Over 150 local runners were undeterred by a thundery night to take on the ‘brutal’ Bradenham Blast running trail on Sunday, September 8.

The route, which covers 10km around the Bradenham estate, around four miles outside of High Wycombe, is described by organiser Fred Newton – who was the first to cross the finish line of the Frankenstein course at last year’s Marlow Half Marathon – as “one of the hardest running events in Bucks”.

In similar fashion to the popular Marlow event, the Bradenham Blast – which is in its second year – also offered a shorter 5km race, which was won by Vale of Aylesbury runner Seth Kaye, who finished the course in 19 minutes and 20 seconds.

Meanwhile, Wycombe local Ben Pease took the crown in the 10km race, with an impressive finish time of 39 minutes and 34 seconds – making him the only entrant to cross the finish line in under 40 minutes.

Fred, who is part of the Handy Cross Runners club, based in Wycombe, said the Bradenham course was “brutal but also very scenic”.

Any sense of tiredness or difficulty was offset by heaps of community spirit, however: “Everyone who started, finished the race and did so with big smiles and plenty of enthusiasm.”