Round Up 9th – 22nd June 2025

The race season is really with us now with race reports coming in thick and fast (thank you so much).  This edition includes both the Mid-Sussex and Royal Windsor triathlons as well as the 3.8km Arun River swim, the Lightlink 10k, not to mention the Race to the King ultra and sea swimming in Italy – what a varied collection of events!  Well done everyone!

Mid-Sussex Triathlon – Sunday 15^th June 2025

Thank you to our Club Chair, Olly Sampson, for sending in this report of the Mid-Sussex triathlon:

On a suspiciously glorious mid-summer morning 8 Tuffs set out to take on the Mid Sussex Sprint triathlon.

Wonderfully organised Mid Sussex allow only their newbies to participate and then their golden rule otherwise I’m told is “if you’re in the country, you volunteer!”

Registration was on Saturday or Sunday morning and the race is based out of the Triangle Leisure Centre, free parking over the road and a warm welcome at 6am Sunday. 

Once in transition we soon made a Tuff corner with Mark, Chris, Alex and I all in a row.  Set up our stuff then a quick race briefing in the centre and off to the indoor pool.  The swim was 16 lengths in a serpentine layout, up one lane back down it then dive, duck under the rope and up the next lane, not the smoothest way to start a race but novel!

Then it’s out into transition and onto a fast bike course out through Ansty and then play with the A272 for a bit down to Wineham and then back to Hickstead onto Burgess Hill, 20km in all, again really well marshalled, all potholes flagged up on the roads.  Back into transition and out on a relatively flat 5km out and back through somewhere in Burgess Hill with marshalls with big pointy foam fingers showing you the way!

Great race, perfect weather and all finished by 10am.  There were some great Tuff performances with Mark Walford coming first in his age group and 7th overall in 1hr 12mins, refreshing for Mark to do a flat out sprint instead of long slower training this season!  2nd Tuff in was Gareth Coombes in a great time and 12th overall at 1hr 14mins.  Next up yours truly in 35th overall 1hr 20mins, on the comeback trail now and definitely feeling the benefit of all the Tuff training!  

Another comeback Tuff was Tony Pearce with a great 1hr 29 mins closely followed by Callum Kalbfell in 1hr 34 mins, Chris Evans and Christine Griffin followed up with super super Vet performances under 2 hours for both. 

Alex Webb went well in the Aqua Bike coming back from injury with a 4th overall in this category.  Congratulations to all.

Lovely race and lots of prizes and alcohol-free beer at the end to top it off, I’d highly recommend this race for anyone looking to venture into their first triathlon, there is even a smaller Try a Tri if you wish.

Next up, Christine Griffin reports in, aptly enough starting with a big up for the ‘Try a Tri event’:

The swim is always a bit of a wild card at this event.  With lots of participants unsure of their predicted swim times, the pool can feel a bit chaotic at times.  But once I settled into my rhythm, the 16 lengths were soon behind me, and I was dashing out towards T1 with that familiar mix of soggy adrenaline and excitement.

The 25k bike route felt a lot hillier than I remembered — funny how the mind conveniently erases the tough bits! Still, the Sussex countryside made for a beautiful ride, and there were plenty of moments to take in the views between climbs.  Legs were definitely feeling it by the time I rolled back into the Triangle Leisure Centre.

Onto the 5k run, and by now the sun was out in full force — a beautiful morning but hot.  The support out on the run course was brilliant, with fellow competitors offering encouragement and marshalls cheering us on like we were all chasing Olympic gold.

I crossed the finish line with a smile, some very tired legs, and a huge sense of achievement — not just for finishing strong, but for being four minutes faster than last year!  Progress, sunshine and the incredible community spirit of this event made it a truly memorable day.  I was very pleased to be told by Olly Sampson that I was the first Tuff female!! But then realised that I was the only Tuff female!

A massive thank you to the organisers and marshalls for creating such a friendly and supportive race year after year.  Mid Sussex, you’ve still got the magic — and I’ll definitely be back again.

Royal Windsor Triathlon – Sunday 15^th June 2025

The standard event was chosen as this year’s Club Championship event.  A select group of Tuffs took part (I suspect a packed race calendar reduced the numbers).  Claire Moyle, as ever, was kind enough to send in her thoughts on what was clearly a challenging race for her – what great resilience, Claire!

This event had been in the diary for a while and my training had been going quite well, although life had started to get in the way and then I was hit with a very heavy cold just the week before.  As I was driving others to the event and there was no deferral, I was going to just get through it.  I arrived on the Saturday to rack the bike which was nice and simple and then went to look at the start and finish of the swim.  I clearly hadn’t read any of the instructions carefully because I hadn’t even realised we were swimming in the Thames!  Once I was over the shock, we all had ice cream and headed to the Airbnb which was very nice.   Although I was mostly over my cold, a lingering chesty cough was making it hard to breathe but I thought my asthma meds would kick in and I would be fine.   After a good night’s sleep, an early start saw us in transition by 5am, but I now had a dodgy stomach which was making me think maybe this wasn’t going to happen!  Looking around most of the Tuffs were all racked fairly close so we all left transition together and headed towards the swim start, me stopping again for the toilets.  We made the start and I was still undecided if I should start, but in the end I told myself ‘I am here, I can always stop if I need to’.  The water was surprisingly warm with the tide in our favour.  For the first 1000 metres I went for it. I didn’t get far and I was really struggling to breathe so took a rest and set off again, and this was how my race progressed stopping to rest until my breathing calmed and then go again.  I was very grateful to make the turn point and know I would soon be out the water.  The long transition to the bike didn’t help, but once there I could take my inhaler and enjoy the lovely 2-lap bike course, which was well marshalled and signed.  Back in transition and out on the 3-lap run course which went through the town and down the long mile.  It was lovely to see and hear all the support from the other Tuffs who were all at various laps of the run course.  I was now coughing almost every stride and was very relieved to make it to the finish, where Shelia went to get my inhaler so I could actually talk to her!  In hindsight I should not have started, but despite struggling to breathe, it was a lovely event and I really enjoyed it and was surprised by my results which were pretty much what I have predicted.  Thanks for all the Tuff love over the weekend: it was fantastic!

Next up, a report from Mark Sole who took Kate Evans’ place in the sprint distance: 

As the club championships went to Windsor, I really wanted to have a go!  Due to various circumstances, I wasn’t able to commit to signing up.   However, Kate had some other circumstances which meant that she had committed but couldn’t make it, so we managed to arrange for me to enter, I didn’t even have to dress up as Kate!

So the club captain goes to the club championships and entered the non-club championship race.  As I’ve been training for longer distances, this seemed an ideal part of my plan!

Anyway racking, ice creams, spag bol along with a lovely afternoon/ evening with Sheila, Claire Moyle and our superb support crew of Julia (non-Tuff friend of Sheila).  We were ready and organised. 

Turn up on the morning, tyres flat.  Find pump etc.   Get to the start. 

Swim, seems to have gone alright, I caught the previous waves.  However, I didn’t lay anything out, items everywhere in bag, shoes etc.  Get sorted and off on the bike.   I’m loving this, overtaking on the long climb out of the town, I go past a few that looked a bit aged like myself.  With my athletic whale shape, I seem to gain speed on the downs quite well!   T2 went far better.  5k to home, pushed on thinking about the track sessions, where Hazel keeps telling me not to slow down and man up!  There was a bit of a sprint finish but not against an 85-year-old lady for a change!  I didn’t take the position, but he was younger than me!

Having been 6th fastest overall in the bike it turns out that T1 lost me the race.   I was second but only 9 seconds behind the age group winner.  However, I took 1:30 longer than him through transition.  So easy gains to be had, plus lessons to learn!  

Windsor is a great event and really well-organised.   The guys in the standard were all awesome!  I don’t apologise to any of the Royals that may have been trying to get a lie in though!!

Jon, Tiff, Clive and Trevor have all been going since before I was born and I can see why!!  If you haven’t done it then join next year: I’m planning to go back and do the standard!

Cheers Kate!

Lightlink – Shoreham – Friday 20^th June 2025

Many thanks to Clive Harvey for sending in the following Lightlink report:

After Christmas, Sussex Trail Events stage their Darklink headtorch run.  This year saw a new addition to their portfolio – ‘Lightlink’ 10K, held close to the longest day; the same route besides the Adur on the Downslink.  For the ‘bling lovers’ the medal intertwines with the Darklink medal.  Unfortunately, a 6pm start meant we had a couple of no shows due to work commitments but the Tuff contingent of 11 runners was nonetheless strong, held on the Friday, hottest day of the year so far.

In December, runners disappeared into the night, but this time it was a cloud of dust from the Downslink path obscuring runners as everywhere was so dry.  Conditions were exceptionally humid throughout as trees on the banks of Adur stopped what little cooler air there was.  Pleasing to report Team Tuff all completed satisfactorily; a great, well organised event led by or very own Jay McCardle as race director.!

Clive Harvey finished just 13 seconds ahead of brother Trevor.  Tiff Orton was our next runner followed by one of our newer members Kayleigh Hudson.  Ness Green, and then Dan Barnett who is another recent Tuff; great to see Kayleigh and Dan doing well.  An impressive result from Adam Stringer who had dashed back from a work team building course climbing Ben Nevis.  Adam made the summit and was almost back when he saw his second team making very slow progress, so he headed back to the summit again – how’s that for teambuilding!?!  The good news continued with Nina Tully, Kate Evans, Sheila Bailey and Sue Pinky all completing the course.

Next, Sue Pinky shares her thoughts on the event:

I was ten mins slower than planned but I’m happy with that considering. 

Big shout out to the lady who provided me with an asthma inhaler: I’d forgotten mine and what with the combination of the dust cloud and heat, I couldn’t breathe when I finished and was extremely wheezy.  I’d say lesson learnt but I’ll probably forget again! 

Thanks, Jay, for another awesome event.

Race to the King – West Dean Gardens – Saturday 21^st June 2025

Not content with 3 spring marathons, Stu Harvey added Race to the King to the list of his recent achievements:

Of all the events out there, completing an ultra-marathon was one of the boxes left to tick on my running to-do list.  Having spent most of the winter training for the three marathons I completed earlier in the year, it seemed like as good a time as any to tick the ultra box.  So, piggybacking that marathon training, I duly entered the Race To The King Castle 50k.

Having looked at several other ultra-marathons that were coming up, Race To The King appealed on a few different levels. First, it was a loop course, removing the logistical challenge of an A-to-B race.  Secondly, the location, local and in the stunning South Downs.  The latter is particularly apt as when I was starting to run more seriously all those years ago, it was running with the Tuffs on the Arundel Park Saturday morning runs that really got me into the trails, so it therefore brought the running journey around full circle.

So, Race To The King was the one and entering it just a few weeks after the Manchester Marathon, it was time to hit the hills and convert the road progress into something with a bit more elevation.  The training went as well as it could given the time available, and it was useful to train in the mini-hot period we had at the end of May, which would go some way toward getting a feel of what was to come…

I guess the heat comes with the territory of entering an event that comes at the end of June, but it being the hottest day of the year so far was not what I hoped to have on my race day bingo card.  The event itself started and finished at West Dean Gardens, and arriving in the car park just after 6am, the temperature was already pushing mid-twenties.  This was to slowly climb as we awaited the start, and before I knew it, we were off and heading deep into the South Downs.

Conscious that the day was to be a hot one, the pace was hard to judge initially as the first few miles were uphill to meet the South Downs Way north of Singleton.  Settling into a decent rhythm, the course continued on to Upwaltham, up to Glatting Beacon and over Bignor Hill before descending to the river Arun at Amberley.

Making use of the well-stocked pit stops all the way around, it was just after the first pit stop at South Stoke that the heat really made itself known.  I hoped this bit might provide a bit of respite, given it was mostly flat, but with everything so overgrown along the river it was a real heat trap and I was pleased to get back into the open of Arundel Park, before heading up and over into Houghton.

Despite the challenging conditions, the views all around the course were stunning which provided a welcome distraction; however, the next miles to come were to be the hardest.  Late morning and under an unbroken sky before the cloud cover came, it was just about keeping moving whilst trying to take on as much water as possible.

Locked in, a tumble on some tree roots on the Monarch’s Way would break the stride and cost me some time (and pride!) getting cleaned up at the 42k pit stop, but the majority of the work was done at this point, it was just a case of keeping the legs moving for the final miles.

More Monarch’s Way would follow before passing Goodwood Racecourse and the sneaky addition of Trundle Hill right at the end.  From there, it was into West Dean Gardens, legs cramping and screaming, for the final kilometres to the finish.

After 6 hours and 32 minutes and 54k on my feet on the hottest day of the year, coming down the incredibly steep hill to the finish was a very welcome if not emotional sight and I don’t think I’ve ever had such a larger feeling of relief to get to the end of a race before but that feeling was soon overwritten with satisfaction.

My first ultra, and first major trail event in general, and there were a lot of takeaways.  The first was how welcoming and social it all was.  It was great chatting with and getting to know other runners and their running stories on the way around the course which helped some of the trickier miles to fly by.  I also learned a lot about racing on the trails and the different approaches needed to that of the road, things I look forward to hopefully putting into practice in another trail special one day.

Overall, it was an incredible experience and in a stunning part of the world to boot. Writing this on the day after, I can genuinely say I’ve never ached so much after an event but that certainly won’t put me off doing another!

Many thanks to Dom Amey for reporting in on the costal route, which Lucy Goldsmith and Catherine Gray also completed.

A 50k seemed like a good way to dip my toes in to the waters of ultra running, only a few km more than a marathon on a (mostly) flat course and nice and local starting at West Dean Gardens near Singleton.  And it was but however you frame it beforehand it’s still a long run on the day. 

It’s a big event once you get in, the entrance gate being only a few inches wider than most cars caused some long tailbacks on the roads approaching the start, but Catharine, Lucy and I just about made it over the start line of the coastal route as the klaxon sounded and we set off together to run/walk/chat through the first 20k or so.  It was already warm but there was a bit of breeze on the coast paths and we ticked off those first few km markers very nicely.  As it warmed up even more, we all found our own pace and kept on trucking towards the slight sting in the tail of this route which makes its way back to the start point via hills which people who have done the Kingley Vale half marathon will remember well.

There are 3 options, the coastal loop (50km, largely flat), the castle route (50km, much hillier) and the 100km which means doing both. We agreed that we didn’t feel we were missing out seeing the 100km competitors heading through our finish area to go out and do it again, kudos to anyone who did the whole thing, it wasn’t an easy day for it.

A successful day out for all, everyone made it over the finish line in one piece and it was good to see Stu there who had tackled the castle route. 

REP 3.8km Arun River Swim – Saturday 21^st June 2025

Many thanks for Adrian Oliver for sending in the following report:

As a Tuff favourite, the always popular and well-organised REP River Arun 3.8km Swim race was once again well attended by Tuffs, whether participating, working on the team, or as supporters.

With event timing determined to be approximately 1 hour after the Arun River high tide time of 7:52 am, the REP team was riverside at 5 am on the longest day of the year, following an enjoyable week of hot and sunny weather.

Saturday morning continued to be warm, with sea temperatures having increased considerably in recent weeks to a balmy 18.4°C, accompanied by a gentle easterly wind, making for ideal swimming, marshalling, and spectating conditions.

The early registration was completed by the efficient and smiling REP team, most of whom were fellow Tuffs. Competitors were led to the awaiting coaches for the short ride to Ford.  There they were taken to the holding area at the Ship & Anchor campsite.  This caused amusement among campers who were trying to pack away their gear while surrounded by excited lycra-clad swimmers.

Once team photos were complete, toilet visits done, wetsuits donned, spare kit bags loaded into REP team vans, the 336 competitors hopped into the cooling and flat River Arun ready for starter’s orders and the off.

Due to tidal conditions of a Neap tide (low tidal range of 4.8m, making for modest river current), the expected swim times were predicted to be not as fast as in previous years.  As it turned out, over 55% of the swimmers finished the 3.8km swim in under 1 hour, with the overall winning lady finishing in 44:09 (fastest time since 2021’s 42:55).

Paul Howie, 1st Tuff home completed his swim in 48:12.  Next was Adrian Oliver 50:15, Hazel Tuppen 52:14, Isis Solato 53:17, Clive Doughty 57:54, Olly Sampson 58:23, Adam Stringer 59:19, Clare Worgan 58:45, Linda Wright 1:00:35, Katherine Yates-Hill 1:01:33, Catherine Bellsham-Revell 1:02:33, Sue Simpon 1:02:40 (despite a swim goggle malfunction and needed to fetch a spare set at the start), Ed Lay 1:03:04, Jenny Oliver 1:04:12, Samuel Mahe 1:04:48, and Karl Halom 1:05:23.

As usual, the REP team featured a large Tuff contingent of Clive Harvey, Trevor Harvey, Tiff Orton, Colin Simpson, Grant Smalley, Jane Custance, Sheila Bailey, Andy Ward, and Andy Rossiter.

Mark Walford, as part of his Saturday run, had run to the swim start in Ford to cheer Team-Tuff, then ran down to the swim finish to join the other Tuff cheerleaders including Al Evans and Carey Woods.

If you thoroughly enjoyed this weekend’s Arun River swim, make sure you sign up to the next REP River Adur swim on 9th August.  Although a longer swim of 5km, the additional 1.2km in the river provides additional current assistance, making for swim times typically only 10-15 minutes longer, with the longest swim time in 2024 as 1:22 (compared to 1:38 on the Arun swim!).  The River Adur swim is very picturesque as you swim past ‘Hogwarts’ (aka Lancing Collage) and under Shoreham’s Tollbridge.  See you there!

Next up, Sue Simpson tells us about her eventful swim:

The start of the day was perfect to do the Arun 3.8k river swim.  Efficient registration, coaches to travel to the start, swim safety canoes and riverbank spotters all give this river swim huge kudos.

After entering the water and feeling confident, I made my way to the front in my own little bubble, I’m calmly waiting for the off…   

After the 5 second countdown, the mackerel washing machine started!  200m in and I had my goggles whipped off my head.  A bit shocked, I started treading water trying to find them.  Meanwhile the swimmers are going past me and away down the river.  I did a couple of strokes to see if I could carry on, and it was a no go: I was resigned to baling out and waiting for the sweeper boat… but an angel was walking the bank in the form of Debbie and she had spare goggles in her bag.  Swimming to the bank, she threw me a pair, but they went underneath the water before I could get them.  The 2nd pair came at me, and bingo, I was back in it.  Now I was last and had a lot of catching up to do.  Finding my rhythm and the current I was on my way. Before long, I was up with the back of the group.  Keeping calm and the rhythm consistent I was soon passing swimmers, lots of them.  I finally finished in 62mims.  Not too shabby after losing time at the beginning!

Italian Open Water Tour, Gaeta, Italy – 21^st & 22^nd June 2025

Thank you to Susan Douglas for sending in the following report of a recent swimming weekend in much more inviting waters than so far this year!

I’ve been off on my travels again to Italy, this time visiting the pretty coastal town of Gaeta, Southern Italy.

I was joining the Italian Open water tour again for 3k and 7k races.

Italy was hot, hot, hot and humid!  My hair lost the plot: if only Kevin Keegan’s 70’s perm was back in fashion! Anyway, back to swimming, both swims were A to Bs, which I really enjoy.

The sea temperature was 26c, yes really, so no wetsuits allowed, which of course suited me.

First up was the 3k.  Starting on the other side of town with the swim taking us out any round the protruding cape, with high cliffs, scary caves and a medieval castle on the top.

The swim started with the usual melee of swimmers, bashing each other, knock on my goggles and kick in the boob!  Eventually the pack of 258 spread out, as we rounded the cape and choppier seas.  Some swam close to the cliff face, but I didn’t fancy being sucked into oblivion in one of the caves, so kept my distance.  Eventually rounded the bend to sight the beach and the finish.  It was a hard swim, my watch recorded 3.5k and I noticed other folks on Strava also did way over 3k too.

I came 3rd in my age group out of 12. Nice to get a podium place, wooden medal and can of beer!

Next day was the 7k.  Only 61 swimmers and I knew this meant I’d be in the bottom 5 as this distance tends to attract the hardcore speedy swimmers.  We took a bus up the coast to Formia and as we waited there was quite an international feel, with Americans, Dutch, Russian and UK.  The route tracked across the bay to pick up the same route as the 3k.

We started the swim and I really didn’t want to be swimming by myself, so I latched on to a lady, draughting most of the time, with the occasional side by side.  She turned out to be English, living in Rome but originally from Petersfield – small world.  We swam happily together, just splitting up slightly towards the end, as I still wasn’t going near the cliffs.  We ended at the same time and crossed the line together.  I let her go first as really she’d done all the work. Turned out we were 1st and 2nd in our age group: actually we were the only two, but you’ve got to be in it to win it!   Another medal and beer.

It was a lovely friendly event and I was pleased with my swims. The Tuff sessions really do keep me in shape –  thanks coaches and lane buddies.

parkrun Round Up

Saturday 14^th June 2025

There was bumper Tuff action at Littlehampton with 11 Tuffs taking part, namely Fraser Kidd, Steve Fryer, Adrian Oliver, Kevin Pearson, Colin Simpson, Benita Fryer, Sue Simpson, Sue Pinky, Hope Newcomer, Al Evans and Chris Evans with the Evans brothers also picking up volunteering credits.  This was closely followed by Worthing with 7 Tuff runners: Nathan Bilham, Stephen Feest, Kayleigh Hudson, Ed Lay, Les Pearce, Nina Tully and Debbie Birch.  Further afield, Daniel Barnett ran at the Queen Elizabeth parkrun, Katie Young took one of her trips to Hereford parkrun, Paul Fielder ran at Hackwork parkrun in Country Durham and Amanda De Ridder made it all the way to Auldcathie District parkrun in West Lothian.

Saturday 21^st June 2025

The heat and weekend’s race action no doubt contributed to lower numbers last weekend, but Steve Fryer, Nathan Bilham, Steve Bridgeman, Emma Hinton, Benita Fryer, Al Evans and Chris Evans were undeterred by the scorching temperatures and ran at Littlehampton.  Amanda De Ridder celebrated her 200^th parkrun at Bognor, while Tim Kenny hit 100 parkruns.  Also running at Bognor were Kayleigh Hudson and Daniel Barnett.  Les Pearce was at Worthing parkrun as usual, along with Paul Fielder.  Katie Young and Will King visited Portsmouth Lakeside parkrun and Debbie Birch crossed the Solent to take part at the Medina parkrun on the Isle of Wight.