Sunday 26th April 2026

An amazing account by our little cherry 🍒- Claire Keith:

The Chase Trail Marathon – this is the ‘little sister’ of the New Forest Marathon that takes place in September. I was invited to come back for free after scooping the ladies win 🏆 last year, so I postponed entering London Marathon 2026 to head back to the beautiful trails and hills 🌳 while many of my friends headed to the big city.

The marathon, amongst several other shorter distances, is set inside the Wimborne St Giles Estate, which opens its gates to the public just once a year for this special event. The course is made up of 2 undulating ‘proper trail’ laps, taking in climbs, stunning views and nature along the way (we were warned about the nesting swan that may make us run the lake section a little faster 😅).

I definitely felt this being my 3rd marathon in 30 days (plus a half marathon and a 10k) and by mile 11 my legs were feeling heavy. I was quite happy for this to be a run to enjoy and not race, despite the new addition to this year’s event being that the last 100m is a separate race of its own 🏁⏱️

I needed to drop the pace in the 2nd half in order to ensure I made it to the finish, and it seemed like everyone around me was doing the same. Determination to keep going kicked in as I dedicated each of the last 6 miles to someone special to motivate me to dig deep ❤️ The finish was finally in sight and I crossed the line greeted with a high five from the team, and 5 minutes quicker than last year 🙌

🎤 To dominate a marathon of this nature two years running is a phenomenal achievement Claire 🍒 Crossing the line first female once again was a fitting reward for another commanding performance in black and red. 🖤❤️

Back-to-back titles. First lady. Third overall.  An absolutely brilliant achievement, well done👏👏