On Sunday, Newport & District Running Club’s Matt Walley made the short trip up the A41 to take part in not one, but three races on the same day in Hinstock! Afterwards, he took some time to write us the following report:
Hinstock 2026 – Three Races, 17km and Two Labradoodles!
On Sunday 6th September, Hinstock held its annual 10k, 5k and 2k children’s fun run. This was the third year I’ve taken part in at least one of the races, but this year I decided to take on all three! First up was the 2k fun run, which I ran with my niece, Florence. Our last run together at Bideford parkrun ended with, in her words, “you tripped me up!”. Thankfully, Florence made it through this one without any assistance from me and finished in a brilliant PB of 10:37.
Next up was the 10k. The race plan was simple: run a controlled race and leave something in the tank for the 5k later. Normally, I have a habit of going out too hard and then spending the rest of the race trying to hang on for dear life! This time, the plan actually worked. I ran a controlled 10k, apart from a little blip in the second mile, and finished in 42:53, 13th place — with some energy still left for the 5k.
Then came the 5k, which I was running with our two Labradoodles, Vixen & Muddles. With the summer temperatures, the dogs hadn’t been able to do their usual amount of training, so they were both a little rusty. With that in mind, we started at the back of the field to give my legs and the dogs an easy start.
The dogs had other ideas! Within the first half mile, Vixen and Muddles had dragged me from last place to 3rd! From there, we managed to hold on to third and finished in just over 20 minutes. So, that’s 17km of racing across three events, a PB for Florence, a 42:53 10k, a podium finish with Vixen & Muddles and, most importantly, no trips or injuries!
A massive thank you to Coach Sophie at SW Sports Performance for all the training sessions and hard work she’s put in with both me and the dogs. The training has definitely helped get us all ready for days like this — although I’m not sure how much of the training explains Vixen and Muddles’ decision to ignore the race plan and sprint through the field!
Hinstock does an incredible job of putting on a race that is so inclusive and welcoming for everyone, from the children’s fun run right through to the competitive 10k and 5k. It’s a brilliant event, and I’ll definitely be back next year — although I’m not sure whether I’ll be brave enough to let Vixen and Muddles decide the race strategy again!
Well done to everyone who took part and a huge thank you to all the organisers and volunteers who make Hinstock such a great event.
17km ✅ | 3 races ✅ | 13th in the 10k ✅ | 3rd in the 5k with Vixen & Muddles ✅ | No tripping!
Newport & District Running Club 