Race Report 17 August: tracking the Thames, in the shade of Burnham Beeches and track successes

Good Evening, Race Report fans. I have got a proper treat for you this evening. Not one, but two guest correspondents to brighten your Sunday evening.

Kicking them off is Hywel Thomas - the 2025 champion of the MTS Thames Challenge. The Thames Challenge takes in 184 miles of the Thames footpath - England’s longest river path - from the source of the Thames in the Cotswold’s, to the Thames Barrier in Greenwich over four days. The Challenge is split into four (day-long stages), with each stage being a unique race in their own right.

Well - while lots of people signed up for 1 or 2 days only 8 signed up for all 4 days so it’s not quite like winning the London Marathon. There were two sponsored athletes- Justin and Melissa (lovely couple) who signed up. After 3 days Justin, former Royal Marine and current vicar of St Michael’s in Beer, was some 6 hours quicker than me. He was then unfortunately called away on Parish business and I moved into first place (God moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform). For a race run along the length of the Thames there was a lot of people getting lost and climbing fences. We also had cow trouble. It also got increasingly hot, which led to my running partner spontaneously jumping in the river. The best accommodation was the Wetherspoons in Henley - a different class of Wetherspoons I think. It was 184 miles and a lot of fun.

It was a veritable sea of Chiltern green at the Burnham Beeches Half and 10k this morning. And, it turns out, it was the day to come third. Richard and Sylvia Moss were both 3rd placed in their respective categories in the 10k (40.49 and 48.50), while Miriam Kempson was 3rd in her category in the Half (2.00.53). Joining that talented trio in the Half were: Dominic Baker (1.30.29); Russell Vandenbrekel (1.32.55); Tom Wright (1.38.44); Ben Hannen (1.40.26); Carys Evans (1.48.34); Giles Greenhalgh (1.50.57); Glen Martin (1.57.22); Stephen Sprod (1.59.45); Chris Pitkin (2.06.22); Rio Edwards (2.08.38); and Mark Fry (2.09.15). And in the 10k: Kingsley Nanton (44.10); Tamsin Finch (1.02.50); and Philip Lewis (1.22.15).

Let’s move to the track now, and to Sue Slade - the second of our guest correspondents:

“[Richard Slade] has run PBs for every distance he has entered this season - 800m (1.56.89), 1500m (3.51.50), 3000m (7.58.01), 5000m (13.46.92.) His 5000m time gained him an invitation to the UK Athletics Championships held at the Alexander Stadium, Birmingham last weekend. This race had very high quality entrants including Josh Kerr, the current world 1500m Champion and Olympic silver medalist. Richard ran well to be 18th.

Young athlete Edward Johnson was also in action in Birmingham, in the U15/U17 Champs on Friday 8 August. Edward ran a PB of 4.33.12 to be fifth in the final of the U17 men’s 1500m steeplechase.
COMING UP LOCALLY: Trust 10k, Last Friday of the Month 5k, the Southern Athletics League, Leighton 10k, SEAA Intercounty Championships. Details, as ever, on the Calendar.

A NOTE ABOUT RACE REPORT: If you have done an event, or know that someone else has, ping a quick email to [email protected] to make sure it is included in a future iteration of Race Report. Race Report is driven by the Club Calendar (and my ability to track what you lovely people are getting up to on social media). If you see any local races which are missing from the Club Calendar, please let me know via the email address above.