Cotswold Way Relay 2025

tewkesburyrunningc
5 days ago
7 min read

Updated: 5 days ago

Here's a round-up of Tewkesbury Running Club's Lucky and Chucky Retrievers adventures in the fantastic CWR.

Stage No1: The early start at Chipping Campden means the Tewkesbury Lucky and Chucky Retrievers had their 5am alarm bells ringing! A little early for a weekend rise however, the reward for starting the trail at 7am is some stunning and peaceful North Cotswold scenery. Natalie Jenks and Clive Sentence stood at the very start/end of the Cotswold Way for the two Tewkesbury teams. Once the 100 teams left Chipping Campden via a lung-testing ascent, their first famous Cotswold landmark was passed in the shape of Dover’s Hill – made famous by the Olimpick Games which started there in 1612. Natalie flew past Broadway Tower, the 18^th century folly. Superb views are offered from the peak and on a clear day, an incredible 13 counties can be seen. Clive followed hesitantly as he carried a pre-run ankle niggle. Both runners, passed the famous Bridget Jones setting of Snowshill, before dashing through the very quaint Cotswold villages of Buckland and Stanton. Running is Nat’s second sport behind her successful first sport of cycling. She was certainly riding high heading towards the Stanway House finish line. Stanway House is an impressive Jacobean manor house, once owned by Tewkesbury Abbey. Clive shortly followed and both runners can be proud of their brave and strong efforts.

Stage No2: Taking on the first of the regarded ‘harder’ stages, were tough terrain specialists Kerri Spry and Phillipa Page. Both girls were late replacements for Andrew Gillett as he recovers from lower leg injuries, and Stuart Holyoak whose ankle failed just days earlier. Kerri famously ran Newport Marathon in 3:59 hrs proving she’s a capable runner, in fact both girls ran the infamous Man v Horse event in Wales last month. So really, Woman v Belas Knap should be a walk in the park. No2 in an epic course, once ascending Stanway hill then down past the remains of Hailes Abbey, a trek along Winchcombe high street before Sudeley Castle - the final resting place of the former Queen, Katherine Parr. From the castle, the brave runners were soon into one of the most demanding longer climbs of the day to Belas Knap. It’s got to be one of the toughest 12 milers in this area and both girls won the contest with ease... but they did get caught out with the mistake of leaving finish line car keys inside the car at the start line!

Stage No3: The popular ‘shorter’ stage from Cleeve hill tracing the escarpment above Cheltenham’s Prestbury Park featured two of our CWR first-timers – Lynda Gardiner and Della Matley. With the rocky terrain past the old Cotswold quarry and the lung-busting climb up from Dowdeswell reservoir, this year the ‘shorter’ stage had increased by ~3 miles to nearly 11 miles. Extra miles of Cotswold Way terrain should never be taken lightly, and the girls were really put to the test with a threatening cut-off time of 2hrs 30 minutes. However, both girls bossed it with ease and left the athletic tail-runner gasping to keep-up. Nb there was an admin error with the numbers – Della was a Lucky, Lynda a Chucky.

Stage No4: Although slightly shorter this year due to the “missing link” being built, this stage is still the longest stage on paper measuring 19.8 km (just over 12 miles). No4 is also the second of the three ‘harder’ stages. Without exaggerating, No4 is a stage runners avoid! Nigel Tillott seemed to forget he ran it in 2008 and 2009, he’s become quite fearless of running recently and quite happily accepted the challenge. As it happened, Nigel was able to run roughly the same times he did 17 years ago. Imogen Knox on the other hand was just 11 years old when the Chairman first treaded the path. Imy was singled-out for Stage 4 when it was noted on club runs, that she didn’t slow down on accents like other runners; she was the perfect fit for the 10:30 start on a course that is relentless with at least 10 climbs! Imy’s feedback was “absolutely loved it, but a different stage for next year please”.

Stage No5: Having just three or four climbs of note and one long uphill drag, this is another pleasant tour over parts of the Cotswold escarpment. Running from Painswick high street, taking in the panoramic views from Haresfield Beacon and tracing through ancient woodland dating back to 1297, Sue Baldwin and Sarah Dennis were very much looking forward to it. Their recce runs were enjoyable and come the race day, they competitively completed the stage over 30 minutes quicker – so much so, they had a lengthy wait for their transport home! Thankfully, the finish of Stage 5 takes the runners down to Ebley Mill and along the pleasurable Stroudwater Canal path.

Stage No6: Starting from down in the Stroud valley, the runners on No6 have 3 significant climbs to tackle; the first to Selsley Common is in full view from the starting point and is a daunting sight – a relentless uphill start! With the gun sounding at 13:00 hrs you would normally expect the mercury rising but the weather was changing all the time, some of the mugginess had been blown away and rain-looking clouds were in sight. This stage takes the runners through some glorious miles of wooded shade. In contrast, the final few meters involve running the streets of Dursley. Lucky Retrievers had Justin Blakemore starting; Justin’s 5^th time on the CWR team for Tewkesbury but Stage No6 being the toughest one he’s faced thus far. Chucky Retrievers had debutant Stephane Plisson starting. Steph is probably our least experienced runner taking part this year (he’s hoping to tackle his first ½ marathon this year). Justin was great encouragement for Stephane as the two crossed the finish in Dursley together.

Stage No7: The shortest stage from Dursley starts like Stage No6 with a ‘hand-brake start’, the climb up Stinchcombe hill is relentless. Once the hill is conquered, it’s a fast dash along the escarpment with breathtaking views across the Severn valley towards the Forest of Dean, a few technical twists and turns and then a final climb before a swift descent down to Wotton. At 7.5 miles in distance with two significant ascents, it was a fairly kind introduction for Julia Jackson. Her finish time was very sharp and the quickest Tewkesbury time since 2022. Following just 11 minutes later, club coach Mike Younger (although the older of our teams) completed his third Stage 7 following his runs here in 2013 and 2019.

Stage No8: Regarded as the toughest stage, No8 starts from Wotton-under-Edge with a one km jog alongside a stream called “Little River Avon” before ascending hands and knees style up to the edge of the Cotswold hills. The 2:45pm start time can coincide with the afternoon sun roasting the runners. However, this year’s weather wasn’t too bad, in fact for July it was good running weather and firm under foot after a long dry spell. It’s only fair that the club’s in-form runners take on this stage and we introduced Ollie Reichelt and Adam Bridge; Ollie having great top-end speed, whilst Adam has strong endurance. Stage 8 is difficult to describe in words; from a personal perspective, the 10 times that I have raced it, two of those times I swore to quit running and stick to triathlon! It’s as tough mentally as it is physically.

The boys did well – Ollie coming in first in spectacular style; the decent from the St John the Baptist church is steep enough for cheese-rolling but Ollie took a roll! Adam came in 10 minutes later maintaining his footing.

Stage No9: Setting off from Old Sodbury, as the crow flies, Bath town isn’t that far away but the Cotswold Way is never about the shortest A-B route – as some know it’s a purposely designed path along the Cotswold escarpment put in place in the 1950’s by keen ramblers. Designed in a way to incorporate the splendid views and points of interest. Ironically, the CWR race doesn’t really allow much time for sight-seeing... your eyes are looking down for loose stones, roots and cracks, and then at mid-height for brambles, branches and nettles. This stage boasts the least descending and mildest ascending, in other words the flattest stage. Experienced CWR runners Alec and Elaine Vincent carried the two Tewkesbury teams along this penultimate section. Now having completed Stage 9, Elaine has just two more stages to complete the set of ten to become the third TRC runner to be awarded the King/Queen of the Cotswold Way plaque. Elaine gave another impressive performance while Alec flew along the course that crosses the M4 and past Dyrham Park to record a fine time for the record books.

Stage No10: The glory leg – a stage with a little of everything from grand parks, an airfield, a golf course, a racecourse, battle sites and possibly the greatest views. The finish into Bath and to the Abbey itself is a surreal experience – running down through the streets of shoppers, tourists and hen-parties – it was like a parting of the waves, even the 100 odd diners queuing for the Ivy restaurant turned and to cheer and clap the runners along. The turn into the Abbey was through a ‘guard of honor’ with hundreds of spectators clapping and cheering – most didn’t know what was happening! The final 2025 debutant was Hannah Moon. Hannah spending 2024’s event supporting from the sidelines after rupturing her achilles tendon. Following a thorough recce in June, Hannah started with Jon Mansfield for their long-awaited 9.8 mile swansong for the 2025 event. They had both been following the race down from Stanway House at 8am, needless to say, two coiled springs ready to be released. Jon’s race went fairly well – the 100 runners thinned out after the first mile and he was pleased to catch and leave runners during the later stages. Hannah and her regrown achillies excelled with a strong run and great finish leaving several of her peers watching her disappear.

Thanks to all involved – not just for running but also sorting your own transport out and arranging practice runs. To Dave and Sam who devoted the day to supporting the teams. Thank you to the club for paying the entries. Lynda et al for insisting a post-event night in the Black Bear is now de rigueur.

The event is all-set for next July (first Saturday) so mark your dairies and think about which stage you would like to get lost on!

Lucky Retrievers

1 JENKS, Natalie 01:42:34

2 PAGE, Philipa 02:24:31

3 MATLEY, Della 02:21:35

4 KNOX, Imogen 01:53:28

5 BALDWIN, Sue 01:38:58

6 BLAKEMORE, Justin 01:46:49

7 JACKSON, Julia 01:15:36

8 REICHELT, Ollie 01:52:58

9 VINCENT, Alec 01:15:30

10 MANSFIELD, Jon 01:14:50