Summer Handicap, 28th July 2025

For once, we had summer weather for the Summer Handicap, and the course was in perfect condition with neither mud nor cows to contend with over the hills.

Your first outing is often your best chance of handicap success, and that proved to be the case again this evening with debutants Guy Cowen-Hutton and Mark Flynn finishing first and second respectively. Regular guest and friend of the club, Vasilisa Sidarova completed the podium.

Although there were only two competitors, the Summer Cup final provided an exciting race with Lena Lou and Luke Woodend sprinting side by side down the finishing straight. Lena just about held Luke off to prevail and claim the trophy. Lena will have the chance to defend her title in October, when she will face competition from David Lydall, Tara Hipwood and Roberto Marzo.

There were some seriously fast times too. Harry Mawdsley missed out on a place on the all-time honours board by just 17 seconds, recording a fantastic 16:38. Alex Taylor was next fastest with 18:57, followed by Roberto Marzo, despite Roberto having run an impressive Northumberland Coastal Run the day before.

The fastest ladies were Sarah Williamson (23:25), Steph Towers (23:39) and Ana Prodan (24:30).

As ever, many thanks to all the marshals and other volunteers for ensuring that everything ran smoothly, and to Anna for organising the venue and post-run pizzas.

Full results are here.