The fourth race of the Purbeck Trail Series saw Stu Nicholas and Geoff Newton head over to Bere Regis for the Black Hill Run 10k. Leading the series after the first three races, it looked like Stu could well be the man to secure the overall win, but it wasn’t done and dusted yet.

Winning the first race, which was the Coombe Keynes 10k, Stu then went on to finish 2nd to his Bournemouth AC teammate Jacek Cieluszecki in the Lighthouse Loop and 2nd to Egdon Heath Harriers man Chris Peck at The Beast.

Sitting top of the standings in the M70 category after the first three fixtures, Geoff’s goal was to win that and with the required quota of three on the board already, it was just a case of trying to improve on the scores he’d got thus far in the remaining two races.

They were joined in the race by Patrick Kingston who had recently done a stint in the French Alps where he ran the 27km Mini’Hard at the Montagn’Hard Ultra Trail event which incorporated 5,500ft of elevation. Whilst out there he also covered the bulk of the 148km TDS route of the Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc event. Then before that he successfully completed the Krakonošov 100k in Czechia.

He’d only competed in the Coombe Keynes 10k out of the Purbeck Trail Series races so the Black Hill Run was his second of the series. Both Patrick and Stu had been competing at the Southern Road Relays the previous day so it was certainly likely they’d be experiencing some fatigue from that.

The course for the Black Hill Run 10k features three tough hills so it’s not really a quick course purse. Unless your JC of course that is. He did it in 37:58 back in 2022 and that was the course record so far.

The man who got the better of Stu at The Beast, Chris Peck was in the line up again for the Black Hill Run 10k so he was certainly a threat. One of the top young stars on the scene at the moment, Jack Burrows, was also competing. He came through the the ranks in Dorchester but now runs for Wimborne AC and finished 4th at the Purbeck 10k in June.

Barry Miller of Poole AC, Daniel Thomas of Bridport and Alessandro Zoncanato of Purbeck Runners were all competing in their third race of the series thus far and they were all up near the top of standings. Twemlow Track Club man Jon Clemas was taking on his fourth race of the series.

Isabel Davis and Anna Philps, both of Purbeck Runners, were doing their third race of the series so far and they were the top two women.

Despite there being 178ft of elevation in the first mile, Stu somehow still got through it it in 6:38 before posting a very speedy 5:34 for his second mile which saw him head back down the hill. Then it was a 5:50 for his next mile before he hit the next climb on the fourth mile.

That saw him face a further 175ft of elevation which he got up in 6:56. Then it was back down the slope on the fifth mile which he blasted through in 5:37. The last climb was perhaps the steepest of the race. That one put him down to 7:16 even though he came back down it on the same mile.

The Black Hill Run 10k has always been longer than 10k and its actually very nearly 11k. A 5:45 pace for the last half a mile saw Stu get to the line in 40:54 which was enough to see him take 2nd place again behind Chris Peck. Chris has managed to get round in 40:15 to take his second win of the series.

Jack Burrows was 3rd in 42:33 with Alessandro Zancontato taking 4th in 42:50. Barry Miller was 5th in 42:54, with Adam Woollard of Dorchester RIOT taking 6th place in 43:15.

Daniel Thomas came 7th in 43:17 with Julian Critchlow coming in as 1st over 60 in 43:22. Jon Clemas was 9th in 43:30 and Ellie Monks of Southampton AC finished as 1st female and 10th overall in 43:44. That was a new female course record, adding to the 10k canicross record she netted the previous year.

Isabel Davis just shaded it over teammate Anna Philps to take the 2nd female spot in 44:11 with Anna coming in just after in 44:17. They were 16th and 17th in the overall standings.

Patrick Kingston was 32d overall in 47:31 which put him 5th in the Male 45 to 49 category. That was an average pace of 7:18 for him which was a pleasing result given the elevation he had to face.

Coming in in 148th place, Geoff Newton made it round in 1:05:52 which put him 6th in the over 70 bracket. Hamish Murray of Purbeck Runners was fastest in that category in a time of 53:57 and he came 71st overall.

Former Bournemouth AC man Simon Hunt is also in that category now as he had just turned 70 and he was 2nd in 59:08. That put him 105th overall. Peter Brown of Bridport was next over 70 in 1:01:22 which put him 126th overall. Neil Luckett of Westbourne and Bill Oakley of Lytchett Manor Striders also finished ahead of Geoff although he’s probably the elder statesman in the category, being at the end of his 70’s.

With that 2nd place Stu was still well out front in the overall standings after four fixtures. Daniel Thomas was in 2nd and Barry Miller was 3rd at that stage. Anna Philps was still leading the female standings by a long way, ahead of Jasmine Evans and Mary Gooding.

Stu’s wife Anna finished the Black Hill Run 10k in 59:37 which put her 108th overall and 10th in the Female 35 to 39 category. She was sitting 3rd in the Under 40 female category at that stage.

Geoff had finished ahead of his main rival in the M70 category for the series, Ian Underwood so that was a big plus point. There were 27 points between them going into the final fixture and Neil Luckett wasn’t far behind either.

Egdon Heath Harriers man Bruce Campbell finished 2nd in the 10k Canicross race with his two dogs Peggy and Dennis. His time was 44:43 but Robert Henderson took the win with his dog Nala in 42:59. That wasn’t enough to topple Bruce and Peggy’s course record of 41:33 though.

It was all poised nicely for the last race of the series which was the Studland Stampede. After topping the table all the way through, Stu Nicholas was hoping to see it out and take the series win. The only person who could deny him was Chris Peck since he had won two of the races. But he had to do that final fixture to take it.

Geoff was also hoping to retain his M70 crown but knew that with two races on the board so far, Hamish Murray could take it if he showed up at Studland Bay. An enthralling finale certainly looked on the cards.

Thanks as always to Ken Hewitt for another terrific array of photos and thanks to the Black Hill Run for the ones they posted on flickr.