On Sunday I raced the Ironwood Challenge, a six(ish) mile trail race, organised by Nailsea Running Club. It takes place on country trails through ancient woodland, fields and forests above the village of Long Ashton in North Somerset. Kinisi Run Hub were proud to be supporting the event for the second year running and we were there with Nnormal for a trail shoe demo!
The race HQ is at the Community Centre in Long Ashton which is where registration, number collection and bag drop were. Kinisi Run Hub also had a pop-up shop and we joined forces with Nnormal to deliver a demo event for the Tomir 2.0 which runners were allowed to race in and test out the shoe! This was well received with much positive feedback for the shoes. After all the wet weather we have had recently trail shoes were definitely needed! I also raced in the shoes and think they are great!
The start was on a trail at the bottom of Keedwell Hill just outside of the community centre. It was a relatively narrow trail but everyone got away and we were pretty much straight into the trees and onto muddy terrain. The route climbed steadily up into the surrounding woodland and was very undulating. One of the climbs was very steep and even had a rope for us to use to pull ourselves up and not loose traction in the mud which was ankle deep in sections!
Once we jumped a stile to leave the woods it was out into open fields where there were some great views of the surrounding local scenery including the North Somerset hills. Soon enough though we were back into the forestry commission woodland and looping around more muddy trails. The route looped around the woodland and was very up and down. After completing a circuit we headed back across the fields and to the original section of woods to finish back at the centre.
I managed to take the win in 38:55 with Sam Pictor second in 40:34 and Rhys Goddard (Vegan Runners) third in 42:08. Kerry Firth (Clevedon AC) won the women's race in 50:34 followed home by Robyn Ellis (Westbury Harriers) second in 51:32 and Clare Foster (Cheddar RC) third in 52:03. In total there were 185 finishers. Full results of the Ironwood Challenge 2026 here.
The course was well marked and there were plenty of volunteer marshals on the course to guarantee no one got lost. Well done to everyone who raced and thank you Nailsea Running Club for hosting a great event!