Report by Chris Brown

Race Date: Thursday 17^th August 2023

Stan’s toffee run is a 4 (ish) mile commemorative race organised by the Kimberworth Striders Running Club. By all accounts Stan was a bit of a local legend. He ran well into his 70s and frequently had a bag of toffees in hand to share with his clubmates. So in 2010, Stan’s toffee run was born in his honour.

With the promise of both toffees and a buffet at the finish for only £5, the race was understandably very popular, with 229 entrants taking part on the night. Not to miss out on free grub and with trail championship points on offer, an impressive 25 striders also made the short journey to the Rotherham countryside.

The mostly off-road course starts and finishes at Elsecar Heritage Centre, taking in the woods and fields of Wentworth that were enjoyed by Stan. The route starts flat, but quickly heads steadily uphill towards the Needle’s Eye. The ascent involved numerous rickety stiles to carefully traverse. Typically, each stile had a very organised queue to cross, which gave you the welcome opportunity to catch your breath and enjoy the countryside views. Stiles weren’t the only hazard to avoid, as one of the fields had some very excitable cows that were bombing back and forth across the race route, possibly wishing they could be taking part in the race too perhaps?

After passing the Needles eye, I was surprised to hear the steward announce “the hill is done” and “all downhill from here”. I thought to myself “is that it?”. Maybe I’m getting fitter (doubtful) or maybe my recent fell race experiences have broken my perception of a steep hill, as based on the scary route description I had been prepared for much worse. The course then gently descended via a meandered route around Wentworth on numerous trails, farmers tracks, grassy fields and the odd road as it made its way back to Elsecar. This included a few more rickety stiles crossings thrown in for good measure.

With my dodgy knee doing surprisingly ok, I decided to stop being a steady Eddie and push for the final half a mile. Pleasingly this push gained me about 8 or so positions including one on the line (Sorry Fiona). Less pleasingly the event photographer decided that was the perfect moment to document how much pain I was experiencing (perhaps not one for the album).

A bottle of water and a bag of toffees were welcome sustenance after the race – excluding the liquorish toffee that is ☹. Sadly I had to rush off to walk the dog post race, so in addition to missing the rather excellent team photo, I also sadly missed the generous buffet that apparently included pizza and other tasty delights.

Overall a lovely race, well organised and a great social event enjoyed by all (Including the random bikers that turned up and parked at the finish line).

First place was taken by Wes Taylor (Unattached) in 25:03. First Lady was Catherine Eddison (Rotherham Harriers) in 28:58.

Link to full results here.

Striders excelled themselves claiming victories and podiums in many categories. Special mentions go to the following:

• Seth Kirby- 3^rd Overall
• Nick Booker – 1^st V50 category
• Ellen Broad – 2^nd Lady
• Laura Mella – 1^st V35 category
• Fiona Jefferies – 1^st V55 category