Cheriton trail race, 2019

It was a double-header weekend.  Hot on the heels of the Sydling Hill race, another off-roader - this time, a brand-new event organised by Stubbington Green Runners.

We parked up in Cheriton, and soon enough met up with a few Romsey folk - Alice, Mark W and Emily from Romsey, plus Paul from OS and his brother Gary.

From the start, we had a natty little hill that got the heart moving. And from there on it was classic Hampshire chalk countryside, with hills, woods, fields and tracks.  Stubbington had done a wonderful job mowing many of the narrow paths, so we didn't get tormented by stinging nettles. Thankfully, there was a light cloud cover that took the edge off the heat.

I was largely on my own after 15 minutes or so, but every now and then I'd overtake someone. About half way, a couple of guys came moving past me; I always admire runners with that level of discipline and control.  But as the second half progressed, I caught each of them in turn.

The race was billed as being 11.5 miles.  I decided to assume that it would be 20k, knowing that  was being quite conservative... but I'd just passed 17k when a marshal called out 'half a mile to go!'.  At this point I had some guy I'd just overtaken a few paces behind me.  I had to rapidly move up a gear, and tore down hill and into a field from where I could see the finish.  I crossed the line in 1:15:36, 12 seconds ahead of my rival, and in fifth place overall.  Here are my stats.

Fearing I was about to be pipped to the post

A decent weekend of trail running, a return to racing after a few weeks, and a good curtain-opener on the approach to the Snowdonia marathon in July.

The Romsey gang

Sydling Hill race, 2019

Last Saturday, 22 June, the lovely Mrs S and I were up early on a fine summer's morning, heading west to the village of Sydling St Nicholas in Dorset.


The Sydling Hill race is part of the bigger Giant's Head racing weekend, based on a Cerne Abbas theme; hence a general penis theme to the whole event, all in the best possible taste. The village green was the focus of activity, and it was a really charming venue in a fabulous Dorset village.

We set off, running up a road and as briefed took a marshalled left turn off the road.  I followed the three guys at the front of the pack, before hearing a cry of 'stop' that made my heart sink. There were two left turns from the road and we'd taken the wrong one. Back again to the junction and gradually past the folk who were now ahead. After about 3k and the first proper hill I was back in 4th place. The teenager who had led from the start had now caught up and was in front again.

I gradually moved past two more runners, and I was gaining ground on the teenager.  There were a few closed gates between fields which involved some fumbly manoeuvring. I was sitting comfortably in second place, and about halfway through the race, when the lad ahead quite suddenly pulled aside to let me past; he'd clearly set off way too fast.

Now in the lead, I kept the pressure up, nervous of footsteps behind me. Another long climb, and then along a lengthy undulating ridge at what felt like the roof of Dorset before plunging down back into Sydling St Nicholas and the finish line, my watch saying almost exactly 11k.

It was getting warm, and it was the first time this year that I had felt over-heated after a race.  It had been wonderful fun.  I got a bag full of beer and a plaque, plus a medal and a t-shirt which is striking but one that I'm not sure I can ever wear.

All medalled up and ready to go

Not sure about wearing the t-shirt

Here are my stats, here are the results, and here's a Strava flyby showing the battle among the top 3.

A lovely race!