Points, PBs and Punishing Hills at the Ryde 10 miler

Words by Matt Jarvis

The Ryde 10 miler is a standout fixture in the Hampshire Road Race League (HRRL). Hosted by Ryde

Harriers, the event took place on 1st February; a damp and gloomy day. As it's part of the HRRL,

there were highly competitive club runners from across Hampshire and the South Coast, hoping to

gain points for their teams.

Fleet & Crookham AC was represented by 4 runners, Rebecca Barnett, Mickael Hegesippe, Alison

Moore and myself, Matt Jarvis. Sadly, Stevyn had to pull out after an injury flared up during his warm up session, which was disappointing for him. We managed what we could on places to try and recover some points, due to not being full teams.

Starting at 11am, with a few brief glimpses of sunlight, just opposite Ryde Castle, 535 runners set off on the single-lap course of testing hills and country lanes with approximately 600 feet of total

ascent!

Me absolutely loving the hill we’ve just been up, knowing there are more to come

A flat first km along Ryde esplanade and around the canoe lake before the climb begun. I hit the first hill way too fast, with a km pace of 3:22 - Classic Matt! The route then heads inland where we faced a series of short, sharp inclines followed by descents which kept our heart rate high!

Around halfway there is a steep climb called Nodes Point, which was challenging and quite testing on the legs. The final quarter, however, was a relief to be running downhill and back onto a flat section towards the harbour again, allowing for some serious acceleration.

The team at the peak of Nodes Point. I think I can confidently say for everyone there that this hill was the toughest!

I was pretty chuffed with my performance, breaking the 65-minute barrier, setting my 10 mile pb on a course known for its difficulty, and securing 33rd place overall.

The rest of the club team finished as follows:

Rebecca 1:09:46

Mickael 1:11:42

Alison 1:34:24

The medal itself is of excellent quality and design, depicting the route that we ran.

First medal of 2026 in the bag, hopefully many more to come!

To conclude, it was an overall enjoyable run, that was well organised, enthusiastic marshals and

friendly atmosphere. Shame the weather wasn’t as bright as the marshals’ smiles 🙂. Famous for

being hilly, it was a rewarding race that will test your legs so I’m definitely considering running it

again.

Full results here: https://www.rydeharriers.co.uk/results/