The target for this year’s Purbeck Trail Series was 2000 points. That would guarantee you victory in the individual competition as it would mean you’ve won four races out of the six in the series and it’s best four that count. For anyone who has forgotten everything they learnt in maths class, that means its 500 points for a win. Then it cascades down from there, so 499 for second, 498 for third etc.

Reigning champion Stu Nicholas went into the final race of the series, the Blue Castle Run, with 1998 points. His scorecard was made up of wins at the Lighthouse Loop 5k and the Black Hill Run 10k and runner up finishes at The Beast and the Studland Stampede. He was in the lead in the Coombe Keynes 10k as well until the lead marshal took him off course by accident. It could have been more costly but that’s water under the bridge now.

Alessandro Zanconato of Purbeck Runners was Stu’s closest challenger. He capitalised on that unfortunate mishap for Stu to win the Coombe Keynes 10k and went on to finish fourth in the Lighthouse Loop, third at the Black Hill Run and third at the Studland Stampede, giving him a score of 1992. That meant that even if he won the Blue Castle Run, he couldn’t get a better score than Stu. He’d end up on 1996.

To cut a long story short, it meant that Stu had already won the series, regardless of the result at the Blue Castle Run. There was still a prize for running all six races in the series though, so Stu wanted to get that, as well as his prize for wining the Open.

Stu’s wife Anna Trehane was also in line for an accolade of her own as she was leading the Female Under 40 standings going into the Blue Castle Run. She’d also done all five races thus far, so would be completing the series set with this last race.

Neither of her closest rivals in that category were doing the Blue Castle Run though which meant that Anna was home and dry for the category. She’d actually been leading the female open until fixture five as well when she was knocked out of the top three in that. Nonetheless, it had been an excellent series for Anna and certainly one to be proud of. Perhaps even more so if she could improve her score even further at the Blue Castle Run.

With a score of 1950, Isabel Zanconato had already sealed victory in the Female Open after her win at the Studland Stampede. She was head and shoulders above any of the women who were vying for the series win and she was actually above most the men in the standings as well.

At the Blue Castle Run, it was a reunion for Stu with an old adversary, in the shape of Dave Newman. They had previously faced each other a the North Dorset Village Marathon where Dave impressively won his first ever marathon in 2:35:50, putting him five minutes ahead of Stu who was second.

Since then, Dave had signed for Bournemouth AC and had been consistently hitting a very high weekly mileage, sometimes doing up to 150 miles. He finished 17th at the Run Bournemouth Half Marathon in a time of 1:15:15 and had just got back up to 100 miles in the week before the Blue Castle Run and the on the week of the race itself.

Having managed to already tie up the series victory was a good thing for Stu Nicholas as it meant he could shift focus to his next target, which will be the Portsmouth Coastal Waterside Marathon just before Christmas. That was a race Stu won last year and had also been victorious in on three previous occasions.

Conscious that he needed to start getting some long runs in in preparation for that, Stu went out did 22 miles the day before the Blue Castle Run. That meant he was going into it with heavy legs.

The Blue Castle Run is contested over a 7 mile distance and is set in the Furzebrook Estate, around the iconic waters of the Blue Pool nature reserve.

Last year was its first ever outing and it proved to be a rip-roaring success. So much so that it was difficult to get an entry. Bournemouth AC member Patrick Kingston would have liked to as he’d done the last three races of the Purbeck Trail Series but needed one more to complete his set of four.

It was a shame as he’d done pretty well as well and would have been in with an outside chance of winning the M40 category. He definitely would have at least come second. But alas, it wasn’t to be.

As is usually the case with any race on the Purbeck, the Blue Castle Run features a rather hilly route, with over 660ft of elevation. There’s one massive hill as well which lasts for the whole of the fourth mile and part of the fifth mile.

There was a lead group of three to begin with, with unattached runner George Goodall dictating the pace, with Stu Nicholas and Dave Newman just behind.

By the end of  the first mile, Dave Newman had built up an eight second lead over Stu who was in second. Dave was the only man to get through that first mile in under six minutes, posting a 5:56. He then went on to complete the second mile in 6:12, extending his lead over Stu who registered a 6:18.

There was a tough climb on the next mile, which Dave got through in 6:36. Stu slowed down quite a bit on that mile, posting a 7:25, enabling some of the other runners to catch him up. Not being fully fresh after his run the previous day was bound to impact him on a demanding course like this.

The hill on the fourth mile even knocked Dave down to an 8:05 so that is a good indicator of how tough it was. He hardly ever runs at a pace like that, even in training, and can run 6:30 pace for eight miles whilst pushing a pram!

The man who was in second place at that stage, Lee Thomas, gained a bit of ground on that mile, managing a 7:56. Dave worked his way up the rest of the hill before starting the long, steep descent that followed. He was able to bring it round to a 6:07 in the end for his fifth mile, with Lee registering a 6:13 and Stu a 6:33.

The last two miles were still undulating but were flattish in comparison to the rest of the race. Dave posted a 6:26 for his sixth mile and then a 5:53 for his seventh. That was much stronger than anyone else.

Lee Thomas go through them in 6:28 and 6:11 and Stu Nicholas registered a 7:08, followed by a 6:29. Finishing strongly with at 5:25 pace for the last fifth of the mile, Dave claimed victory in a time of 46:13. That was an average pace of 6:26 per mile.

Lee Thomas was only 23 seconds behind, taking second place in 46:36. George Godall came third in the end in 47:06, with Alessandro Zanconato taking fourth in 47:34.

Adam Hodge finished fifth in 48:13 and he’d won the Male Under 40 category for the Purbeck Trail Series and had also completed all six races.

Somehow getting in a tangle with some vicious brambles, Stu had had some flesh torn from his neck and looked in a bad way. He managed to complete the race though still, finishing sixth in a time of 48:21. That resulted in a trip to the MIU to have the wound glued.

It wasn’t a race Stu would remember as being one of his vintage ones. But he’d won the Purbeck Trail Series so there was still a feeling of jubilation from that.

Rob Doubleday of Poole AC took 7th place in 48:41 before Ellie Monks for Southampton AC arrived to take the first female spot in 49:02. Isabel Zanconato was next over the line in exactly 50 minutes. She had of course already been crowned 2025 Purbeck Trail Series champion.

Finishing as 13th placed female, Anna Trehane came 66th overall in a time of 1:06:12. She was fifth in the 35 to 39 category. It was a massive success for Anna to come away with the Femle Under 40 category win for the series though and she must have been over the moon with that. She’d come 30th in the overall standings as well.

Alessandro Zanconato finished second to Stu in the Male Open with a score of 1993, with Daniel Thomas Thomas of Bridport Runners taking third. He’d finished second at the Lighthouse Loop and the Black Hill Run 10k, third at the Studland Stampede and fourth in The Beast.

Mark Packer of Littledown Harriers had the next best score out of any of the athletes outside the top three but he was first in the M50 category. Pete Doughty and Rob Doubleday finished on the same number of points so were joint winners in the M40 category with a score of 1973 each.

Jenny Lee Marshall of Purbeck Runners was second placed female in the end, with 1904 points. It was really close but Mel Western of Egdon Heath Harriers came third female in the end for the series, with Sally Bugler taking fourth. They were 22st and 23rd in the overall standings, with Isabel Zanconato finished 8th.

Kathryn Robson of Poole AC was fifth female and first in the F60 category, She was 28th overall, with Virginie Morris of Dorchester RIOT finishing 29th overall and taking first place in the F40 category.

There was also success for Bournemouth AC’s Caroline Rowley who finished second in the F50 category. She did five of the races, with the Blue Castle Run being the only one she missed. Tracy Brooks took first prize in the F50 category.

Even though he only did two of the races, Geoff Newton still won the M80 category. His only rival was Bob Panther who he beat comfortably at the Coombe Keynes 10k.

Paul Wilding of Lytchett Manor Striders was 13th overall and first M60, with Hamish Murray taking the first M70 prize and finishing 19th overall. Annette Mogg of Poole Runners was first F70.

The team results were decided by the positions of the first two male and first two female runners of the club for each race. Purbeck Runners came out on top of that table, with Dorchester RIOT and Bridport Runners in a close battle for second place, with Dorchester edging it by one point.

Poole Runners were fourth with Egdon Heath Harriers taking fifth, with Bournemouth AC finshing ninth.

It had been an another excellent series for Stu Nicholas and he would have no doubt been celebrating once he’d got his neck glued back together and got home. Anna would have been able to proudly celebrate with him as well after he Under 40 win, as would Caroline Rowley and Geoff Newton.