Brighton Trail Marathon enjoyed by Lewes athletes - despite glitches

The inaugural  Brighton Trail Marathon took runners over 26.2 miles of stunning East Sussex downland with six major hill climbs – and Lewes AC members were involved in good numbers.
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Starting at East Brighton Park, runners climbed to Woodingdean, descended the dramatic Balsdean ‘Snake’ track and then ascended to panoramic views from the South Downs escarpment. A long picturesque segment followed the South Downs Way - with the odd deviation - to Ditchling Beacon.

Here the road over the beacon was closed. This allowed a King/Queen of the Downs sprint competition up the beacon. But this was also the 20-mile mark and many the runners on the hill temporarily became walkers.

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Then there was just the question of the six-mile run down to Stanmer Park which had the cruelty of one last steep climb.

Lewes AC runners at the startLewes AC runners at the start
Lewes AC runners at the start

Notable Lewes AC finishers included Toby Meanwell in second place – out of 1006 runners - and a time of 3:12:56 and Ellen Brookes who was third woman in 3:49.27.

Other Lewes AC finishers were: Philip Westbury 4:36:26, Mauro Lazzati 5:03:54, Frances Witt 5:15:03, Bob Hughes 5:40:50, Kate Seymour 5:43:53, Emma Gardner 5:48:49, Anita Amies 5:54:18, Ruth Wray 5:59:48, Julie Deakin 6:23.25, and Hazel Bennington 6:30:59.

Annoyingly, according to Lewes AC, the organisers did not collect details of runners’ clubs, so some Lewes AC runners may have been missed. A bottleneck in the first mile left runners standing while ahead runners threaded their way through a steep, wooded, one-at-a-time path.

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Elite runners got off lightly, but for many this typically cost a quarter of an hour or more of time. Despite the glitches this event deserves a place as an enduring classic in the trail running calendar.