The Grizzly & The Cub Races
The Grizzly is a springtime running event that starts and finishes in Seaton, East Devon. It is organised entirely by local volunteers and has run since 1988. The event typically attracts around 2,000 entrants from the region and beyond and has raised well over £500,000 for local groups and charities since its inception.
The routes combine coastal and inland terrain. The near-20 mile Grizzly course crosses pebble beaches and follows lanes, roads, trails and tracks that pass cliffs, fields and woods. The course also includes thigh deep bogs, at least one river crossing and sections over steep, technical paths. A shorter option, The Cub, covers approximately 9 miles and includes beach running, a river crossing and significant elevation.
Distances
- 20 mile Grizzly course across beaches, lanes, trails and bogs
- 9 mile The Cub course with beach running and a river crossing
Both races are running events with enforced cut off points. Runners are required to maintain an average pace of about 19 minutes per mile to meet shortcut and cut off rules; marshals will enforce these limits and failure to follow officials instructions can result in withdrawal, loss of race number and insurance. All finishers receive wooden medals and top finishers receive handcrafted plates. The event is cup free, uses biodegradable marking tape and multiple use marshal bibs. The official charity partner is the Farming Community Network. Visit the organization's website for the most recent information.
The theme for this year’s event was ‘One Step Beyond!’ and certainly ‘the nuttiest sound around’ was the noise from more than 2,000 runners at the start of Sunday’s races, pounding along Seaton beach before charging back along the Esplanade and heading up the hill to Beer. From there things got even tougher, with the climb to Beer Head and a descent along the technical and stony path down the steep hill into Branscombe, where the event split.
The Cub runners then faced a cold river crossing, a mile of beach running and a brutal climb up the infamous ‘Stairway to Heaven’, before retracing their steps back to Seaton to complete the challenging 9-mile race. Meanwhile the brave souls tackling the full 20-mile Grizzly continued up more lung-busting hills with nasty cambers, before plunging into the world-famous bogs and then tackling a tough downhill into the back of Branscombe, from where they followed the same return route as the Cub runners, finishing with a welcome downhill onto the Esplanade and into the warm embrace of the cheering crowds. There were 652 finishers in The Cub and 1370 in The Grizzly race.