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Lewes AC members make strong showing in hot and humid 2026 Henfield Half Marathon
Six members of Lewes Athletic Club took on the challenging 2026 Henfield Half Marathon on Sunday 16th August, producing a strong set of performances across the masters categories despite hot and humid conditions.
The Henfield Half Marathon was the ninth of twelve fixtures in the 2026 Sussex Road Racing Grand Prix (SGP), a series of races held across East and West Sussex between March and November. The SGP features individual and team competitions across a variety of distances and terrains.
Organised in conjunction with Henfield Joggers, the race started and finished at Henfield Leisure Centre and took runners through the West Sussex countryside on a predominantly off-road course. The varied route included riverbank trails, a disused railway, flint paths and numerous stiles. With much of the course exposed to the sun, the heat and humidity added an extra challenge for the field.
Lewes AC’s standout performance came from Bob Hughes, who won the MV70 category in 2:06:31.
Coincidentally, Ian Hilder and Gary Loughlin both recorded exactly 2:01:42. Hilder finished 11th in the MV60 category. At the same time, Loughlin finished just one place behind, in 15th place in the Senior Men’s category.
In the women’s masters field, Sarah Robinson finished sixth in the FV60 category in 2:15:04, followed by Anne Hagen, who placed eighth in 2:24:54.
Colin Hartland completed the Lewes AC line-up with 18th place in the MV60 category in 2:27:24.
Lewes Athletic Club Chair Philip Westbury said: “The Henfield Half Marathon is a demanding course at the best of times, and the hot and humid conditions made this year’s race particularly tough. It’s great to see six Lewes AC members taking on the challenge and producing such a strong set of results. Congratulations in particular to Bob on his MV70 victory, and to all six runners for representing the club so well.”
Want to Improve Your Running Performance with Lewes AC?
Lewes AC offers various training sessions to help boost your performance at road and trail running events:
- Strength and Conditioning: Join our coaches on Monday nights to improve core strength and stability. Sign up here.
- Track Sessions: Fine-tune your technique, pacing, and endurance on with distance based track sessions Thursday evenings, or time based track sessions on Saturday mornings. Sign up here.