The going was officially declared as "soft" for the Bewl Water Ultra and supporting events on Saturday (14 May) following incessant rain in the southeast of England throughout the spring. Bewl Water reservoir was full and close to overlapping parts of the route used for this bi-annual festival of endurance trail running by Hermes Running.

There were four races available. The 10K was an out-and-back route on the shores of the largest body of inland water in the South East of England, completed in 1975 and containing 31,300 million litres of water supplied to customers as far afield as Hastings to the south and the Medway Towns to the north. Nathan Massini (44:05) and Chloe Stockwell-Clark (53:59) were the leading finishers in the first event.

The half marathon was the first of three races to include a full circuit of the reservoir that straddles the Kent/Sussex border, utilising the popular 12.5-mile trail plus an opening loop near the Bewl Visitor Centre and Waterside Cafe.

Making the best progress through the mire was Darren Bird with a 10-minute margin of victory in 1:31:25 – impressive stuff. Laura Whitehead (1:42:06) was the winner of the women's race in fourth overall. Two laps of the reservoir were required for the full marathon won by M45 Stephen Lampkin (3:36:09) and W35 Louise Stewart (4:05:10).

The Timing Monkey had recorded 117 finishers in the 10K; 182 in the half and exactly 50 in the marathon when the 24 heroes of the 37.5 miles ultramarathon started filing through the finish line. Three full clockwise laps plus an opening loop were required and first to trigger the chip timing mat was Michael Garnett (5:04:34) – a 2:43:15 marathon runner from Guildford & Godalming AC. The first lady was W45 Zoe Cambell (6:17:00) in fifth place overall.

Hermes Running was established by ultra runner David Ross in 2012. David has completed 466 marathons and 133 ultramarathons, with 32 career wins at marathons and beyond. Hermes Running organises a series of trail races in stunning locations within Kent and Surrey, including Thames Meander (Kingston-upon-Thames, Surrey), Magna Carta (Runnymede, Surrey), North Downs Way (Reigate, Surrey) and Bewl Water (Lamberhurst, Kent).

For full details of Hermes Running events click here.

You can find full results from Bewl Water via the runABC South race listing here.

Image of marking the Bewl Water course courtesy Hermes Running on Facebook