog then followed by wading across the freezing cold thigh high waters of the river.

2,300 runners signed up to take part in the 2006 Grizzly, the exact numbers of runners starting the race is not known but there were 1,528 race finishers.

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The 2006 Grizzly Run.

Twentyish muddy, hilly, boggy, beachy miles of the multiest-terrain running experience you will find this side of the end of time. So what's it all about? Well, it's by no means the toughest race around; indeed, some say that it's getting too easy but they're missing the point. It has changed over the years and nearly died on a few occasions, but hundreds keep coming back for more, so the Axe Valley Runners must still be getting it right. Whatever it isn't, it is an experience.

The 2010 Grizzly will be on Sunday March 7th.

The winner of the 2006 Grizzly was Adrian Mussett of the Colchester Harriers who finished the race in 2-12-46.

Neil Holmes, last years winner was 2nd in 2-13-20 and Vito Graffagnino finished 3rd in 2-16-19.

The first female runner home was Heather Foundling-Hawker in 16th overall position with a time of 2-25-36.

The winner of the Cub Runners was James Beard in a time of 1-10-54 with Clare Donnelly 2nd with a time of 1-13-45.

Interactive Map of the 2009 Course (opens in new window)

Previous races have been called:

1988: Unnamed Runners
1989: Torment Tenners
1990: Grizzly 12ers
1991: Hillockers and Rowlockers
1992: Eye of the Stormers
1993: Sting of the Butter-fliers
1994: Magical Memory Joggers
1995: Nightmare Returners
1996: Lemming Revengers
1997: Apocalypse-Yes!
1998: Flight of Fancy
1999: Insanity and in Health
2000: Another Brick
2001: A Race Oddity
2002: The Jokers in the Pack
2003: Jurassic Jaunt
2004: Infinity and Beyond
2005: A Thousand Steps for Mankind
2006: O'limpiyak Dilemma
2007: Armageddon NowHere
2008: Armageddon Again
2009:Trails And Tribulations
2010 Beauty and the Beach

The Grizzly raises monies for charity and the 2006 Grizzly has raised £18,000 which has been shared between 31 organisations.