Weekly Update - 28th Jan. 2026

The Arc of Attrition, Cornwall (Fri. 23rd Jan.)

The Arc of Attrition, also known as the Arc 100, is a renowned ultramarathon held each January and is widely recognised as one of the toughest events in the ultrarunning calendar. Covering a gruelling 100 miles, the race starts in the village of Coverack and finishes at Porthtowan, following the spectacular but unforgiving South West Coast Path in Cornwall. The combination of relentless terrain and harsh winter conditions makes it a true test of endurance.

In a fantastic performance, Hugh Tibbs produced an outstanding run to take victory, topping the podium in an incredible time of 19:10:09.

S of E Cross Country Championships, Beckenham Place Park (Sat. 24th Jan.)

Beckenham Place Park seems to have become the permanent home of the Southerns, reports Clem Dixon, somewhat unimaginative and perhaps unfair on clubs that are not from South London, but handy for us and coming back to the same venue every year gives the organisers the opportunity to iron out any wrinkles: gone are the pinch points that caused congestion in earlier editions, so are many of the spike unfriendly stony sections, although a few still remain, and with two large laps rather than three only the ultra-slow (a category that I now find myself in) get lapped. However the SEAA still insist on the senior men running 15k when all other championships have fixed on a standard of 12k, and they still fail to put on a course that is as long as they say it will be. To be fair extensions were planned to the extra wiggly bit that is only used for the senior men's race but maintenance work to the park meant that they couldn't be fully implemented and so we ended up with a bit over 14k, not that I heard any complaints.

We had a turnout of twelve of whom Danny Kendall (79th) was the only one to break into the top 100, evidence of the high standard that this event still attracts. It is six to score here and our next five finishers were Kyle Hurst, Peter Reynolds, Terry Stark, Jonathan Sargent and Mark Penny taking us to 25th place, about par for the course for us in recent years. Kent champion James Kingston of Tonbridge led home a field of about 600.

In the young age group races Harry Baldwin put in a strong performance in the Under 13 boys’ race, reports Mark Newell, finishing in 47th place. Eleven seconds later, Christian Hughes crossed the line in 65th position, helping the team secure a respectable 13th place out of 25 complete teams.

In the Under 13 girls’ race, Maddie Buffa made her debut for the club and enjoyed an excellent first outing, finishing 49th overall. Close behind her was Peggy O’Leary, who placed 67th.

There were close finishes in both Under 15 races. With just two boys on the start line, only one second separated Herbie Tobin, who finished 141st, and Alex Van Den Berg-Hows in 142nd. The girls’ race was even tighter, with Chloe Dolton and Sophie Floyd both recorded with identical finishing times of 19:21. Chloe was adjudged to have finished just ahead, placing 112th, with Sophie close behind in 113th.

Daniel Whitehouse was first home for the club in the Under 17 men’s race, finishing a solid 55th, while Thomas Ellis also impressed by placing 88th to secure a top-100 finish. A special mention goes to George Gallagher-Francis, who has competed in every match this season and completed the team of four.

In the Under 17 women’s race, Celia Allen led the club home with a 61st-place finish, followed by Meri Cummins in 77th.

Amelia Lawrence took time out from her university studies to compete in the Under 20 women’s race. Running in eighth place for much of the event, she showed great strength in the closing stages to move up to seventh, her best finishing position to date in these championships.

London Indoor Games (Junior Age Groups), Lee Valley (Sat. 24th / Sun. 25th Jan.)

The club’s growing strength in the high jump was on full display over the weekend, thanks in no small part to the excellent work of coach Kelechi Agoucha, writes Mick Bond. Personal bests were recorded by Under 15 boys Desire Ayinla, who cleared 1.76m, and Elazar Adejinmi with 1.71m. In the Under 17 men’s competition, Ryan Lynott came within 1cm of his personal best, clearing 1.91m, while Felix Sherwin set a new personal best of 1.56m. In the Under 17 women’s event, Phoebe Folarin equalled her personal best with a clearance of 1.66m, and very nearly cleared the landing mat as well as the bar with her impressive jump.

On the track, there were strong performances in the hurdles, with four girls competing in the Under 17 women’s event and two boys in the Under 15s. Tess Hepple was the quickest of the girls, clocking 8.82 seconds, while Maxwell Guezodje led the boys with a time of 9.14 seconds. Tess also finished as the third-fastest athlete overall on the day and topped the long jump competition with an excellent leap of 5.06m.

Canterbury 10 (Sun. 24th Jan.)

Eight club members contested the Canterbury 10 on Sunday. Liam Carr was our first finisher, placing 45th in a time of 1:02:13. Other finishers were Jack Beresford-Allan (1:02:51), Stephen Wood (1:04:10), Hjalti Rognvaldsson (1:17:57), Rose Baker (1:19:06), Sally Carr (1:20:16), Alex Griffith-Crowe (1:20:19), and Vincent Bleu (1:25:09).