There were 560 finishers in the ever-popular Bewl 15 plus another 80 who enjoyed its watered-down offspring Bewl 5 which was added to the programme for the first time on Sunday 2 July 2023.

Bewl 15 is one of the nation's foremost trail races, held on a single lap around the 31,000 million litre capacity Bewl Water reservoir – enough water to provide an average day's usage of 150 litres to almost 200 million homes!

Bewl Water is set in 800 acres of astounding scenery and the site straddles the borders of Kent and Sussex at Lamberhurst, a regular training route for the local club Wadhurst Runners who promote Bewl 15 (and 5) with race management support from Sussex-based Nice Work.

This year's Bewl 15 was again part of the Sussex Grand Prix series – as it has been since its inception – and the 2023 winners were Marshall Smith (Ashford AC, 1:27:08) and Tori Alikhan (Brighton & Hove, 1:51:54).

Marshall Smith was the sole athlete to manage 6-min-mile pace for a sub-90-minute return on this testing, multi-terrain course with numerous undulations. He was joined by Kent AC pair Ben Clarke (1:31:03) and Barnaby Day (M40, 1:32:58) on the leader's rostrum.

Tori Alikhan finished ninth overall to lead the women home. Her nearest opponents were also under two hours: W35 Tiffany England (unattached, 1:53:01) and Yolanda King (Hastings Runners, 1:54:12).

That two-hour barrier was breached by the first 80 finishers and the final runner returned to the finish line in Blacksmith's Lane in just over four hours.

The inaugural 'Baby Bewl 5' was a hit with 80 participants who enjoyed an introduction to trail running without the fatigue of the full 15-miler. Declan O'Callaghan (Best Athletics, 34:55) was the trailblazer and Alice Ralph (Tonbridge AC, 37:23) – finishing third overall – was the first female.

Full results and previous race reports at runABC South race listing here.

Full event details at the Bewl 15 race website here.

Library photo courtesy Wadhurst Runners/Nice Work