There's no point scouting around for one of the Southeast's best multi-terrain 10K races. The Arundel Castle 10K, hosted by the Arundel Scout Group on Sunday 25 August 2024, ticked that box with its unique course – the only race permitted to enter the spectacular grounds of Arundel Castle, the seat of the Dukes of Norfolk since the 11th Century.

The route is on a mixture of tarmac road (40%) and downland grass tracks (60%). The race starts in Arundel Park close to Hiorne Tower. Following a circuit of the park, runners enter the grounds of Arundel Castle via St Mary’s Gate, passing through the quadrangle and exiting over the drawbridge to return to Arundel Park for the finish.

This year's king of the castle was Liam Briscoe (Fittleworth Flyers, 35:05) who found the hills added two minutes to his 33:04 PB set at Worthing in June. Briscoe was on a hat trick of victories and this was his fastest yet. Joining Liam on the men's podium were Callum Lorimer (Brighton & Hove AC, 35:29) and Nicholas Leahy (Best Athletics, 37:29).

The top three women (pictured above) were Tara Bage (Brighton Phoenix, 42:25), W45 Nicolette Hutton (Dorking & Mole Valley, 45:36) and W35 Lilla Horvath (Midhurst Milers, 46:38).

The race started at 9:00am in glorious sunshine with a comfortable 15C temperature. The Arundel Scouts assisted by handing out the medals at the finish. Paul Edmonds, who ran 1:02:36, summed up the general feelings of competitors when he posted this reaction on Facebook: "Incredible event. Very well organised, the volunteers were brilliant, the course was beautifully brutal. Bring on next year!"

Despite the tough course, 75 runners were faster than 5:00mins per kilometre pace. There were 362 finishers in 1:37:42 and 200 were home in under an hour.

The latest and previous results are available at the runABC South race listing here.

Photo of top three women courtesy of Arundel 10K on Facebook