Race organisers at one of Britain’s most popular off-road events have had to postpone the event due to police action to prevent looters stealing from a shipwreck.
The Saucony Grizzly is a tough off-road 20 mile event held each year in Seaton Devon. It was to be held on Sunday 11th March. But the fear of looters targeting the cargo of a stricken ship has led to the race being cancelled.
On 19th January a stricken container ship, the MSC Napoli, was been grounded just a mile off the Devon coast where the race is held. Parts of the huge cargo on board started to be washed up on the beach as containers on board slid off the ship. This led to crowds of people heading to the area to try to gather goods washed ashore. People took away goods including BMW motorbikes, perfume, clothes and car parts. But while anyone ‘salvaging’ items from the beach are supposed to fill out ‘report of wreck and salvage forms’ many did not. These forms allow the goods to be returned to the rightful owner and for a reward to be paid.
The police, therefore, decided to restrict access to the area to prevent goods being stolen. The number of people arriving when cargo was first swept ashore brought chaos to the roads in the area. It looked as though things had calmed down but the police have said if more containers are washed ashore access to the entire Branscombe area will be restricted again. And that’s what’s caused the problems for the race organisers. Up to two-thirds of the course would be affected by the closures to prevent looting. After the organisers had seen the weather forecasts and discussed the likely situation with the authorities they decided the likelihood was that there was a good chance the event would be affected.
Garry Perratt of Axe Valley Runners said: “We could have pushed ahead and hoped for the best but something is bound to happen.”
The race has been postponed until Sunday 9th September and the host club are putting on a series of runs around the area for people who had entered the original event. “We might even be able to do a led run around that way if there is not a problem. It will be a sociable running weekend where people can run a bit, eat a bit, run a bit more, drink a bit and socialise. It’s all a bit of a strange situation but we are making the most of it and doing what we can. Hopefully it will be a fun weekend with the Grizzly then held in September.”
This year’s race was subtitled The Armageddon so the running weekend has been branded the Armageddon Shipwrecked! Some of those who had entered the Grizzly have already confirmed they will be attending including a group from Holland and another party who run the event each year. All the runners who entered the Grizzly have been given the option of a refund or carrying their entry over to the September running of the event.
