9th March 2025
Reading Time: Two Minutes
I know, another boring running post. The problem is that I started posting about this wonderful run in 2014 and it would seem weird to stop now. It also becomes a tiny little bit interesting now that the data accumulates as it shows how much you slow down as you get older!
The evening before the race we parked up our camper vans in the Washcamp camp site. Alex and Kerry conjured up a massive carb loading spag bol which was served up around a blazing camp fire. A great start to the weekend.
This year the South Downs were bathed with wall-to-wall warm sunshine so, because it was dry underfoot, it was generally a faster run than usual, hence my improved time. I rather missed all the mud, but that is just me. The fastest over the line was Kirsty McDermott at 1 hour 41 minutes 34 seconds, almost an hour faster than me! Anthony was the fastest of our team coming in 11th with 2 hrs 1 minute and 54 seconds and hot on his heels was Alex with an impressive 2 hrs 03 minutes 18 seconds. Beating that 2 hour time is really tough on this route.
The famous feature of this hilly trail run is the Full English Breakfast served up FREE of charge to all the finishers. It’s the thought of breakfast that gets me up the 1,617 feet of grueling hills. Whether the health benefits of the run are completely wiped out by the breakfast (and the Jelly Babies) is a moot point. Pen is so keen on the breakfast that he even runs wearing a Full English Breakfast tee shirt!
A big thank you to all the volunteers who make this my favourite ever race!
As it had been quite a hot day, I thought, stupidly, that a quick swim in the sea would be a good idea. But it wasn’t a good idea at all, it was freezing!
Here are the times over the years. Bear in mind this half marathon is actually 13.8 miles, and that extra .7 of a mile is a real killer!
2011 2 hrs 00 minutes 29 seconds
2014 2 hrs 11 minutes 27 seconds
2016 2 hrs 11 minutes 02 seconds
2017 2 hrs 14 minutes 35 seconds
2019 2 hrs 29 minutes 12 seconds
2020 2 hrs 27 minutes 30 seconds
2022 2 hrs 25 minutes 07 seconds
2023 2 hrs 25 minutes 52 seconds
2024 2 hrs 45 minutes 26 seconds
2025 2 hrs 37 minutes 37 seconds
Hopefully I’ll be back again next year!
Leave a Reply