Trail races, ultras, marathons, cross country races and a mince pie run
Big Feat New Forest Xmas Trail races
On a very wet day, when some might have opted to stay in bed, four brave souls ventured for an 8am start at the Big Feat New Forest Xmas Trail races. Colette Grist and Kate Townsend chose the marathon distance of 42 km while Ivan Chunnett and Chris Raby opted for the 50km run.
Colette Grist described her day:
“Ridiculously wet, windy and a complete mud, puddle and flood fest! Not sure I would have been any wetter if I had gone swimming, compared to 6 hours of continuous rain! Still good to be on the trails, with Kate Townsend’s much needed company. Challenge for 2025: 12 marathon / ultra events completed.”
Kate Townsend reports:
“I’ve done 9 marathons and 5 ultras this year, (32, 35, 40, 47 and 70 miles) and I have now run 40 marathons.”
Ultras and marathons
Ivan Chunnett describes his year as one of mud, milestones and marathons having completed 7 marathons, and 6 ultras including the 56-mile Comrades Marathon in South Africa. He joined Farnham Runners in 2021 and thanks them for his progress:
“Thanks for the miles, the company, the training runs, and the all important coffees. You turned long slogs into social miles, start lines into shared laughs, and recovery into café strategy sessions.”
Chris Raby completed 5 ultras & 2 marathons this year, 3 of the ultras were approximately 100k and 2 were approximately 50k.
Mince Pie run
Colette Grist and Kelly Lincoln were announced as the winners of the club’s London Marathon places, based on the number of league races. Then members set off around the town for their annual Mince Pie social run, which ended with mince pies and drinks at a local pub.
SXCL Lord Wandsworth College
A huge turn-out of 54 Farnham Runners enjoyed the mud, puddles and hills of the Lord Wandsworth cross-country, organised by Hart Road Runners. Renowned for its mud, after continual rain three days before, this year didn’t disappoint.
Both men’s and ladies’ teams did well, both placing 5th giving an overall result of joint 4th out of the 21 clubs.
Joe Collins, 7th, led them in, followed by Chris Carey 15th, Joe Muntean-Lee 23rd and Toby Loomis 25th to complete the scoring team of four.
In her first race in Farnham colours Charlotte Durant was first lady for the Farnham club in 18th, with Gabi Hitchcock 20th, returning member Eloise Stradling 21st and Amelie Frewer 29th.
See the Photo Gallery 2025 for further photos from these events.