On Sunday I took part in the Riverbank Rollick organised by Thornbury Running Club. We supported this event last year and it was great to return and continue our strong relationship with a great local running club. This iconic trail race is always run in January as a great way to get rid of the January blues and kick start running in the New Year! Kinisi Run Hub were proud to be involved as a sponsor for the second year running.
It is a 9.6 mile race on trails, bridle paths, across fields, in woodland, though a stream and along a riverbank (hence the name!). 80% of the course is off-road and with it being January this normally means mud which this year’s race definitely had!
The race HQ is in the sports hall of the Castle School in Thornbury which is a great venue as it is indoors and has plenty of space for everyone to gather before and after the race. Kinisi Run Hub were in the hall with a pop-up shop and also a Merrell shoe demo. We brought along a load of Merrell Agility Peak 5 trail shoes which people were able to take out onto the trails to trial. This was well received as it is a no-risk way to test out a shoe for free and lots of people took them out to demo. I also raced in the shoes and think they are great!
There was a group warm up in the gym led by Terry the Tornado which involved music, dancing and positive energy! The start of the race is a 10 minute walk away so it was great to get warm before setting off in the cold as a group. Luckily after all the bad weather we’ve had it didn’t rain before or during the race so we started the race dry.
The start is on a relatively narrow trail which means it is very congested but the race is chip timed so even if you are further back in the group your time doesn’t start recording until you have passed the start line. The first couple of hundred meters are on a dirt trail but then straight into muddy fields. Given the wet and mild weather we’ve had recently some of the fields were very boggy!
The route goes west towards the edge of Oldbury-on-Severn and then along the banks of the River Severn which would normally present some great views of the bridge but it was too foggy to see on Sunday! I went wrong at this point in the race last year but made sure not to make that mistake again this year and the race organiser had kindly put out additional markers!
Once you come off the riverbank it is back towards Littleton-upon-Severn with the finish back at the Castle School. On the way back we had to run through a small stream which was a bit cold but cleaned our shoes after all the mud!
The course was well marked and there were plenty of volunteer marshals on the course to guarantee no one got lost. Everyone received a medal which is actually a multi-layer medal that can be linked with the remaining two races in the 2025 Thornbury RC Race Series to create a larger medal.
I managed to take the win in 1:00:46 with James Plumstead (Unattached) finishing second in 1:02:49 and Rhys Goddard (Vegan Runners) third in 1:03:22. Anne Kenchington (Unattached) won the women’s race in 1:11:24 followed home by friend of the shop and Oso Sportswear founder Jessie Sanzo (Bristol & West AC) in 1:12:27 and Antoinette Rose (Lliswerry Runners) in 1:13:44. In total there were 429 finishers. Full results of the 2026 Riverbank Rollick here.
Well done to everyone who raced and thank you to Thornbury Running Club for hosting another great Riverbank Rollick! If you would like to get involved with either of Thornbury’s other events this year you can find out more here.
