Brampton to Carlisle, 16th November 2025

A Claremont foursome headed to Brampton today to tackle the oldest 10 mile road race in the country, the destination: Carlisle. A couple shared their thoughts with us:

Harry Mawdsley: I really enjoyed this one. Perfect conditions: clear, cold, and no wind. The course was quick and scenic along largely unclosed roads. A bit unhinged but a nice alternative to the big city events I’ve done this year. It felt like a real club runner’s race.

For once, I managed to restrain my pace in the first half, so I was able to finish strongly in the second despite a couple of naughty hills towards the end. Probably my best performance of the year and I exceeded my expectations so was proper chuffed. All four of us Claremonters had fantastic runs, and it was a great day out, despite the 6:30 start. I’m sure I’ll be back.

Tara Hipwood: It was a smaller group of us than usual that headed west in the early hours of Sunday morning to take on the 10 mile road race from Brampton to Carlisle. I had been really looking forward to this one, having always been blessed with cold but relatively dry and windless weather in previous years and having had a strong race last year. However, having succumbed to some kind of virus in the days immediately beforehand, I was a little apprehensive about how well I would be able to run.

Weather conditions were once again ideal, and I set off a little faster than last year. Despite being aware that it definitely felt harder than usual, I was able to distract myself with the beautiful Cumbrian countryside. I started to struggle in miles 7&8 as we ran along the Old Brampton Road, but somehow found a second wind in mile 9 as we entered residential Carlisle. Then, one last uphill, followed by a steep downhill, and a sprint finish battle with an unknown man across the bridge over the River Eden. Which I won; obviously!