On Friday evening I raced the third race of four in the Towpath Series organised by Great Western Runners. These are are flat multi-terrain races along the towpath next to Leigh Woods that runs along the river Avon and goes under the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Kinisi Run Hub are excited to be sponsoring this great series for another year!
The first race of the series always sees the strongest turnout due it being the Mob Match where local clubs battle it out to win the team prize. This month's feature did not have the biggest turnout but was still a fun event to be involved in. The weather was great with clear blue skies and a warm temperature but this made for tough racing conditions. As the towpath runs alongside the woods there is shade and shelter provided by the trees but saying this the trees had trapped the heat of the day so it was still very warm throughout the race.
The start is on a grass patch just before the towpath begins. Usual race director and GWR chairman Mark was not at this fixture to deliver his often entertaining pre-race briefing so race director duties fell to Kelly who is a prominent GWR runner in the South West racing scene. Kelly got us underway on time and headed off into the trees and along the towpath. It is a fairly narrow start and the towpath remains open to the public but everyone seems to know their pace and position themselves accordingly so there is never any congestion.
I set off fairly conservatively as I had raced twice already this week. I gradually started to pull away from the rest of the field, settled into a comfortable rhythm and let the kilometres tick by. It is a very simple course being 5km out before a 180-degree turn and running 5km back to the finish in the same place where the race started.
It was very much a solo effort and I was happy with my race but my splits did not look super encouraging on paper. My second half was slower than the first half which is not always the case in the Towpath Series but the heat was very draining and the 5km back to the finish was all about energy conservation and getting to the end in one piece.
I managed to take the win in 33:51 followed by Aled Anderson (Bristol & West AC) in 36:53 and Graham Wadsworth (Southville RC) in 37:25. The women's race was won by Annabel Granger (Bristol & West AC) in 42:40 with Lida Petropoulou (Southville RC) second in 45:02 and Catherine Brooke (Bristol & West AC) third in 47:05. In total there were 43 finishers. Full results of race 3 of the Towpath Series 2026 here.
One nice thing about the Towpath Series is the number of runners who stick around for the presentations after the final runner crosses the finish line. All four races in the series feature the now-famous free Towpath Series raffle which features an ecletic collection of prizes up for grabs. Every participant gets a raffle ticket after finishing the race and has a chance of leaving with a prize. The raffle always provides amusement when watching what prizes winners choose. The undisputed star prize is always the giant Toblerone bar but there is often plenty of alcohol on offer including bottles of celebrity wine.
The race HQ is at Ashton Park School and then the start/finish is a short 5-10 minute walk away which is where the presentations also take place. The Towpath remains open during the race but there are plenty of GWR marshals on the course to ensure any pedestrians and cyclists are aware of oncoming runners.
Well done to everyone who raced and thank you to Great Western Runners for organising another great Towpath race! Kinisi Run Hub are product to be supporting such a great event and I can't wait for the next one in August!
If you are interested in taking part in the next race in the series then you can read more and sign up on the GWR event page here.