There is so much work that goes into this event, and it starts months and months before race day. I’ve been out cutting back the trails since the start of June!
The Foxton Hound Ultra is is the type of race I love running myself, so I take great pleasure in following everybody’s journeys and seeing everybody out enjoying the trails, especially those runners who have chosen to step up into the world of ultrarunning for the very first time.
I am a massive advocate for introducing runners to the magic of trail running, and especially the longer distances. I believe 50k is the perfect distance as an introduction to ultrarunning; just over marathon distance, without the pressure that comes from running a road marathon. Hosting the guided recces in the build up to this race is something I am very passionate about and it has been lovely to meet more runners again this year in the build up to race day as we welcomed a number of new 50k and 100k runners, and those who had run the 50k last year and moved onto running the 100k event this year too. A huge well done to recce runners Jon, Nathan and Danielle (second lady!) for completing the 100k, as well as Kayleigh, Gaynor and Steve for rocking their first 50k distance last weekend.
In the 50k, Graeme Ostah returned after having completed his first 50k at our 2025 event. This time storming round the course to take the win! He then went on to head over to Tugby to support the 100k runners out during their race. Amelia Cook was our youngest female competitor and had a cracking day for her first 50k, winning the female race with a lead of more than 30 minutes!
Last year Kevin Powell had taken the win at the 100k and it was nice to see him back again in 2026 covering the shorter distance this time and finishing third on the podium. There was quite the race in the male event, with just one second separating third and fourth position, with winner of the female race Amelia crossing the line in fifth position overall.
50k podium:
🥇🏃♂️ Graeme Ostah (Tugby Running Club) – 4:13:04
🥈🏃♂️ Khamis Alkhulaifi – 4:28:33
🥉🏃♂️ Kevin Powell – 4:28:44
🥇🏃♀️ Amelia Cook – 4:36:18
🥈🏃♀️ Pavla Foltynova – 5:10:54
🥉🏃♀️ Louise Andrews (Kenilworth) & Eleanor Davies (Sphinx AC) – 5:13:04
We witnessed a new course record being set for the 100k, with Ben Warren taking more than 20 minutes off the previous record, and Chiara Lesa bettering her 2025 time by nearly an hour and increasing her 2025 podium by two places to take the win this year!
Both Chiara, and her partner Tobias had returned from Switzerland to run the 100k for the second time, using it as a ‘flatter’ race than the events local to them! Tobias also massively improved on his position from last year, when he was the 12th finisher, in a time of 13:32, to this year finishing second in a time more than three hours faster! Harvey, our third finisher, was also a return runner to the event, having taken second place in the 100k back in 2024.
Second and third female finishers Danielle and Nikki had both run the 50k race in 2025 and returned to take on double the distance this year. Danielle lives along the route and shared lovely footage on Instagram of the support from her village as she passed through. Nikki had run a strong 50k last year, taking the third podium spot for the female race, and she once again held third place, this time over twice the distance!
100k podium:
🥇🏃♂️ Ben Warren – 10:10:23 CR!
🥈🏃♂️ Tobias Seidel – 10:23:25
🥉🏃♂️ Harvey Eales (Lonely Goat RC) – 11:00:05
🥇🏃♀️ Chiara Lesa (Trigether) – 12:39:29
🥈🏃♀️ Danielle Gray – 14:21:27
🥉🏃♀️ Nikki Javan (Striders of Croydon) – 14:47:18
Full results for the 50k and 100k can both be found on our website now.
David, from Mick Hall Photos returned for a third time to photograph the event and, as always, has captured some cracking shots both at the start and out on course. Photos are completely free to download, so do take a look through the album.
A huge thank you to our incredible team of volunteers at the event. What really stood out to me was just how invested our volunteers were in the progress of the runners. Several popped up at the finish line after completing their volunteer duties because they wanted to see how runners were getting on. Others offered to stay late to help support those who were struggling, lent out their own personal power banks or headtorches to runners who had devices which had died, and some even brought along their own favourite foods to supplement everything already being provided at the checkpoints.
One of our team, Reece, based on the last checkpoint of the 100k course had even run the 50k race earlier that day, gone home, showered, changed, and then returned to help support the 100k runners that evening!
This event simply could not happen without such a dedicated, caring and selfless team, and I absolutely could not have done it without them at the weekend.
Our oldest competitor this year was 81 year old Bill Mitchell. Bill is a regular at Race Harborough events, having run our Battle of the Brampton Valley Way race a number of times. Bill has now run more than 300 races of marathon distance or above, despite not taking up running until his 60s. Cheery and chirpy the whole way round, he certainly kept our Tail Runner of the 50k on her toes. Bill doesn’t have a watch with navigation, so instead he opted to navigate using our written instructions to get him round the course and he received a great welcome at the finish when he crossed the line later that afternoon.
Entries are now open for the 2027 event, so do take a look and let your friends and club mates know how much fun was had this year!