Memories of Running the Clarendon in 2024, 2025 will be Matt Collins' Tenth Clarendon!
Salisbury to Winchester 26 miles, 13 miles, 5 miles or relay
Memories of Running the Clarendon in 2024 2025 will be Matt Collins' Tenth Clarendon!
By Kayleigh Collett Durley Runners
I am a fairly recent convert to running, with only two years under my belt. I got into running after a school mum casually said she had a place going at a "Tough Mudder", did I want to fill the place, and with out asking any questions I stupidly said yes.
Tough Mudder done (I found out after it was a full 10 mile course with obstacles), I recalled enjoying the challenge and "I had got round" but realised I was the slowest on our team of three parents at the running bit and so I set myself the challenge to get better at this running marlaky.
A few months in and a few park runs under my belt I decided to join a running club to see where it took me (Stubbington Green Runners). As a farmer, I pretty soon found I had a natural love of cross country running. I think it is the stunning scenery that does it for me and and the fact I am not adverse to a bit of mud and challenging terrain.
So that is how I found myself marshalling at a local Wednesday evening inter-club cross county event and there, running up the hill, at the end of the course was someone that looked familiar, someone I had not seen since my younger days at our local ‘Young Farmers Club’.
After catching up about recent runs and goals that we are chasing, as only runners can, Matt pretty soon asked if I wanted to join one of two mixed teams he was putting together to do the Clarendon relay. Having recently done a running club relay I knew how much fun they can be, I said yes and I got allocated leg 3.
Race day was great, Matt brought together 7 friends that he knew from various aspects of his life, all of different running speeds, some club runners, some who had run Clarendon as a relay before and some like me, first timers.
From experienced runner and coach Kierran, who runs Olympia youth athletes club, to nimble mum of two Em, and cheery humorous Derek, and anther recent convert to Running Mel who had recently completed the London marathon, rugby player Dud and quietly confident Charlie. We were all united by our love of running, and the challenge of the course so we quickly got to know one another as we set about the day’s challenge.
Matts experience of the course was invaluable because half the challenge of a relay is the running, the other is navigating the course by road, not getting lost, getting parked up and getting the team members to the relay handover points with out hiccups.
Not sure if it was just fluke but Matt seemed to have an uncanny ability on the day to ability level up the two teams so that we ended up finishing within a minute and 19 secs of each other.
Throughout the day, I learned this was Matt's 9th year running Clarendon as a relay and often putting several teams together. So with 2025 being his tenth year I couldn’t let it go by without marking it in some way!
And that is how I have found myself trailing through 9 years of race results. Luckily one of the other bits I quite like about running is the geeky stats bit!
The team names have varied a bit over the years from "Erin’s Runners" named after Kierran's daughter, to Dempsey boys after Derek, both of whom are also Clarendon relay veterans with years 7 years of relay races under their belts. Most recently the team name has been the "Durley Runners", named after the village where Matt is from.
Matt's fastest team finish time was 4:35:53 in 2024 and over the years Matt has run every leg of Clarendon, and has been part of bringing together 13 different teams, comprising 21 different runners, which is I think the greatest achievement, as the numbers don’t really get across the camaraderie and team sprit of completing Clarendon as part of a team.
Here is to Sunday 5 October 2025 when we will bring that total to 15 teams!
Em, Mel, Kayleigh, Matt, Dud, and Charlie
Many thanks to Kayleigh Collett for sharing her experiences with us. We will look forward to presenting Matt with his Ten Year trophy when he crosses the finish line.
Many thanks to all of you who have booked to join us on the Clarendon this year. We really appreciate your support. Booking early really helps us and is much appreciated. If you have not yet booked please book now. Do also forward this email on to any of your friends who might also want to join us.
Hope the above is useful.