Sunday, September 8 saw the return of the Rye Ancient Trail, a multi-terrain race starting and finishing in Rye. Now in its sixth year, there were 541 entrants who gathered outside the town hall to begin the course through the ancient trails of the High Weald and, with 467 finishers, it was a record year.
With a choice of running 30km or 15km, entrants explored historic woodland, country lanes, made a 1,500ft climb and negotiated gates and stiles. This tough route also took in the Norman churches of Iden, Beckley, Northiam and Peasmarsh.
Being deeply rooted in the local community, most of the entrants were from East Sussex with 16 members of the Rye Runners taking part: Alex, Jane, Ian, Louise, Lou, Sophie, Paul, Damen, Beth, Tom, Keith, Vanessa and Sandi in the 15k and Toby, Vad and Alberto in the 30k.
Rye Runner, Sophie Lehane was happy to take part. “Rye Ancient Trails is such a friendly and fun event, and we’re so lucky to have it here in Rye. There were quite a few of us from Rye Runners taking part this year, and it was great to all meet up at the finish. I didn’t do loads of training but am happy with my run and enjoyed the challenge, even if some of the hills were pretty hard going.”
Helping out on the route were Marine Corps cadets from Ore, Sidley and Rye, handing out drinks and snacks to those taking part.
In the 15k the male winner was Steve Gates with a time of 00:58:43 and female winner was Amelia Voice in 01:13:23 with most running the course between approximately 90 minutes and two hours.
In the 30k, the first male and female (Jonny Reep and Amy Dixon) raced in a staggering 02:08:20 and 02:24:52 respectively but most would run it between 3 and 4 hours.
The Rye Ancient Trails, organised by Nice Work, gives donations to various community groups including the girl guides, Hastings Lions, scouts and local churches. This year also raising money for the Oliver Curd Trust and the Rye Foodbank. The race is a huge community effort with all sorts of local organisations contributing volunteers and offering their services to help make it happen.
Managing director and Nice Work owner, Rachael Wood, said: “This Sunday saw nearly 500 runners take on the epic Rye Ancient Trails 30k & 15k for the 6th year. The runners were set on their way by the town crier on the high street and took on the hilly trails linking Rye, Iden, Peasmarsh, Beckley and Northiam. It’s always a firm favourite with runners and, as Nice Work is based in Rye Harbour, it has a special place in our hearts as it’s our ‘home’ race.
“The event is the culmination of a huge amount of teamwork and we’re grateful for the support of so many community groups, volunteer marshals and everyone who came out to cheer on the runners. A huge thank you, we really couldn’t put on this race without you!
“It’s wonderful that we can support the great work of local community groups and the race also raised money for two local charities, the Rye Foodbank and Peasmarsh based Oliver Curd Trust.
“If you saw some of the runners and felt inspired, we hope to see you next September! ”
For more information about Nice Work see here.
Image Credits: Nice Work , Gareth McCully /Rye Runners , Marine Corps , Richard Hibbs .