Hampshire XC championships, 2026

I haven't managed to get to any of the Hampshire league matches this season, so I was looking forward to putting my spikes on and getting a bit muddy.

Except that it wasn't muddy at all. A combination of a dry fortnight and a  hard frost meant that the going was good to firm. I'm so conditioned to think XC = spikes that I really hadn't stopped to think about this, and I was a bit nervous that I was going to be clacking along on the shaded parts where the sun hadn't reached.

It really was chilly. I watched some of the LRR ladies finish, warmed up as best as I could and disrobed at the last possible moment. 

The ladies, basking in the heat

It wasn't a huge field of chaps - a mere 147 of us. We set off and the pace was a bit frenetic. I focused on being sensible while my peers rushed ahead. Aye aye, I thought, we'll see.

And after the first km I started overtaking people and I began to enjoy myself. Particularly once I had crossed the frosty zone in my spikes with no drama. One lap down, three to go and I inched my way through the field. About halfway through I overtook Graham Evans as he gasped 'I think I set off a bit fast'.

This is the nearest I ever get to a race smile

Into the fourth lap I spotted my arch-rival Andy Parkinson ahead of me. Remembering how he had snuck up on me at Victory 5, my initial plan was to hide behind him, but after a short while I was feeling confident about about overtaking him. 'We meet again, Mr Bond', I said as I passed him. 'I've been expecting you' he replied. I was thus highly motivated to keep the pressure up and open up some space.

With 100m to go, I felt someone on my shoulder. Eek. But it wasn't Parky, it was an Eastleigh youngster. All clear behind me. I finished in 82nd place and third M55. That'll do. Very happy with my pacing and a thoroughly fun afternoon.

In the end I beat Parky by 9 seconds

The LRR chaps

Victory 5, 2025

This isn't the sort of race which I would normally sign up for. However, it's part of the Hampshire Road Race League which is quite theme for Lordshill and I'm enjoying the tour of new events. I was looking forward to this because the course has the reputation of being stupefyingly dull and I was curious to find out just how remarkably boring a course can be.

The day was mild and damp, although thankfully dry on arrival. I wasn't feeling terribly energetic on arrival but I had a decent warm up, said hello to lots of friendly faces and set off in the quest for adventure amid the prosaic.

The first few hundreds metres were tricky in a rapidly narrowing thoroughfare and some tight bends. I kept tucked in behind my mortal rival Andy Parkinson for the first km or so the moved past him and thought no more about him.

Near the start, behind Andy

The course didn't disappoint. The laps around the corporate carpark were iconic in their mundanity. There were a couple of 'careful now' moments, but the jeopardy was in the context of flat tarmac and some kerbs. Disappointingly, there was a relatively interesting section where we got a view of the lake, but it was quite fleeting. The rain started halfway, but you never really notice moderate rain during a race.

In the final section I was overtaken and overtaking in equal measure. I found myself gaining on someone in a Romsey vest. I pushed and strained to catch him, but ended up two seconds behind him - and it was John Wheatley. Little did I know that Andy had been gunning to get me, and finished two seconds behind me. Had I not been gunning to take John out, I may well have been eclipsed by my deadly rival. Phew.

Last lap, and Andy is not far behind me

I finished in a chip time of 31:05, 132nd place and 4th in category. Here are my stats. A terrific way to spend a soggy winter morning.

The Lordshill crew

Gosport half marathon, 2025

I've done this race twice before; once pacing Hannah Shutt a couple of years ago, and before that in a thrillingly memorable fight-to-the-finish with Alex Prinsep in 2019.

I was diverted away from the carpark I was trying to get to, but this just meant that my warmup was a jog to the start. Not feeling terribly energetic, I spent quite a while in a queue for coffee. Thus fuelled, I made my way to the start line, enjoying the pre-race buzz and chatting to RRRs and LRRs alike.

I was aiming for a 3:55 first km and I landed on this perfectly, which was pleasing, although I didn't feel quite as fresh as I had hoped. I'd done an 8-mile walk the day before, and I was hoping that this hadn't taken the edge off. But I was feeling OK. The conditions were perfect; about 11 degrees and minimal wind.

I love the drummers on this course. They're based near the furthest part of the lap (it's a 2-lap course), so you get to hear them four times. They really gave me a boost. On the return leg of the first lap I found myself in lockstep with another guy. We exchanged a few words about our targets (I said 83 to 85 minutes) and we agreed to try to stick together. I never got his name, but he took a bottle from the water station and kindly passed it on to me. But as we approached the turn, he faded.

My un-named companion is on my left. I thought we'd run the whole thing together.

Into the second half, and the pace became more challenging. I was creeping over 4:00 pace. A few guys came past, but I think it was a net gain as I was catching. I always enjoy creeping past others in the last miles. At about the 11 mile marker I realised I had gone to sleep somewhat - easily done when you're on your own - and pushed the pace up a notch.

I pushed over the line in a chip time of 1:24:54, third in my category. This was way off my result from 2019, but I really hadn't trained for this, and it was six years ago. And I had scraped into my target range, so I'll gladly take that.

That's three races done for the 2025/26 Hampshire Road Race League season. I'm really enjoying it.

New Forest 10 mile, 2025

I'm putting my focus into the Hampshire Road Race League this year, something I haven't done before. It taking me to new races, which I love. Why on earth haven't I done this one before? It's an absolute cracker. Terrific scenery, great organisation and none of the razzmatazz of the half/marathon, an equivalent event based at the same venue.

In my quest to avoid Lyndhurst I ended up taking a particularly circuitous route to New Park. I didn't have a lot of time to register, pin on my number, find the loo and get warmed up. I wasn't feeling a lot of fire in my belly.

I focused on nailing a sensible pace at the start and kept to 3:51, which was OK but was nevertheless the fastest km of the race. I was happy to pull past John Wheatley. After about 4k we were on the Rhinefield Road; high ground with stonking views but a testing headwind. Then into the Ornamental Drive, always a pleasure. The sun was shining, we were out of the wind, and everything was bathed in autumnal gold. I was loving it.

The 'water feature' at the halfway point hadn't materialised this year. Most of the course was gravel track and pretty decent underfoot. Into the second half, I found myself slowly chewing my way through the order and picking people off. The cumulative pace figure on my watch moved from 4:00 to 3:59, helped by a long gradual downhill section which I tried to maximise. There were a couple of spicy hills following this where I took out a couple more weary souls. Then back into New Park, and a push to the finish line.

That's not an ideal arm swing

My recorded time was 1:04:36. I was 51st overall and 9th in the M50 category. Here are my stats. I was delighted to have hit a negative split for the race. It was all sunshine and smiles at the end, with no immediate rush to find warm layers. 

Top-notch race memento

Hursley 10k, 2025

Good old Hursley 10k. I did this in its first year in 2010, and then every year except 2014 (injured) and 2016 (in Ireland) that decade. No race in 2020 (pandemic obvs) and it's now back.

My friend Alan Graham tipped me off about this race; after all, he and I were both featured on the sign-up webpage. 

I rely on Alan starting ahead of me... I usually catch him after a mile or so

The ground was firm and conditions were perfect, so I opted for road shoes. There were plenty of friendly faces there. Doing a warm-up, I realised there were plenty of cowpats to avoid in the start and finish field.

Setting off, I found myself in about ninth place. Perfect. Off the initial field and I passed Alan as we moved on to the (longer than I remembered) tarmac section before heading into the woods, which is where the race properly begins. Lots of hills - nothing too drastic, but steady wars of attrition which are hard work, but in which I reckon I can gain a competitive edge.

Gradually I moved up the field. 'You're fifth', a marshal told me at one point. In the distance I could see number 4, and I focused on closing the gap. There was a decent 50m hill between 5.5 and 7 km where I made a lot of ground, and I took him on the downhill after this.

It was then a full-on push to the finish with no one in sight, but mindful of potential late challengers. Luckily, there were none and I crossed the line in 40:57 chip time in fourth place. And 1st M50 to boot. Here are the stats.

Everything had gone as well as I could have expected. I had maintained my top-ten finisher record and I had felt strong. I'd run this in 38:29 in 2019, possibly my most successful racing year, but results like that seemed (a) impossible and (b) immaterial today.

Winning geezers, M50 and M60 respectively

Worcester half marathon, 2025

This was my fourth attempt to get through the EA Masters qualifier, and my first road half since Tatton nearly two years ago. Training had gone well; I'd spent the summer upping my distances and thoroughly benefiting from Lordshill coaching and endurance sessions. The journey had been as it should be; hard, satisfying and enjoyable. The knee niggle that had developed at the start of the week had gone, and I was feeling good.

     
Worcester is cool and quirky

Sue and I had spent the day before exploring Worcester, so I had a reasonable familiarity with its geography. The start line felt relaxed and friendly. I had an enjoyable chat with the only other M55-er I could find, a geordie called David who said he was hoping for 1:20. Yikes, that's probably out of reach.

Steady steady for the off. I felt light as air and struggled to hold the pace for the first km back to 3:50. We crossed the river, swept around the university campus, and then back again to the east side and around the race course. It was calm and peaceful out there and I tried to concentrate on maintaining good form.

Passing the halfway market, the race changed. We were into the city centre, taking multiple twists and turns, with plenty of two-way stretches (an opportunity to admire the pace of the vanguard) and loads of crowd support and music playing. It was great fun, but over this section the largely flat course was punctuated with plenty of little inclines which were testing. As I started to feel fatigued I offered up some gratitude for the sheer privilege and joy of doing one of the things I love best, and there was Sue shouting and waving.

On to the river promenade, and I was focused on the bridge in the distance, forgetting that there was a complicated bit of chicanery around the docks first. I was feeling fatigued now (for me, it's about enduring the difficult teenage kms) but I was palpably catching people and I felt in control. Cross the river, 2km to go, and I'm passing more runners, some of them audibly on their uppers. Then the final bridge and the approach to the finish, which is all a bit of a blur.

My chip time was 1:23:15. I felt the race had gone as well as I could have hoped for and that was absolutely enough. Here are my stats. Had I got the top 3 M55 position that I needed? It took a while to figure this out, The answer was no, not this time I was fifth, well behind David who had got his fifth and nearly eight minutes behind first and second, who had knocked insane 75-minute times.

Chasing the elusive England shirt is a terrific adventure. The quest continues. I'll get there.

Totton 10k, 2025

This is a new-ish local race which is now part of the Hampshire Road Race League. Lots of local runners were taking part, so it seemed like an obvious candidate. Two weeks ahead of forth attempt to make the EA Masters grade in Worcester, it was also a good tune-up / check-in opportunity.

The carpark was a fair way from the race HQ, so by the time I'd jogged there, got my number and been through the portaloo queue there wasn't much time left to get to the start. With a field of over 600 it was a busy affair. I found myself next to David Shepherd waiting for the gun.

It was a breezy downhill start, then a series of left turns on a two-lap anticlockwise course. The undulations made it interesting - nothing very steep or arduous, but enough to give it some texture. I was enjoying myself slowly reeling people in. I went past Andy Parkinson, who has been my mortal rival in the RR10s again this year (he's been one M55 place ahead of me every time) and the thought of him sticking behind me was motivation to keep the pressure on.

I finished spent, but satisfied. My pacing and overall competitiveness has been good. The chip time of 39:07 wasn't spectacular, but that's a secondary consideration. Although I was 7th in the M50 category I was unofficially 1st M55, which I'll gladly take. Here are my stats.

Reassuringly grim