Masters Mantell Challenge - Lewes Athletic Club

The Masters Mantell Challenge

Race details

This year’s Masters Mantell Challenge took place on the evening of Tuesday 3rd September 2024.

The Masters Mantell Challenge is an off-road event for club members (aged 15 or over on the day ) that gives every runner an equal chance of winning the Masters Mantell Challenge Trophy. Each runner is given a handicapped time with the slowest starting first. The course is from the edge of town up to Black Cap and back.

Each competitor is given a handicap based on their recent performances in distance or middle-distance races. Runners will then be started at 10-second intervals based on their handicap, with the slowest runners starting first and the fastest last. If all goes well everyone gets to the end of the course at almost the same time and it is then a race to the finish. The first to cross the line wins the trophy.

Starting times for each entrant are published a few days before the race on the masters mantell challenge wiki page. (Full results are published on the same page after the race.) Once entered, runners just need to arrive at the starting area 30 minutes before their starting time to pick up their number and warm up. There is no entry fee.

The Trophy records the contribution made to the success of Lewes AC by the Chairman of the club Peter Masters. It is also in recognition of Tom Mantell, a Lewes athlete who made a significant contribution to athletics in Lewes during the 1880s.

The course starts on Hawkenbury Way on the Nevill Estate, at the spot where it takes a right-angle turn. It goes up past the racecourse, passing to the left of Black Cap, then turns back before the gate, and returns over Black Cap and Mount Harry to finish in the meadow approximately 200m from the start. The course has been measured at 5.2 miles.

The slowest runners usually start at about 6.15pm and the fastest at about 6.45pm, with an expected finish time for all runners at around 7.15pm (shortly before sunset).

The Masters Mantell Trophy will be presented after the race.

Masters Mantell Challenge winners

2013 Pat Cook
2014 Peter Miller
2015 Karen Morse
2016 Alex Monson
2017 Philip Westbury
2018 Olivia Webb
2019 Stephen Cass
2020 Lauren Morse
2021 Terry Rogers
2022 Mike Jones
2024 Harry Letton

Course record holders

Men: Toby Meanwell, 2020, 29:28
Women: Harriet Bloor, 2019, 33:01

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