Weekly Update - 22nd Apr. 2026

Wild Horse - South Wales 200, Chepstow (Wed. 15th Apr.)

The South Wales 200 (also known as the Wild Horse 200) is a non-stop, 200-mile (322km) continuous, point-to-point trail ultramarathon that traverses South Wales with a strict 120-hour (5-day) cut-off with approximately 32,585 feet (9,932m) of total ascent, featuring significant mountain climbs.

The course follows several iconic long-distance trails, traveling from east to west, starting at the southern terminus of the Wales Coast Path near Chepstow then along Offa’s Dyke, traversing the Beacons Way before catching the Heart Of Wales Line on to the Wales Coast Path and finish line at Worm’s Head.

Christian Poulton completed the race in 84:44:06 26th (1st M60) out of 73 finishers (130 started)

Essex Fell Championships, Epping Forest (Sat. 18th Apr.)

Much as Sisyphus was doomed to endlessly toil almost to the top of the hill with his rock only to see it roll back to the bottom, the necessity of fitting the elevation required to qualify as a Fell race in the low lying south meant runners of the inaugural Essex Fell Championships felt a similar fate over two laps through Epping Forest on Saturday writes Peter St-Amour. Multiple steep ascents were countered by an equal number of steep rooty descents to achieve 496m of climbing over a 10k distance, all of which was offroad.

Despite some thought to available Essex heritage, none of the five Cambridge Harriers runners could credibly claim to qualify for the county selection this race offered at the forthcoming Inter Counties in Sedbergh. However if Kent is the garden of England and Essex the patio, organisers Orion Harriers did well to make the course at least topographically interesting. The route was familiar from the summer fell race, albeit twice as long and with a bonus third dry struggle up the opening climb to finish at the Pole Hill Obelisk. Which as it happens is also the highest point visible from Greenwich when viewed along the Meridian.

Our first runner in 18th was Daniel Allinson (No 548) at 55:24, followed by Peter St-Amour (No 579) in 23rd (56:27) and Clinton Lowe (No 568) 32nd (59:35). Graham Maynard (No 569) was second M60 with 71:30. Our sole female entrant was Lesley McCarthy in 71:44 and thirteenth women home.

For those interested and content not running up every hill at least twice, the summer event takes place on 19 June at 19:30 (https://www.orionharriers.com/fixtures/fell-race), entries now open.

Loughborough Open, Loughborough (Sat. 18th Apr.)

Keziah Olaleye, a student at Loughborough University, opened her summer track season with a personal best of 62.75 seconds in the 400m hurdles.

Manchester Marathon (Sun. 19th Apr.)

The 2026 Manchester Marathon proved to be the biggest in its history, with an impressive 42,000 runners taking part. Among them were four athletes from Cambridge Harriers: Jack Beresford-Allan, Kareem Richardson, Emily Tullo, and Rose Baker.

Emily (V35) and Rose (V60) had the honour of representing the England Masters Age Group Teams in an international match against the other Home Nations, adding an extra layer of prestige to their performances.

Jack, who narrowly missed breaking the three-hour barrier in 2025 by just six seconds, delivered a superb run this time, storming home in 2:48:39. He was followed by Kareem, who also impressed with a strong finish in 2:51:51.

Emily (pictured below) completed the course in 3:13:15, while Rose rounded off the Harriers’ results with a commendable 3:36:27.

UK Youth Development League #1, Tonbridge (Sun. 19th Apr.)

Life as a Team Manager can be pretty soul destroying at times, writes Mick Bond. After months of planning your hopes and dreams of putting out a great team get dashed at the last moment by injuries, illness, exams and mystery no shows! We still had a few of these last Sunday but luckily the strength in depth of the rest of this age group at the club plus some very committed athletes saw us through, and we were able to achieve a convincing win in our first match of the season. Last year we were denied by Woodford in our ambition to get back to the Southern Premier League, but this year has started very well, and our chances look much better.

The change to age groups made getting athletes out even harder but overall, we still had 41 athletes turning out for the team. On the day there were debuts, heroes and pb’s a plenty and the early spring sunshine and some very enthusiastic supporting by athletes, coaches and parents alike made for a great day’s Athletics.

Top performers of the day (pictured above), according to the YDL points for performance tables, were Elijah Olaleye (54.53 - 400 hurdles) and Danielle Agyemang-Talbot (24.70 - 200m).

Team result: 1. Cambridge Harriers 700, 2. Medway & Maidstone 473, Tonbridge AC 467, Team ASIP 246, Bexley AC 240 & Dartford Harriers 235.