A FANTASTIC run from Tavistock's Jo Meek stopped Torbay AC athlete Helen Dyke retaining her Braunton 10 title in North Devon on Sunday.

Meek clocked a fantastic time of 1hr 2mins 5secs to take the ladies' win in the 10-miler by more than two minutes from Dyke.

The Tavistock AC runner didn't quite emulate her Torbay rival's performance last year — while Meek's time was narrowly quicker than Dyke's 2009 time, it didn't earn her a place in the top ten, as Dyke achieved last time.

This year Dyke had to settle for second in the ladies, and 24th overall, with a time of 1:04:28.

Consolation came in the form of a category win, however, with her time comfortably topping the FV35 class.

South Devon only had one runner in the top 20, and that was Teignbridge Trotters' David Tomlin, who was seventh in 1:01:20.

Bideford AC's Dan Mapp was the clear winner, clocking 57:08 and leading home runner-up Mick O'Doherty of Bristol by more than a minute.

In other club results, Simon Bunday led home a trio of Dawlish Coasters with a time of 1:20:13, while Craig Churchill flew the Teign Valley Running Club flag with a time of 1:23:15.

● TORBAY AC are planning to start a new 12-week course to introduce running for beginners.

The Wednesday evening course is due to start on February 3, meeting at the Riviera Centre reception at 6.30pm, and is aimed at new-comers of all ages and abilities.

Torbay's Rick White said: "There will be qualified and friendly coaches on hand to help and encourage you to meet your goals.

"As there will once again be a ladies' 5k Race for Life to be held at Goodrington in May, we thought it would be appropriate to call it the 5K challenge.

"We believe that if you turn up for every session, by week 12 the majority of people will be able to run non-stop for 5k, which is approximately 3.1 miles."

It costs £20 to join the 12-week course, to include a high-visibility running shirt and a detailed running schedule.

For further details, call Greg Fine on 01803 328315.

BRAUNTON 10 RESULTS AND CLUB TIMES

Top ten: 1 Dan Mapp (Bideford AC) 57:08, 2 Mick O'Doherty (Bristol) 58:14, 3 Shaun Antell (unatt) 58:21, 4 Aaron Richmond (North Devon Road Runners) 59:49, 5 Tim Reed (unatt) 1:01:06, 6 John Terry (Westbury Harriers) 1:01:13, 7 David Tomlin (Teignbridge Trotters) 1:01:20, 8 Matt Ellis (Westbury Harriers) 1:01:27, 9 Matt Witko (24 Commando Engineers) 1:01:55, 10 John Shapland (North Devon Road Runners) 1:02:01.

Teignbridge Trotters: David Tomlin 1:01:20, Thomas Burman 1:04:53, Ian Langler 1:06:57, Daryl Milford 1:07:33, Eyvoll Aston 1:13:04, Mark Wotton 1:16:25, Nigel Penwarden 1:20:13, Tracy Elphick 1:21:03, Nathan Elphick 1:21:03, Sharon Bowman 1:25:14, Graham Penn 1:25:45, Steve Wallace 1:29:42, Penny Clapham 1:41:06.

Torbay AC: Helen Dyke 1:04:28, Stephen Wilbraham 1:08:18, Ben Epps 1:17:02.

Dawlish Coasters: Simon Bunday 1:20:13, Steve Jones 1:25:48, Shelagh Parker 1:25:56.

Teign Valley Running Club: Craig Churchill 1:23:15.