13th Christmas Pudding Dash
I went to a winter solstice gathering on the 21st December and became aware of the 13th Christmas Pudding Dash the following day at Pett, in East Sussex. This was a Nice-Work event and run on footpaths, fields and through woodland starting and finishing at the village hall in Pett. It was advertised as 5 miles but the recent rain had left parts of last years course flooded so the route was changed slightly and it end up at around 4.6 miles distance. That said it was a pretty challenging course with mud, lots of ups and downs as well as twists and turns through the woods so the distance was quite adequate.
It was a very popular event with 358 runners finishing of varying ages most of whom were dressed for the occasion in a variety of Christmas outfits.
For me it was a bit of a memorial run as it took in much of the trails that John Lee and I ran on Saturday mornings in the past. Consequently I enjoyed taking in the scenery and the surroundings but had I run a touch harder I would have taken the M65 ‘bottle’ as I was beaten to it by 10 seconds.
| 1st | George Pool | JM | Hastings AC | 26:14 | |
| 3rd | Grace Baker | SF | Hastings AC | 29:20 | 1st lady |
| 49th | Mark Taylor | M65 | TWH | 39:15 | 2nd M65 |
Lamberhurst 10K
On New Year’s day I was adjudicating the Lamberhurst 5 and 10K so decided to run mainly to clear my head after rather a short night. It was the usual friendly event and being more or less a two lap course meant you had the opportunity to give a shout to the other runners as you passed.
Mince pies and shot of whiskey as well as a bespoke medal were there for you at the finish. Tea and coffee was available in the village hall Race HQ, the annual run being held to raise funds for the upkeep of the hall.
There was a strong contingent from Tunbridge AC but the male team prize was won by Wadhurst Runners with Tonbridge AC taking the lady’s team prize.
There were 7 Harriers running in the 10k results below
| 1st | Anthony Bradley | SM | 36:10 | |
| 19th | Tina Oldershaw | F50 | 41:30 | 1st lady |
| 71st | Mark Taylor | M65 | 47:53 | 1st M65 |
| 100th | Clare Andrew | F45 | 50:10 | |
| 105th | Rose Sawyer | F45 | 50:41 | |
| 117th | Luke Edwardes-Evans | M55 | 51:21 | |
| 189th | Gary O’Reilly | M55 | 57:31 | |
| 221st | June Edwardes-Evans | F55 | 01:00:50 | |
| 229th | Ruth Gray | F35 | 01:01:47 |
Total of 299 Finishers
No Harriers were running in the 5K which had 121 finishers
Mark Taylor