Attention trail runners! There's a Race Director in the Surrey Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty who needs your support...

Rory MacPherson is the hard-working organiser of the G3 Fitstuff Trail Series in the breathtaking Surrey Hills AONB, near Guildford, whose latest event was declared null and void due to wanton vandalism.

The 2026 G3 Fitstuff Trail Series started on Saturday, 10th January, with 10K and 15K options from the Newlands Corner Nature Reserve at Shere, four miles east of Guildford town centre. The venue boasts a popular cafe, parking, toilets, and immediate access to the rolling hills and woodlands, with stunning, far-reaching views.

Students of runABC's comprehensive results will have noticed that the 15K results from the inaugural event look odd. Finishers are shown in alphabetical order, with times ranging from an unbelievable 51 minutes to 2:24:22.

Rory told runABC South what happened to spoil the day for 130 runners, and one extremely frustrated Race Director: "It was a memorable start to the 2026 Fitstuff G3 series on Saturday. The freezing temperature created near-perfect trail running conditions. Hard ground, the sun rising over the cracking views and some fast times – for a G3 course!

"However, it was not all plain sailing. Route vandals were out in force in a section of the route, where repeated removal of the route while the event was live caused issues for runners in the 15K event, to the extent that the results had to be neutralised.

"In the 22 years of delivering the G3 series, the persistent and repeated vandalism was unprecedented. We expect the odd route marker to be removed, and we often find them in the bushes before racing starts. But this was whole sections of the route stolen. And it happened again and again, at multiple locations, whilst the event was live. Why?? The mindlessness of people is staggering, and I’m only glad that the outcome was not more serious."

Thankfully, G3 trail runners are a determined and resilient bunch, and they displayed good humour and patience, demonstrating that despite such adversity, they will always get through!

The 10K race was unaffected and the winners were Aaron Skelton (44:17) and Anna Marlow (50:10) from 151 finishers in 1:52:09.

So, come on, you trail runners. Give Rory the welcome bonus of a record entry for the remaining  G3 Fitstuff Trail Series events on Saturday, 31st January and Saturday, 28th February. The race and entry details are here.

Results and previous reports are at the runABC South race listing here.

Photos courtesy of Rory MacPherson, G3 Fitstuff Trail Series