Back in October, it was a sweet success for Stu Nicholas at the Studland Stampede that sealed his victory in the Purbeck Trail Series. He came came away with a win in the first race which was the Coombe Keynes 10k and gone on to finish second in the next three races before rounding it off with a win at the Studland Stampede.

He was back to defend his crown in 2025, starting with another appearance at the Coombe Keynes 10k. The Coombe Keynes 10k is contested over a hilly route within the private and historic Lulworth Estate. The terrain comprises of tracks on chalk downland and woodland paths and the location is close to the iconic Lulworth Cove and the Jurassic Coast.

Stu wasn’t the only Bournemouth AC member to feature at the Coombe Keynes 10k. After finishing runner up in the M70+ category for the Purbeck Trail Series last year, Geoff Newton was back to contest for it again. He could qualify for the over 80 category if there was one so to be finishing second in the M70+ bracket was quite an achievement. He was edged out of it last year by Hamish Murray of Purbeck Runners who had only just turned 70.

Bringing some youthful exuberance to the proceedings, Isabel Cherrett was also on the start line at the Coombe Keynes 10k. She’d ran really well at the Round the Lakes 10k back in September recording a time of 36:44 in her debut for the distance.

This season had been a fantastic one so far for Isabel as she’d won the South West Inter County Championships, the South West Schools’ Championships and the Dorset Schools’ Championships in cross country races early on in the year. She’d then switched focus to the track where she’d won the Dorset County Schools Championships 1500m and the South West Schools Championships 3000m.

It had been an impressive run of results when facing her piers of the same age group. The question now was, how would she fare against adults of all ages in a hilly Purbeck Trail Series encounter.

Two veterans of the game, Kirsty Drewett and Caroline Rowley were also competing for the club at the Coombe Keynes 10k so it was set to be an intriguing race from a Bournemouth AC perspective.

The first mile and a half is mostly uphill but Stu still managed to get up it quite quickly, registering a 5:52 for his first split and then a 5:59 for his second. He then followed that up with a 5:49 for his third mile and was comfortably in the lead until the marshal misdirected him, causing him to go a mile in the wrong direction. He then had to run back as well so that was another mile before he found his way back onto the course.

That error proved costly for Stu and scuppered his chances of winning the race. It wouldn’t have been so bad if it were a one off race but because it was a Purbeck Trail Series fixture, that made it more frustrating.

It had certainly confused Geoff when he saw Stu overtaking him about two thirds into the race. It wasn’t till afterwards that he realised what had actually happened. Battling back through the field, Stu eventually caught his wife Anna and ended up cruising in with her. They finished 94th and 95th in 54:14 and 54:16, so not quite as Stu would have planned it.

Geoff finished 136th in a time of 59:32 which put him first in the M80 category, ahead of local resident Bob Panter who was one of the founders of the race. He finished 203rd in 1 hour 6 minutes and 8 seconds.

Whilst it hadn’t yielded the result that Stu Nicholas had been hoping for, it was a fabulous day for Isabel Cherrett as she finished 9th overall and was first female in a time of 41:33. That was also a female course record which was a mightily impressive achievement. That proved that Isabel is truly on top of her game at the current moment in time.

Clocking in in a time of 58:12, Caroline Rowley was 127th overall and 31st female. She also came 6th in the F50 category. Kirsty Drewett ran it with another famous face from the Bournemouth AC realms in Jayne Wade. They got round in 1 hour 30 minutes and 56 seconds which out them in 307th and 308th positions. That put them in 142nd and 143rd females in the race. Kirsty was 44th in the F40 category and Jayne came 23rd in the F60 category.

Alessandro Zanconato of Purbeck Runners took full advantage of Stu’s misfortune, taking the win in a time of 40:24 which put him six seconds ahead of Robert Churchward of Lytchett Manor Striders who claimed 2nd place.

Iain Ferguson of Poole Runners was 3rd in 40:54 with his Poole Runners teammate David Penwarden taking 4th place and 1st M50 in 40:57. Julian Critchlow finished 5th and was 1st M60 in exactly 41 minutes.

Isabel beat some high quality runners including Jon Clemas of Twemlow Track Club, Rob Doubleday of Poole AC and Pete Doughty of Westbourne. Helen O’Neile of Poole Runners was 2nd female in 43:41 which put her 18th overall and Isabel Zanconato was 3rd female and 19th overall in 43:46.

Poole Runners won the men’s team prize, with Purbeck Runners taking the female team prize. The Poole Runners men also won the vets team prize, with Dorchester taking the female vets team prize.

Although it hadn’t gone his way in race one, all was not lost for Stu Nicholas with regard to his Purbeck Trail Series challenge. This year there are six races in the series and the scoring will be based on the best four for each individual. That will mean that Stu will still have a massive chance of winning despite the early setback.

The Lighthouse Loop is the next race of the series which takes place on 13th August. Then it’s The Beast and the Black Hill Run 10k in September, the Studland Stampede in October and a new addition, the Blue Castle Run in November.

Thanks as ever to Ken Hewitt for capturing all the action at the Coombe Keynes 10k in another fabulous batch of photos.