A large Chichester Runners squad of 45 seniors plus 10 juniors kept up the pressure on the leaders at the latest West Sussex Fun Run League fixture at Windlesham School.

With the maximum 25 participation points easily secured, the squad managed to add a total of 94 bonus points from their top 10 finishers to notch up a total of 119 points and once again etch into the lead of Horsham in the top spot.

With just four races left in the 17-race calendar, Chichester are just 17 points behind Horsham, 30 points in front of Haywards Heath in third and a massive 100 points to spare over Lancing Eagles in fourth.

In the latest fixture it was Lewis Bridson who led the squad home in fourth place, closely followed by ever consistent Mikeey Kwoka in fifth and David Lewis in 15th with all three gaining the maximum 10 bonus points.

placeholder image — Chichester Runners at the Windlesham 4

The club’s next duo were closely matched with Jason Boswell in 27th and Gareth Bowen-Perkins in 31st, both with nine bonus points.

In the women’s race it was new member Chloe Parrott who had a storming run in third with Laura Groot ninth.

With two more 10-pointers secured it was Elizabeth Robinson and Micki Bulger in 14th and 15th respectively with nine each and supervet Helen Dean in 25th to gain the last bonus spot in adding eight to the club’s total and amazingly finishing in the top third of the field of nearly 300 runners overall.

For the juniors Bethany Rees won the girls’ race for Chichester closely followed by Seren Bowen-Perkins in third, Annie Harris fourth and Ellie Rees fifth. Beau Armitahe was the club’s first boy home in sixth with Logan Parrott ninth.

Molly Smithers at the Brooklyn Bridge parkrun

With the league fixtures coming thick and fast, the club is in action this Sunday in the Tilgate 5 in Crawley.

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Most people on holiday in New York would be content to see the sights, do a bit of shopping and take in a couple of shows – not so the Smithers family, who managed to squeeze in a parkrun into their itinerary.

Dad Andy was pleased to soak up the atmosphere in the middle of the pack at the Brooklyn Bridge Parkrun with the famous Manhatten skyline an inspiring backdrop while daughter Molly – a star in the Chichester Runners ranks – was battling it out nearly five minutes ahead at the front of the race.

Not only was Molly too good for the rest of the women’s field to win the race comfortably but her time of 16 minutes 48 seconds was found to have broken the course record – so Chichester has made its mark in the Big Apple.

It also guarantees the 17-year-old a place in the UK top 10 seniors for 2026 parkrun times as she is only the seventh runner to have broken the 17-minute barrier.