It was on 10th April 2021 that the New Forest Off-Road Half Marathon by UK Running Events was one of the first running events to get the post lockdown green light and the sense of freedom and enjoyment of running in the stunning New Forest National Park was evident once again at this year's race on Saturday (26 March).

Fun fact: The New Forest has just been voted the number one National Park in Europe and 10th in the world – ahead of Banff National Park in Canada and Grand Canyon National Park in the USA – in the 2022 TripAdvisor Traveller's Choice Awards.

So, the 733 finishers in the three distances that comprise the New Forest Half Marathon event were privileged indeed, especially as they had access to parts of Hinton Admiral Estate that have never been open to the public before. 

These untouched parts of the New Forest are as nature intended them to be, with stunning scenery to delight the senses as you tackle the trails and hard-packed gravel paths through ancient woodlands and secret heathlands where deer and ponies roam free.

The meandering course is surprisingly flat, with just 106 metres of elevation gained in the half marathon, which was the most popular event with 362 finishers in 3:47:41. The top three men were Luke de Benedictis (1:27:03), Andrew Moore (1:27:54) and M40 John Brame (1:28:33).

W40 Natalie Kemp (1:38:39) led Rebecca Knapton (1:39:10) and Hollie Smith (1:39:43) across the finish line in the women's race.

The course splits at Burton Common and Donkey Bottom to bring the 14K and 10K runners through to the finish on their respective routes. The winners of the 14K race were Matt Sargent (55:20) and fifth-placed Hannah Henderson (1:05:40). Meanwhile, there was a female winner of the 10K race – Louise Small (49:01) – who was six seconds clear of M40 Lee Thomas (49:07) in the closest finish of the day.

All finishers were rewarded with a personalised certificate, running socks, neck buff, and the magnificent medal pictured above – plus an epic day out in Europe's #1 National Park!

Full results and last year's race report can be reviewed at runABC South race listing here

Image courtesy UK Running Events