After finishing runner up the previous two years, Stu Nicholas returned to Bere Regis for a third bite of cherry, or perhaps that should be, the blackberry. In 2023, he was second at the Black Hill Run 10k to City of Salisbury star Stuart Holloway, who went on to win the Purbeck Trail Series that year. In 2024, it was Chris Peck who got the win, coming in 40 seconds ahead of Stu. Stu of course did go on to win the series that time though.

A win at the Lighthouse Loop and a second place at The Beast had boosted Stu’s chances of retaining his status as Purbeck Trail Series champion. Being denied a victory at the Coombe Keynes 10k by a marshal misdirection in the opening race of the series may not prove so costly for Stu if he could pick up another win at the Black Hill Run 10k, or even another second place.

Only five days on from his mammoth Tor130 Tot Dret attempt which saw him cover 58 miles in one sitting, Patrick Kingston was back in action at the Black Hill Run. Putting in one of his best ever performances in a local race, Patrick finished 9th at The Beast and it felt like he was starting to reap the benefits of all the high altitude, mountain running he’d been doing in Europe.

Also doing the Black Hill Run 10k last year, Patrick finished 32nd in a time of 47:31 so that gave him a target to try and beat, besides trying to finish as high up the field as he could.

Completing all three Purbeck Trail Series races thus far, Caroline Rowley was ready to make that four at the Black Hill Run 10k.

There are three tough hills on the Black Hill Run 10km route which amount to around 650ft of elevation. The course is renowned for being muddy and boggy in places and the distance is actually 6.5 miles, rather than 6.2 miles, so it’s an extra half a kilometre, or quarter marathon distance.

The first hill takes up the whole of the first mile but only the last third of it is really steep. Stu Nicholas had no problems powering up that, registering a 6:36 for his first mile split. Then it was flat for half a mile and then downhill the other half of the mile. Stu blasted through that 5:40 before the course sort of flattened out a bit on the third mile.

Posting a 5:51 for that, Stu was onto the fourth mile which was all uphill. Clocking a 6:53 for that one, it was then a long downhill stretch for the fifth mile. Taking full advantage of that, Stu whizzed through that mile in 5:42 before tackling the last big climb.

The sixth mile contained both an uphill and a downhill section in equal measures but it was the steepest gradient out of the three. Stu was down to a 7:08 for that mile before he then tore his way through the last half a mile at 5:34 pace.

Reaching the finish line in 40:37, he’d done it this time. He’d finally won the Black Hill Run 10k and that must have been a great feeling for Stu.

With an impressive average pace of 6:15 per mile, Stu had bettered his time from last year by 17 seconds, although it wasn’t as quick as his 2023 time of 40:06.

After finishing 2nd in the Lighthouse Loop and 5th in The Beast, Daniel Thomas added another 2nd place to his scorecard, crossing the line in 41:01.

Profiting from Stu’s misfortune to win at the Coombe Keynes 10k, Alessandro Zanconato went on to finish 5th at the Lighthouse Loop. He managed 3rd place at the Black Hill Run 10k, getting round in a time of 41:19.

Poole AC man Rob Doubleday took 4th in 42:22, with Purbeck Trail Series leader Pete Doughty coming 5th in 43:01. Super 60+ star Julian Critchlow was 6th in 43:11, with Mark Packer following up his 3rd place finish at The Beast with a 7th place finish at the Black Hill Run 10k in 43:18.

Putting in another strong performance despite his exertions from earlier in the week, Patrick Kingston finished 11th in exactly 45 minutes.

After finishing first female at the Lighthouse Loop and 3rd lady at the Coombe Keynes 10k, Isabel Zanconato picked up another first female accolade at the Black Hill Run 10k. Her time of 44:05 put her in 10th place in the overall standings.

After finishing 3rd female at both the Lighthouse Loop and The Beast, Jenny Lee Marshall went one better and finished 2nd female at the Black Hill Run 10k in a time of 47:07.

Vicky Rutter was third female in a time of 50:24 which put her in 37th place overall.

Coming in in 24th female position, Caroline Rowley registered a time of 59:18 which put her in 86th place overall.

Stu’s wife Anna Trehane is currently leading the women’s standings and she finished 12th lady at the Black Hill Run 10k in time of 55:41. That put her in 66th place overall.

Claiming a new course record in the Canicross 10k race, Graeme Miller and his dog Chester set an incredible course record of 41:17. That was a quicker time than all but two of the standalone 10k runners could manage.

To be fair, it’s probably more of a help than a hindrance for Graeme having Chester with him, given how fast and focused Chester is. That was an average pace of 6:20 per mile for Graeme.

There wasn’t really much change in the standings for the series so far after that fourth fixture. Pete Doughty was still leading overall the men’s open and Anna Trehane was still in front in the female open.

Stu Nicholas is top of the chart in the Under 40 bracket, with Isabel Zanconato now leading the women’s Under 40 table ahead of Yuen Wing Lee and Vicky Rutter.

In the club competition, Purbeck Runners are top after the first four fixtures, with a huge lead over Dorchester RIOT in 2nd and Poole Runners in 3rd. Bournemouth AC are currently 7th in the table.

The next race of the Purbeck Trail Series was the penultimate fixture and that was the Studland Stampede. Stu Nicholas, Patrick Kingston and Caroline Rowley were all back in action for that one and having already done four races, Stu and Caroline were looking to improve on one of the positions on their scorecard.

It would be Patrick’s third race so he needed to get a place for the Blue Castle Run, which was the final fixture of the six-part series. It wasn’t proving easy though as by time he went to secure his entry, the event was sold out.

Thanks one again to Ken Hewitt for another collection of great photos from the event.