A History of the Race

The first race was held in 1984 starting in Molly Millers Lane and using a course to the south of the town, taking in Sindlesham, Arborfield and Barkham before finishing in the Carnival Field, where the swimming pool now is. Anyone who ran that course will always remember the last couple of hundred metres from the football ground before turning into the field.

The race did have its moments with the race being postponed in February 1991 due to to snow and ice and rescheduled for December that year. The race was not held in 1992.

Following the development of the Carnival Field and the Football Ground the race was moved in 1994 to Cantley Park, with the original course starting in Bell Foundry Lane and taking in the rural lanes around Hurst. The course has been altered a couple of times to enable the start, as well as the finish to be within the park itself. This move has also enabled the whole route to be traffic free, an important consideration as Health and Safety came more to the forefront.

2002 saw another year when the race was not held due to the closure of the motorway bridge.

Snow also caused the postponement in 2009...

...with the race rescheduled in May on a gloriously hot morning, much to the delight of the marshals and other helpers who are normally used to bitterly cold weather.

In 2014 it was torrential rain and flooding that led to the cancellation, with entries carried over to 2015.

Our final two races in 2017 and 2018 thankfully went without a hitch.

Over the 32 races we have organised we have received almost 56,000 entries and have given away all of our surplus funds to worthwhile organisations and charities.

Our Record Holders Are:-

Ladies ; Liz Yelling on 10 February 2008 in a time of 1 hr 11 minutes 9 seconds

Men ; Phil Wicks on 10 February 2012 in a time of 1 hr 3 minutes 14 seconds

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Licence number 2018-31580