Chichester Runners senior athletes have been enjoying a purple patch – with successes at the Great South Run, Ardingly Amble and the Sussex cross-country relays at Goodwood.

A club record turnout of 50 runners joined nearly 20,000 who battled their way round the Great South course in Portsmouth on Sunday.

The iconic 10-miiler is regarded as one of the major road races in the UK and the fast, flat course attracts athletes from far and wide.

While Chichester had four finishers inside the magic one-hour barrier it was their fifth runner across the line who stole the headlines – as Charlotte Reading had the race of her life to finish sixth female in the mass field, recording a faster time than some of the elite runners.

The Chichester Runners squad at the Ardingly Amble | Picture via Mikeey Kwoka

placeholder image — The Chichester Runners squad at the Ardingly Amble | Picture via Mikeey Kwoka

Reading’s time of 60min 42sec lifts her up to third place on the club all-time ten-mile list with the two faster times also having been set on the same course – Rebecca Moore clocked 56.30 in 2015 and last year, Rachel Laurie stormed round the course in 58.00.

For the men, there was another outstanding performance from up-and-coming Josh Collins, who clocked 55.01 for 40th place.

Having won races in the West Sussex Fun Run League, Collins showed he has risen to another level over the past 12 months as he slashed four minutes and 44 seconds from his Great South time of 2025. This propels him to 16th in the club all-time list which is still headed by Chris Zablocki with a time of 49.25 in 2015.

On Sunday the three others who broke the one-hour barrier were Will Boutwood with 57.11 for 72nd place, Matt Cleaver, 58.23 for 104th, and Stewart Ellaby, 121st with 58.57.

Edlodie Hill leads the way for Chichester's women's team, who won at the Sussex cross-country relays | Ian Luxford

Another good Chichester squad travelled to the Ardingly showground for the latest round of the West Sussex Fun Run League and did well to keep the club in second place despite a number of the 27 runners having either run or marshalled at the Goodwood relays the previous day.

In fact it was two of the senior men’s team from Goodwood who spearheaded Chichester’s challenge at Ardingly with reliable Mikeey Kwoka finishing in a fine 5th out of the field of nearly 300 runners. David Lewis was 12th, with the pair notching a vital 10 bonus points each.

Next to finish was Kari Mack in 22nd overall, a worthy winner of the women’s race with Emma Hughes in 4th and Nicky Bulger 12th, all three adding maximum points to the club’s tally.

A feature of this year in the league has been the strength of Chichester’s women and it was no surprise that the two next best scorers were Kim Nelson in 14th and Hilary Pollard 19th for nine points each.

The Great South Run was held on Sunday and proved a successful event for Chichester athletes | Picture: Great Run Company

Makiang up the club’s top 10 best scores were Reece Hanson and Nadia Anderson, with a delighted Mike Forder making the crucial 10th spot, a great achievement for an athlete from the over-70 age group.

Meanwhile, following the success of the juniors in the Sussex cross-country relays, as reported last week, Chichester’s under-18s, seniors and veterans were not to be outdone and gained seven team medals across the age groups.

Top marks must go to the senior women who became Sussex champions at this event for the first time. Even more remarkable was the average age of the team, just 18.

Elodie Hill, still in the U18 bracket, gave the club a fine start by handing over with a clear lead after the opening leg of just under 4000m having recorded 14min 7sec, which proved the fastest time of the day.

It was left to under-20s Ela Pemberton and Anya Barrett to consolidate Chichester’s advantege, which they did in no uncertain fashion to leave the likes of Brighton and the rest of the field training in their wake.

Elsewhere for the women, the over-55s were involved in the first dead heat ever at the relays with Nadia Anderson, Kim Nelson and Ann Marie Cutler tied for silver with Haywards Heath while the over-65s of Martine Wisdom, Amanda Godfrey and Sue Baker were worthy broze medal winners.

The stand-out performance for the men came in the oldest age group with David Veale, Jim Garland and Richard Miles turning the tables on Brighton & Hove to win a close over-60 race by 19 seconds, with Garland recording the second fastest time of 16.02 in the age group.

There were three sets of bronze medals too - the under-18 men gaining them through Joe Stewart, Ben Stewart and Max Gayle, the senior men thanks to Harry Dunne, Kai Lendrum, Aaron Hancock and Mikeey Kwoka, and the over-50 men with Andrew Smith, Steve Davy and Steve Edwards.