Coming away with a convincing win at last year’s New Forest Xmas Trails, it was only right that Stu Nicholas should return to defend his crown in the 30k race.

He’d finished 7-and-a-half minutes ahead of his nearest challenger that day so it had ended up being a bit of a cruise for Stu. He always gives his all though and pushes all the way, even in situations when he’s way out in front.

It had been a good year for Stu. He won the BigMud Marathon in February which was an event organised by the same company that organise the New Forest Xmas Trails.

It was an exceedingly tough race that included two climbs up the daunting Butser Hill – the highest point of the South Downs. the route was so challenging and the hills were so steep that it took Stu almost 3 hours and 50 minutes to complete.

In May he finished second to Dave Newman at the North Dorset Village Marathon, clocking a time of 2 hours 41 minutes. He then went on to win the Purbeck Trail Series for the second consecutive year, with two wins and two second place finishes amongst his six races.

It was very wet on the day, which made the course even tougher than it otherwise would have been but Stu wasn’t perturbed. He was determined to come out on despite the soggy conditions.

Still able to get well under 7 minutes for most of his mile splits. Stu even managed quite a few of his miles in around 6:30. It was a great opportunity to demonstrate the tremendous strength he possesses on the trails.

He did have Luke McKenzie of Poole AC to contend with in this race and he’s a very good runner so Stu needed to be on his game to come away with the win.

Managing to build up a decent lead, it was all going well for Stu. Then at the end of the 11th mile he took a wrong turn and ended up going off course. Such was his advantage though that he was still in the lead when he found his way back and re-joined the course.

Crossing the finish line in 2 hours 18 minutes and 43 seconds, Stu had still arrived 4-and-a-half minutes ahead of Luke McKenzie who was runner up in 2:23:12.

Shaun Brown of Romsey Road Runners was third and first vet in 2:24:29. There was quite a long gap after that before Adam Wollard of Dorchester RIOT arrived to take fourth place in 2:33:03.

Ellie Clist was first female in 2:35:37, which put her in 8th place overall. Lucy Cartlidge was second female and first vet in 3:03:43 and that put her 20th overall. Carole Woodall was third female in first FV50 in 3:05:16 and she came 26th in the overall standings.

Stu had covered 19.72 miles in total and had wracked up an elevation gain of over 1,000ft. It was an excellent victory to round off a splendid year for Stu. He had been intending to run the Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon just before Christmas but picked up a stomach bug and wasn’t able to do it in the end. That was a shame as Stu has a rich history in that race, having won it on four previous occasions.

Nevertheless, Stu had had more than his fair share of successes over the year, especially if you include his 30 parkrun first places and he’d also scored for the club in numerous league races throughout the year. Lets hope 2026 will be another good one for Stu, with plenty more victories and trophies to add to his collection.

Stu’s wife Anna Trehane was competing in the 15km race and completed it in 1 hour 28 minutes and 50 seconds which out her in 23rd place out of 229 and she was 4th female in that race.

Tristan Cooper of City of Salisbury won that one in 1:04:08 and Amy Hilton was first female and fifth overall in 1:20:15. There was also a Marathon which was won by Gemma Hiller-Moses in 2:56:12.

Vicky Rutter of Littledown Harriers was in it as well and she finished in 3:56:21 which put her in 6th place and she was third female. There was also a 50k which was won by Jacob Tasker of Bridgend in 3:24:35. Georgia Curry was first female and 6th overall in 4:24:16.