Its a Long Way to the Mendips
Released On 7th Aug 2026
The Red Phoenix
From Lindsay: Marathon No 30 done for Stephen Warren and Myself today, in 30 degree heat and wow that was brutal, flat and beautiful along the canal, but it got sooooooo hot but it's done. The cider top (ala Bungy Williams stylee) was bloody lush and well deserved during the last lap lol. We know how to do it right lol. Definitely worth an hour trip and great for all abilities and stunning running along the canal. Now to visit the double locks pub that we passed 16 times but visited on the 15th for a well deserved pint lol. I also got a postive moo keepsake for the tshirt i was wearing when i finished and for talking Martin into doing a marathon when he was just going to do a half, after his marathon yesterday. Well done on your first double, now to join the club lol.
Mendip Marauder 50 miles
From Andy: I had a great day out running the East and West Mendip Way, Big hills and the sun was shining . Had a soft fall, missed a few turnings so pleased to finish in 8th place. Leigh Parsons ran the 50K with Magdalena Golebiowska for company, also saw JC and Dom R on the course. Spectacular views but the hills are relentless.
From Mags: I had a great day yesterday supporting Leigh Parsons in his Mendip Maraunder 30miler. After dropping him off to the start I drove to the finish point and ran from there in reverse until I met him on the 2nd aid station. We then ran together to the finish line in Weston-super-Mare where we had a little beach picnic waiting for Andy Farrant to complete his 50miler. I have managed to do 25 miles with 3,655ft elevation (those hills!!!). It was great to see Dave Tilsley getting back to it and smashing his 30, also JC doing his 500 and something marathon! Well done everyone, great effort.
From Ann: This weekend was mendip sweeping 50 miles . What a day it was 5am start to get the bus at 6am to get to frome, we started at 8.30 am , we had beautiful weather with a little breeze at times , the aid stations were amazing the scenery was great , we had horses donkeys , deers baby cows sheep , geese. To say we had some nice hills was an understatement but some nice down too. I had Tristram Clark and Sarah Davies give me some frozen drinks at 30 miles which was a life saver and amazing so thank you very much we finished at around half ten so a very long but enjoyable day. I met some lovely people I ran a lot of miles with too.
Weekend Running
From Chris: With no Alison Griffiths or Margarita Moore to do our Sunday social, Janine Carbine and myself met up nonetheless and managed a comfy 10½km run around the riverside run. Slight change as we both like hills, so we incorporated Wyndham hill. Then down to the corner of the field, heading towards Swan theatre, passed Coopers mill and onto Lysander road before heading back onto the ninesprings track towards the café. Finished with a lovely coffee and cake made by Kevin Doherty.
From Richard: Building up the miles with the marathon training gang for today’s SLR, Yeovil HM route starting and finishing at Palmers. Was getting pretty warm by the time we finished, well done all.
From Rob; Only 3 of us in the jeffing gang today, nice mix of road and trail. Was all going well until Tim fell out with a tree at 6 miles, all ok but he had a headache and didn’t look so pretty.
From Tim: Three small groups for the Breakfast run from Cavity trays. Steve Sparks, Honey and me, Sharon and Anita adding extra miles for their H2L training, Phil, Mark and Dave doing their Last of the Summer Wine impression. We all headed down Thorne Coffin via different routes and then the runners headed into the countryside. Great chatty run. Breakfast was good at No.5.
Park Runs
From Felicity: Bit of London parkrun tourism for pheebs and me today at Highbury fields. 5 laps of a fairly small park but not as arduous as it sounds and a fast but very busy course. Well fuelled by our hotel breakfast I managed to get a PB, finally breaking 21 mins 6th female and 1st in age category. Pheebs did great and was 2nd in her category with a quick time despite her gps messing up, much to her annoyance. A good one for a PB if anyone is in London.
From Ali: Shepton mallet park run this sunny morning for us 4. With a coffee after in the park cafe.
From Helen: Torbay Velopark Parkrun for us todayit’s a nice flat course so a bit gutted I couldn’t push for a good time, however I’m pleased to have run it all nice trip to Dartmouth after for a wander around the market and brekki.
From Margarita: Today we headed over to Itchen Valley Country parkrun to tick off another all-important letter for our parkrun Alphabet Challenge — I!
We also managed to bag an I for the Old MacDonald challenge.
Itchen Valley Country is a lovely one-lap course, winding its way through the park with plenty of twists and turns to keep things interesting. It’s a really pretty route, and although it’s twisty in places, it makes for an enjoyable run and certainly stops you getting bored!
There was a lovely atmosphere, and it’s definitely one we’d happily come back and do again. Sometimes you visit a new parkrun, tick off the letter and move on… but this is one that has made it onto the “we’d do that again” list.
Another alphabet letter ticked off, another parkrun explored, and another Saturday morning well spent!
Hazlebury Trail Race
From Jo: Another good turn out of the green & whites at tonight’s Haslebury Trail Race on what was a lovely summer evening. The ladies showing us how it is done with Felicity Came scooping 2nd lady & Kelly Rowsell scooping 1st in her age category . Strong performances across the board. Great to see Brian Mountjoy-Row running & Phil Mac Quaid supporting . Oh & for once I think we got everyone in the picture.
PUB RUN – COMPTON DUNDON – (6TH AUGUST 2026)
From Mark: We had a big turn out for the Pub Run tonight at Compton Dundon, and we had a great time even though dinner was a bit of a misunderstanding.
Guy, Ann, and Gareth ran fast. Rob led one not so fast group with Elie, Linda, and Gary. Alison led a second not so fast group with Anita, Louise, Rachael, JC, and myself. Phil ran alone.
We climbed up through the woods and made our way to the big chair with the stunning view over the levels. We then continued through woods and fields to the Admiral Hood monument, and then descended by road back towards the village. Turning right, crossing the main road, and going off-road again we made our way over to the cake shop. A help yourself cake shop too small even for one person. Next we headed back down the road to the pub.
The pub was very busy, and I suspect they were over-booked for food orders. We were either going to have to wait, or go without, so some of us did a plan B, and went onto Somerton for Fish n Chips. The Fish n Chips were great, and it was good to eat them in the car park as the sun went down. Thanks Phil for organising.
