These are some puzzles from the Axe Valley Runners' monthly newsletter, mostly devised by myself. Some of them require local knowledge but many clues are provided. You are welcome to use them for your own means but I would appreciate a credit if they are published. Enjoy!

• Where's that club?
• Races from 5 to 15 letters long!
• Who's the manufacturer?
• What is Father Christmas saying?
• Who, what, where, wear?
• Who wore the bodysuit?
• Riddle me this!
• Where on the Grizzly?
• Half a wordsearch
• Where are the races?
• Crossword
• Playing the numbers
• Race arithmetic

Where's that club?

The clues are the first part of club names, describing their location, and the answers are the last word of the name which should be inserted across from the relevant number. For example, for "1. Axe Valley" you would insert "Runners" as 1 Across. Once you have completed the grid 1 Down will be the last part of a club for which I want the first part (location) except that the letters will not be in the right order so you will need to unscramble them.

Teignbridge Dorset Cheddar Valley Exmouth Avon Valley South Molton Lytchett Manor Dawlish

Solution.

Races from 5 to 15 letters long!

The answers to each of these cryptic clues are events, mainly in and around East Devon. The clue number indicates the number of letters in the answer (which may be more than one word as indicated). Note that some of the answers are shortened names by which the races are referred (in one case just the locality, and a bit of an obscure one at that!).

5		A wild animal in Dorset.
6	(3,3)	A young bear races ...
7		... And the adult.
8	(3,5)	Sounds like a tree with a hoarse voice.
9	(3,1,5)	Two legs against four.
10	(6,4)	Sea or ton?
11	(6,5)	Removes the beard while angry.
12	(5,4,3)	An excellent occidental race!
13	(4,5-4)	The whole lot - nice!
14	(9,5)	Think about the longest day.
15	(8,7)	Having a paddy on the common near Exeter.

Solution.

Who's the manufacturer?

The first names of the manufacturers of these items of sports gear spell out another manufacturer.

1. Air Purify
2. Pro4mance
3. Taiga
4. Beast
5. Gel Marko
6. Squeezy gel
7. Ozweego
8. Sportline insoles
9. Profile HRM
10. E-Lite

Solution.

What is Father Christmas saying?

When the races are arranged in order of distance their initial letters will reveal what Father Christmas is saying. (This was from the December, 1999 newsletter.)

Abingdon Marathon Crewkerne 9 East Ogwell Fun Run Hayling 10 Indian Queens Half Marathon Man v. Horse Minehead Seafront Series Revelstoke Run Ross Shield Round the Lakes 10K Sherard Stride (longest route) Stour Valley Run Teignbridge Relays (total length) Ynyshywell Fell Run

Solution.

Who, what, where, wear?

Four runners are racing somewhere and you need to figure out who is running what distance, where and in which top.

Runners:	Dave, Steve, Anne and Kevin.
Places:	Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset.
Races:	5K cross-country, 10K road race, 10 mile multi-terrain, road marathon.
Clothing:	Vest, t-shirt, helly, tyvek.
Clues:	Dave is running a metric distance in Devon.
	The tyvek jacket is being worn on the ten-miler.
	Anne is running less than ten miles.
	The marathon is in Cornwall.
	Kevin is running off-road in Dorset.
	The helly isn't being worn in a metric race.
	Steve's doing a road race in a helly.
	Anne's vest is getting very muddy.
	From all that you should be able to fill in this table:

Solution. If you found it easy try the full version!

Who wore the bodysuit?

One day, five clubmates raced over different distances, in different places, wearing different clothing and shoes and scoring different points for their club championship. Who was wearing the bodysuit and did it do them any good?

Runners:	Ali, Chris, Julie, Steve, Stew
Locations:	Bristol, Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Newcastle
Shoes:	Asics, New Balance, Nike, Reebok, Saucony
Distances:	5K, 10K, 10m, half marathon, marathon
Clothing:	Vest, helly, Coolmax t-shirt, Lycra bodysuit, long-sleeved t-shirt
Scores:	90, 100, 110, 120, 130
Clues:	Chris scored the least. Julie wore a vest. Ali ran a marathon 110 points weren't scored in London but were scored the same side of Manchester (i.e. north or south) as where 100 points were scored. The 5K runner scored 110 points. The runner in the lycra bodysuit also wore Reeboks. The runner who scored 120 points isn't sure how to pronounce the manufacturer of their shoes (ref. a recent thread!). The runner in the long-sleeved t-shirt also isn't sure how to pronounce the manufacturer of their shoes (but may be the same person as in 7). The half marathon was in Manchester. Stew wore a helly in London. The Sauconys were worn south of Manchester. The 10K was run in Asics. Steve wore New Balance. Stew didn't score the most. The Sauconys raced more than 10 miles. The 10K was north of the 5K. The t-shirts weren't worn at the 10K.

Solution. If you found it too hard try the easy version!

Thanks to J.Onzer for sending me his version of the puzzle, the original of which has been attributed to Einstein (in case you were thinking that I must be really clever for devising such a fiendish brain teaser!). The fastest solution time I know of is 30 minutes by a thin, green vegetable of perambulatory nature. [1]

All names were drawn from cyberspace and any similarity between the runners portryed herein and real persons, extant or extinct, is purely intentional.

[1] You might need to look at the top page of this website to figure that one out if it doesn't make sense.

Riddle me this!

1. My first is in Talaton but not in Trotter.
2. My second and third are in Exmoor but not in Stagger.
3. My fourth is in Bicton but not in Blister.
4. My fifth is in Woodbury but not in Wobbler.
5. My sixth is in Luppitt but not in Lollop.
6. My seventh is in Tough but not in Ten.
7. My whole is the location of a multi-terrain race.

Solution.

Where on the Grizzly?

All the answers to the across clues on the grid (a mixture of straight and cryptic) are connected with the Grizzly. None of the columns will read as proper words except the longest, middle one which is the name of somewhere on the course. (You will have to figure out the first and last letters yourself!)

1. Where you might get that sinking feeling (3) 2. The main sponsors of 2000's race (7) 3. Small, furry animals jump (8,4) 4. Home of the Grizzly (6) 5. Saturday's challenge (4-3) 6&7. The steps to the stars (8,2,6) 8. The froth at the top of your pint (4,4) 9. The coarse planner (10) 10. Then there's this! (5) Solution.

Half a wordsearch

The half marathons in the list below are all located somewhere in the grid - up, down, forwards or backwards but never diagonally. Separate words in a race name do not necessarily occur together except that 'of' always precedes the subsequent word. No words are shared (so both 'great' and 'forest' occur twice). Letters can be used more than once. After locating all the races there should be fourteen letters unused, thirteen of which make up the name of another one (which is in the Rundown Events half marathon list).

Bath Exmouth Fleet Forest of Dean Great North Run Great West Run Imber Launceston Leeds Neolithic New Forest Seaton Solent Taunton Torbay Truro Reading

Solution.

Where are the races?

The clues are not in order and are all the names of events (not necessarily competitive races, despite the title!) with the location omitted. The idea is to determine the location and fit it into a row of the grid. When the grid is complete the outlined letters down should spell another location for which I want the race.

For example, the answer to "Excellent 8" might be Ash which would fit into one or more of the rows of the grid (but you have to determine which one). Then, if the highlighted column of the completed grid reads "Axmouth", the answer to the puzzle may be Challenge.

Blister Croak Discovery Guildhall Chase Heller Jelly Leg Lollop Mini Marathon Muddle Stagger Trotter Wobbler

Solution.

Crossword

This is just a (relatively) straightforward crossword. A couple of clues relate to members of AVR but that just makes it more interesting, donchafink?

Solution.

Playing the numbers

The answers to the clues below are all integers (whole numbers) no greater than 12 which need to be ordered. This could be quite tricky since many of them require knowledge of AVR so I've provided a few extra clues to help you! See how you go.

• Complete hours the Bean ran on 2000's New Year's Eve. (Read his article about the run.)
• Complete miles in a 10K.
• Cream teas on the Midsummer Dream. (Look at the details in AVR's event listing.)
• Daves on the committee. (Tricky one, this! No clues - you'll have to guess!)
• Garry's attempts at the London Marathon. (Look at his web page.)
• Highest overall position by an AVR in the Grizzly. (Look at last year's results.)
• Miles in Crewkerne's road race.
• Pubs on the Midsummer Dream run in 1999 (excluding the Hook & Parrot). (Look at the details in AVR's event listing. 2000 was the first year with the optional loop.)
• Runners per team at the Teignbridge Relays.
• Sisters in the multi-terrain marathon.
• Tough miles at Weston-Super-Mare.
• Two Lean, Mean Runner Beans in bingo-speak! (Think along the lines of "two fat ladies".)

Solution.

Race arithmetic

Here's a real brain-bending puzzle from my warped mind! Not only do you need to figure out the distances of all the races below but you need to perform simple arithmetic upon them!

• All distances are as given in Rundown Events 2001-2, rounded to the nearest half mile if necessary.
  E.g. 10K = 6.2m which becomes 6 miles.
  20K = 12.4m, becoming 12½ miles.
  Note that relay legs are each rounded before adding up rather than adding the leg lengths then rounding the overall answer.
• The answers are all different integers (whole numbers).
  E.g. Truro Half - Easter Bunny 10K = 13.1 - 6.2 = 13 - 6 = 7
• Operations enclosed in parentheses are evaluated first.
  E.g. (4+6) x (5-2) = 10 x 3 = 30.
• Remember that you can add and subtract in any order so juggle things around if you have trouble with negative numbers.
  E.g. 5 - 12 + 9 = 5 + 9 - 12 = 14 - 12 = 2.

When the answers are listed in order there will be one integer missing from the sequence - which one?

a.	Bowermans Nose + Wyvern Christmas Cracker
b.	Great West Run + King Alfred's Torment - All legs of the Teignbridge Relays
c.	Haselbury Trail + Bicton Blister - Woodbury Wobbler
d.	Killerton Kanter - Court Canter
e.	Luppitt Lollop / Shave Cross Mini Marathon
f.	Cow Pat Canter / Talaton Trotter
g.	Withiel on Foot / Musbury Castle Challenge
h.	(Teignbridge Relays [single leg] ´ Axmouth Challenge) - Dartmoor Discovery
i.	(Crewkerne 9 ´ Littledown 5) - (Tavy 7 ´ Ash Excellent "Eight") + Liskeard 20
j.	Stickler - (Oke Croak / Castle Drogo Run) - (The Beast / Bampton to Tiverton)
k.	Midsummer Dream without extra loop + Seaton Half - Marattack + (Midsummer Dream with extra loop / Colyton 10K)

Solution.