The Cotswolds Relay is a one-day trail running event along the Cotswolds Way National Trail. Organised by Bath AC teams of 10 runners cover the 103 miles from Chipping Campden to Bath. This popular event attracts clubs from all over the West of England and South East Wales but is limited to 100 teams so we were delighted to have been allowed 2 teams for 2025, a “Mixed” team and a “Vets” team. It’s not a baton relay but rather a chain of 10 discreet leg races add up to an overall elapsed time so everyone has the chance to be part of a relay team but also to enjoy a standalone 100-runner race along their particular leg. In many ways similar to the Welsh Castles relay but run over trails and generally over more rugged terrain.
2025 is only the second year that Winchester Running Club have contested the event but last year was so much fun that we had a number of runners coming back for more. There is scope for anyone to be involved and such is the strength in depth of our club that both teams were competitive.
Our mixed team won their event category finishing first out of the 36 Mixed teams and 10th overall whilst our Vets were just off the podium in 4th of the 15 Vets teams and 32nd Overall. Fantastic results for the club
It’s a team event so every runner and every second counts from the first start up in Chipping Camden at 07.00 over 103miles of trail running to the finish in Bath around 18.00 or so. A successful team performance is of course underpinned by strong individual performances that make the winning difference. We were delighted to have James Fulcher on Leg 1 (2nd overall, 1st mixed) and in a powerful morning lineup to follow that fine start up with Becky Hutton on Leg 3 (18th overall, 3rd Mixed) and Adrian Fautly on Leg 4 (3rd overall, 1st Mixed). Get your colours to the fore and hold on for as long as possible! As always our standout performer amongst the Vets was Pete Sansome (12th overall, 2nd Vet) on the glory leg down into Bath itself.
The Cotswolds Relay is a fun event with all the fun of travel logistics, opportunities to support other runners and even to volunteer as a marshall at a road crossing! As ever we try to be inclusive with the emphasis being on participation and fun whilst also doing our best to be competitive. Across our 2 teams this year we had 20 runners of whom 6 were ladies and we had ages from early 20’s to early 70’s. It’s always on the first Saturday in July so why not put 4th July 2026 into your thinking?