Home » Latest Club News »
Lewes AC Defies Wind and Rain at the 2026 Brighton Half Marathon
Thirty-seven members of Lewes Athletic Club took to the start line of the 36th and 2026 Brighton Half Marathon on Sunday, delivering an impressive set of performances despite challenging, windy and wet conditions.
The 13.1-mile race started at Hove Lawns on Kingsway, heading east past Brighton Palace Pier, the Royal Pavilion and St Peter’s Church before looping through the city and out along the exposed coastal road towards Ovingdean and Roedean.
Runners then returned along Madeira Drive and the seafront, passing the West Pier and Hove’s promenade, with a final two-mile stretch along Hove Promenade bringing them back to a well-supported finish.
Despite the blustery weather, Lewes AC athletes rose to the occasion with a series of exceptional individual results:
- Ruby Whyte-Wilding produced a superb run to finish 2nd Senior Woman in 1:18:14.
- Flaminia Gold claimed 5th Senior Woman in 1:20:20
- Patrick Wilding crossed the line as 16th Senior Man in 1:12:11.
- Theo Tarafder secured 25th Senior Man in 1:15:03.
- Emma Gibbs delivered a strong performance for 18th Senior Woman, finishing in 1:25:31.
Lewes AC also celebrated notable age-category victories:
- Rachel Hillman was 1st F40 in 1:22:53.
- Lewis Sida took 1st M55 in 1:23:10.
- Heidi Hodgson earned 1st F45 in 1:29:36.
Other Lewes AC finishers included: Adam Vaughan, Clare Martin, Ben Hodgson, Marcus Littlejohns, Heidi Hodgson, Joe Whiting, Jez Davison, James Hawkes, Richard Bailey, Jamie Goodhead, Darcy Pring, Rob Stanway, Adam Wright, Pete Richardson, Beth Reed, Theo Loughlin, Gary Loughlin, Nicholas Champkins, Miriam Thompson, Emma Goodhead, Claire Hawes, Florence Bailey, Poppy Joshi, Charlotte Swope, Abbie Hills, Lydia Cole, Nicholas Calvert, Rachel Phillips, Emma Hodgson and George Lee
Lewes AC Chair Philip Westbury said: “We’re incredibly proud of all 37 members who took part, from our podium finishers and age-category winners to those who set themselves personal goals and trained hard through the wet winter to be on the start line. Our runners represented a wide range of ages and abilities. Everyone demonstrated our club spirit… success through enjoyment, in tough conditions.”
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.
- 10k/Half Marathon Training: Get help feeling confident and hitting PBs on race days with our new dedicated Saturday morning track based training sessions. Sign up here