December 2025 - Festive and Full of Fun.
Sussex AA Cross Country - Ardingly
The South of England Showground at Ardingly hosted the 3rd in the current series of the Sussex AA cross-country races on 6th December 2025.
These events attract some of the top runners from clubs all over Sussex, both adults and juniors alike and amongst them at Ardingly were a number of the Club’s members for whom cross country is an amazing way to spend a Saturday.
Representing the Club’s juniors were: Charlotte Howard who came 14th in the Under 13 Girls 3k in a time of 0:14:28, and Anna Ivaldi who came 23rd in Under 17 Women's 5k event in a time of 0:30:29.
Representing the Club’s seniors, and making it three in a row, were the duo of Adam Styles and John Crockford, who knocked the 8k out in 0:39:36 and 0:51:21 respectively.
Well done everyone.
ESSCCL - Abbotts Wood
The ancient woodland of Abbott’s Wood was the location of the 3rd in the 2025/26 ESSCCL series of cross-country races and a new addition to race calendar.
After skating their way around 5 miles the previous month, the members attending were relieved to find that Abbott’s Wood was the antithesis of Snape Wood in many respects. As Peter Noon, who ran it confirmed, it was” an unusually flat and flat-out course. Very different to the twisty, hilly run that is usually on the agenda”.
As it turned out on the day, the conditions were near perfect for the 40 adult members from the Club turning out on that Sunday morn to seek glory and hoping to convert out current 2nd Place to 1st place in the championship.
Sadly it was not to be but with three races to go, there remained all to play for.
Top honours on the day for the men went to:
| Position | Name | Time |
| 9th | Matt McCarthy | 0:28:20 |
| 11th | Colin Tricker | 0:28:46 |
| 21st | Ollie Welch | 0:29:25 |
Top honours on the day for the ladies went to:
| 60th | Hannah Jackson | 0:31:43 |
| 185th | Olatz Ruiz-Smith | 0:37:08 |
| 220th | Claire Styles | 0:39:02 |
There was also another excellent turnout by the junior members, with some great running by all, with Charlie Workman, Charlotte Howard and Jacob Smith making it 1st place in their age category twice in a row.
Denbies Santa Run
If you like dressing up in the Christmas spirit the Denbies Santa Run is for you.
Taking place annually at Denbies vineyard in Dorking, it is another hugely popular event and is a regular entry in the calendar of a number of the Club’s runners. With no need to hunt through your dressing up box for that Santa suit, with one being provided, and the temptation of a mince pie and a glass of mulled wine at the finish, and another piece of bling for the collection, why wouldn’t you.
Taking part this year from the Club were Sharon Wheeler, Kevin Battell, James and Dominique Welbury and John Tighe.
A fun time was had by all, as you can see.
Seaford Striders Mince Pie 10-Mile
You would be surprised to what lengths some of our members will go for mince pie. However, if not averse to getting dressed up and entering in the he Christmas spirit, the Mince Pie 10-miler, hosted by Seaford Striders, is the event for you.
It also explains why I and my fellow Club members found ourselves on the start line surrounded by a whole array of festive characters from Santa Clauses, to cheeky pixies, to naughty elves who had vacated their shelf for the day to cause havoc in some way or another.
With the terrain being a mixture of road and trail choosing the rights shoes would be a bit of an issue. As it turned out, waders would have been more appropriate for some parts of the route.
Add to this the mist and the rain and the wind and that incline at Mile 6, and you had the perfect recipe for a fun a day out. Not for the faint hearted.
Included in the not-fainthearted were:
- Scott Werner (1:34:42)
- Sharon Wheeler (2:11:24)
- Jayne Meyers (2:12:14)
- Bob Archer (2:18:42)
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Annual Christmas Lights Run
Rounding off a year of highly successful social events, courtesy of Meg Attwood, was the long-standing tradition of the Club Christmas Lights Run, which goes back almost the Club’s beginnings.
With the increase in residents dressing their houses for the festive season having increased over the years, the sightseeing now needs to take place on more than night. However, the “official” run took place on the 17th December.
The conditions were ideal and what made it special for the “easy” group is they got to meet Father Christmas himself. That’s right. In person. In Queens Road he got out of his car (well it was 2025 after all) to wish us well and pose for photos. Now, how cool is that.
A good attendance as always and it was pleasure to see so many runners set off, glow sticks in hand, before returning for the traditional mince pies and mulled wine, purely for health reasons that is. Yes. I’m not so sure about the mince pies, but scientists have confirmed that drinking mulled wine may convey certain health benefits. It could even help with lowering blood pressure. Now didn’t you always feel that was the case? Generally after the 3rd or 4th glass I would say.
A Trip to The Seaside
The Thanet 5-miler took place on 6th December and amongst those on the start line was member Marco Brivio.
Despite the less than ideal conditions, those that braved the grey, wet and miserable weather enjoyed what I have been told was a well organised, fast but relaxed race. The marshals were apparently amazing, which always helps, and a bonus, even on such a gloomy day, was the sea view over Margate.
Well done Marco.
G'day from Aus
So here we were in the wet and the cold whilst member member Sarah Cooper was enjoying some Christmassy weather in Aus.
Those who know Sarah won’t be surprised to hear that she took her running shoes with her and amongst other things enjoyed a 10k run with the Sydney Running Stars.
The Running Stars was established by and is operated by a group of friends that wanted to enhance the weekly run (run, jog, or walk). Its weekly community running event, that takes place on the northern beaches of Sydney, is very much focused on physical and mental wellbeing and is about bringing the best out of the individual & making them shine. So, a little like what we then.
Knowing Sarah, I am sure this wasn’t only one of her running adventures.
James' Parkrun Journey
Who would have thought that the first Parkrun that took place on 4th October 2004 would lead to there being 2,107 Parkruns, plus 512 junior Parkruns, worldwide, with there being in the UK 823 and 466 respectively. In the UK, in terms of size of attendees, running, jogging or walking, numbers range on average per week from 1,600 in Bushy Park to 22 in Garvagh Forest in Northern Ireland, and James Welbury seems hell-bent on attending them all at some time.
Yes, member James Welbury has continued his Parkrun journey throughout 2025 and no doubt intends to do so during 2026. Here are just a few of the locations he attended during the year.
