Dorchester RIOT

21/09/2026

🏅Medal Monday🏅

First and foremost, warmest congratulations to Drew O’ Farrell for completing hist first half marathon at Burnham On Sea last weekend. A race that starts and finishes next to the stand named after his father! Very well done Drew on a fantastic achievement!👏👏

Drew O’ Farrell also ran strong around the Great Field during our weekly parkrun and earned himself a brilliant PB. Well done! Congratulations to Ethan Kirkpatrick for being a speedy 2nd finisher. Well done to Kerry Bartlett who came in 1st in her age category at the Tamar Lake parkurn in the Torridge District.👏👏

Excellent running from Maria Kemp who casually ran a 5k PB during a training run. Well done Maria!👏👏

Awesome effort from Christina Guppy who completed the Ham & Lyme 50k event. Well done Christina, brilliant effort!👏👏

Really lovely seeing Claire Dunn back running after her ankle injury. Well done Claire, onwards and upwards!👏👏

Warmest congratulations to Emma Parker and Mark Parker who took on and completed the Three Peaks Challenge, climbing up Helvellyn, Scafell Pike and Snowdon. Amazing effort from both of and your fellow teammates, really well done!👏👏

Excellent effort and racing from Rachel Slade and Gareth Williams who completed the Eton Dorney Sprint Triathlon and finished 5th and 3rd in their respective age categories. Really well done both you, great work across all three sports!!👏👏

Fantastic cycling from Grant Preston who took part in the cycling leg of the Ironman Weymouth 70.3 event. Grant was part of a mixed relay team and everyone’s pace and time was simply outstanding. First place finish in the Mixed Relay Team! Well done Grant and teammates, impressive achievement!👏👏

A very special mention to every member who got involved and kindly organised and helped at RIOT’s feed-station on Rhododendron Mile in Puddletown Forest, providing much needed fuelling and cheers for all the competitors.👏👏

Another incredible feat of endurance from Malcolm Curtis who completed Lake Bled 80km by UTMB in the Julian Alps. A challenging and technical route, but Malcolm made it all look easy and earned himself a medal to be very proud of!👏👏

Huge congratulations to Michael Paulley who completed the Copenhagen half-marathon. This was Michael’s 3rd ever fastest half, as well as being the 5th out of 6 in the SuperHalfs series he is doing. Michael ran for the charity Race Against Dementia which is especially close to his heart. Well done Michael, awesome running and for a very worthy cause.👏👏

Great effort from Wendy Britton who took part in the Swim Serpentine event in London this weekend. Wendy trained hard for this, despite being new to swimming long distances, and we are so incredibly proud of her efforts and determination. Well done Wendy!👏👏

Last but not least, this weekend saw the return of the popular Black Hill 5k and 10k trail race, the 4th event in the Purbeck Trail Series. It was brilliant to see such a good turnout for our club, and there were plenty of inspirational and strong performances on this hilly course. Huge well done to: Philip Reese, Graham Smith (9th AG), Mark Brown (10th AG), Louise Fox (2nd lady and 2nd AG), Karen Mitchell (8th lady and 3rd AG), Rachel Jones (12th lady and 7th AG), Emily Denton, Anita Henderson (7th AG), Rob Davison, Bron Davison, Finlay Davison, Anne Saunders, Andrea Sanders-Reece (2nd AG), Liz Baker (1st AG), Chris Monteith, George Peters (who ran to the race from Dorchester and also helped at the Ironman feed-station), Charlotte Holt, Izzie Sadler (9th AG), Damian Mason with his 4 legged friend Woody, Richard Hazelgrove and Virginie Morris (7th lady and 4th AG). A very special mention to Emily Denton for whom it was the first race since recovering from injury.👏👏

📸And with great many thanks to Ken Hewitt Photography once again for the race photos.

Have a lovely week!🩵🧡

PS: Please do not take it personally if I have accidentally missed you out, either in the text or in the photos. Do use the comments section below to share your own achievements, or speak to or message Virginie directly. Nothing is ever to big or small and we would love to celebrate your accomplishments!

14/09/2026

🏅Medal Monday🏅

Very well done to Andrew Scowcroft who took part in the mid-week Yeovilton 5k and complete the course in an impressive time. Well done Andrew, great effort! 👏👏

Fantastic racing from Gareth Williams who completed the New Forest Sprint Triathlon last weekend. It was Gareth’s 42nd triathlon in forty years and he finished 4th in his age category. A fantastic effort and result Gareth, well done!👏👏

It was lovely to see so many RIOTers at their weekly parkruns this Saturday. At the Great Field, very well done to Rachel Jones, Rebecca Bradley, Danielle O’Shea and Evie Miller for being 4th, 5th, 6th and 8th ladies respectively. Brilliant effort from Donna Graham who got an impressive 5k PB over in Weymouth. Lisa White ran at Bournemouth’s 600th parkrun and was 2nd in her age group! What a great set of results, well done all!👏👏

It was a busy Sunday for our members! First of all, congratulations to Richard Smith and Georgina Kosnar who competed the Bridport Half-marathon in a great time! Great running both, very well done and you were still smiling at the end! 👏👏

Fantastic effort across all three disciplines from Jim Hill (4th AG) and Ollie Baker who took part in the standard distance of the Bournemouth International Triathlon and the Langport Sprint triathlon respectively. Very speedy and impressive racing both of you, well done!👏👏

Great running from Terri Goodchild who took part in the New Forest 10k. Fabulous efforts from Laura Cornette, Anne Woodruff (half marathon PB) and Eden de Leon (half marathon PB) who took part in the New Forest Half-marathon. Smashing running from Jasmin Evans, Anita Nixon (3rd fastest marathon), Adam Spokes (2nd fastest marathon) and Paul Loveridge (1st ever marathon) who took on the full marathon distance at the same event. All your dedicated training has paid off, very well done all of you!! Be very proud of all your achievements! And if your race didn't quite go to plan, you still put in a great effort to be proud of. The "bad" runs are the ones we learn the most from. So keep learning, keep running, and keep smiling!👏👏

Brilliant effort from Andy Davidson who completed the Great North Run in hot and humid conditions. Well done Andy, great achievement!👏👏

Strong running from Gary McNab who took on the challenging Dartmoor’s Volcano trail race, finishing 3rd in his age group and 20th overall out of 135 runners. Well done Gary!👏👏

Finally, well done to all our RIOTers who took part in the last edition (very sadly!) of Phil and Bonnie Bounder, a charity trail run in Moreton Forest. On the 6k course, excellent running from Kerri Oliver (4th lady), Vicky Burrows (3rd lady and 1st AG) and Jolan Morris (race winner). On the 10k course, congratulations to Philip Reese, Mark Brown, Mark Stockman, Liz Elliott, Pieter Mostert, Jeremy Piggot and Virginie Morris (2nd lady and 2nd AG). Well done everyone, great running! A special mention to Philip and Mark who finished strong despite taking a wrong turn and having to make their way back onto the course. A great many thanks to Tacky McGregor, Danielle O'Shea, Matilda O'Shea and Andy Mutter who kindly gave up their time to help marshall and support this event. 👏👏
📸With many thanks to Ken Hewitt and KonaPhil Photography who took some brilliant race photos.

Have a lovely week!🩵🧡

PS: Please do not take it personally if I have accidentally missed you out, either in the text or in the photos. Do use the comments section below to share your own achievements, or speak to or message Virginie directly. Nothing is ever to big or small and we would love to celebrate your accomplishments!

07/09/2026

🏅Medal Monday🏅

After a brief spell of autumnal weather, it’s been another mild and sunny week. Lots of great running and efforts from our members, across a range of distances and terrains.

First of all, very well done to the lovely Kerri Oliver and Christina Guppy who participated in this year’s Dumble Bimble, an annual charity fun run whose fundraising goes to Weldmar Hospice Care. Well done both!👏👏

Brilliant running from Georgina Kosnar who ran strong at Parkrun and got herself a great PB! Very well done to Rachel Slade for running her fastest Parkrun in a few months and coming 1st in her age group. Congratulations to Laura Cornette for getting a course pb at Upton House parkrun. And a special mention to the lovely Bron and Rob Davison who celebrated their 10 year Parkrun anniversary!👏👏

Big hooray to all the RIOTers who took on “The Beast”, the 2nd race in the Purbeck Trail Series. Very well done to Evie Miller (1st AG), Karen Mitchell (2nd AG and 11th lady) and Louise Fox (4th lady and 2nd AG), as well as Mark Brown, Ellis Taylor, Ollie Baker (7th AG), Richard Smith, David Ryder and Jeremy Piggot. Well done everyone on some fantastic running on a tough course!👏👏

Brilliant efforts from Des Mason and Alistair McPhail for taking part in the challenging Haytor Heller fell run on Dartmoor. Well done both, fab running!👏👏

Last but not least, congratulations to Millie Steel for completing the Bridgewater Half in a great time! Well done Millie, brilliant running!👏👏

Have a lovely week everyone!🩵🧡

PS: Please do not take it personally if I have accidentally missed you out, either in the text or in the photos. Do use the comments section below to share your own achievements. Nothing is ever to big or small and we would love to celebrate your accomplishments!

31/08/2026

🏅Medal Monday🏅

First of all, many apologies for missing out last week’s Medal Monday post. Without further ado, many congratulations to Lisa White and Andrea Sanders-Reece for taking part in Bustinskin’s Aquathlon. You did brilliantly both of you, well done!! 👏👏And big high-fives to Malcolm Curtis who completed the Dorset Doddle despite having suffered from illness in the days leading up to the event. Great effort Malcolm, well done!👏👏

Onto this week’s achievements, huge well done to Tom Aindow who, having completed the whole of the South West Coast Path only a few weeks ago, finished this year’s Black Castle Ultra in Wales, beating his previous time in the process! Fantastic effort Tom, well done!👏👏

Great running from Ethan Kirkpatrick who finished in the top 10 at this week’s Parkrun, and Mandy Lawrence for earning a great PB at the Great Field.👏👏

Last but not least, amazing effort from Anne Woodruff who ran a 10k PB during an emotional training run. Well done Anne, great determination and perseverance!👏👏

Well done everyone, have a lovely week!🩵🧡

PS: Please do not take it personally if I have accidentally missed you out, either in the text or in the photos. Do use the comments section below to share your own achievements. Nothing is ever to big or small and we would love to celebrate your accomplishments!

30/08/2026

Course starts this Thursday!
Come and give it a go!

24/08/2026

Just over a week before the start of the next course.
Come and join a wonderful helpful group who will support you all of the way!

18/08/2026

Just over 2 weeks before we start!
Come and join us - wonderful volunteers will help you along your journey!

17/08/2026

🏅Medal Monday 🏅

Another eventful week with a midweek hilly race, the Lighthouse 5K which was the 2nd race of the Purbeck Trail Series. This event coincided with an incredible solar eclipse, and our speedy RIOTers were treated to quite a night! Very well done to Louise Fox (4th lady), Graham Smith, Philip Reese, Danielle O’Shea, Gary McNab, Isabelle Sadler and Greg Cobb. Amazing running on a very tough course, well done to every single one of you!👏👏

On Saturday, our members took part in the Sunflower Stride, starting and ending on the Sunflower Trail organised in aid of Dorset County Hospital, taking in the hills and sights of Maiden Castle and our Ridgeway. Fantastic running from Adam Woollard (2nd overall finisher), Danielle O’Shea, Greg Cobb, Matilda O’Shea, Claire Young, Lauren Murphy, Jeremy Piggott, Martin Young and Peter Morstert. Amazing running and effort all of you, well done!👏👏

Cracking effort from Mark Parker who completed the South-West Spartan BEAST Half marathon with 30 obstacles! Just the name of the event sounds tough, but Mark did incredibly well and finished in a super fast time! Awesome effort Mark!👏👏

Last but not least, big well done to Grant Preston who completed a full Ironman in Copenhagen, Denmark, showing impressive pace and effort all throughout the swim, bike and run parts of his event. Grant had to spend a lot of his training on a ship at sea, for months at a time, due to the nature of his work, and his completion of a full Ironman shows great effort and dedication to his training. Well done Grant!👏👏

Have a great week everyone!

PS: Please do not take it personally if I have accidentally missed you out, either in the text or in the photos. Do use the comments section below to share your own achievements. Nothing is ever to big or small and we would love to celebrate your accomplishments!

13/08/2026

Under a month before we begin!

It’s that time of year again!
Come and join us for the RIOT C25K course - starting 3rd September. Each week we will be at the rugby club at 6pm for our 11 week course!

Supported by a wonderful group of supports to help you achieve your goals!

Everybody welcome from complete beginners to those coming back to running or recovering from injury!

Sign up using the QR code below or at

https://club.spond.com/landing/signup/dorchesterriot/form/A507A1AB94DC4805BA1B002CF6EEA76A