Endure24 Reading – Race Recap

We’ve barely recovered from an incredible weekend of racing at Endure24 Reading in Wasing Park.

Whilst we a Threshold do all we can to set the stage, it’s the runners who make Endure24 what it is: a testament to endurance, grit, and the power of a good fancy dress outfit.

We’ve rounded up the results from the front of the pack in each of the many race categories that played out this past weekend. To view a full set of results, click the link below.

Solos

An increasingly popular category, this year we welcomed over 600 Solo runners to Endure24 Reading.

Women’s Race

Women’s winner Emily Owen started the race conservatively, running her first lap in 51 minutes, putting her in 23rd place in the Female Solo category. Over the next few hours, Emily displayed remarkable patience and consistency, climbing her way up the rankings to third place after 10 laps. She eventually moved into first after 16 laps and 128km of racing, a position she held onto for 7 more laps before triumphantly crossing her final finish line in 23:34, running 184km / 115 miles.

Meanwhile, second place woman Aimee Tippin spent the entire race right up at the front of the pack, never ranking any lower than second place in the Female Solo category. For almost twelve hours, she was in first place, a position which she eventually ceded to Emily in the wee hours of the morning. Aimee called it a day after 23 hours of racing, running 21 laps, whilst third place Christina Duncalfe managed 20 laps in 22:17.

1. Emily Owen – 23 laps – 23:43:53
2. Aimee Tippins – 21 laps – 22:59:50
3. Christina Duncalfe – 22:17:02

Men’s Race

In the men’s race, returning 2024 champion Dean Lenihan took things fast out the gate, banking his first lap in 36:26 and taking the lead in his category straight away. Dean maintained sub-50 minute lap pace for the first 10 laps of the race, and aside from his last lap which he walked, he never took longer than 65 minutes to complete a lap. He eventually crossed his final finish line in 24:16 after 27 laps, totalling 216km / 135 miles and improving on his 2024 performance by one lap.

The other two podium positions could not have been a more different story. After one lap, Alex Sawbridge – our Partnerships Director here at Threshold – and Petr Hruska were in 64th and 69th position in the Male Solo category respectively. As the sun was setting around 12 laps in, Alex had moved into 8th place, and Petr was sitting in 13th place – and by the time it rose again, both were knocking on the door of a podium finish. Truly a testament to the power of good pacing!

Petr eventually completed 24 laps in 24:03 for third place, whilst Alex managed 25 laps in 24:31 to take second. Alex’s finish in particular was a special one for us here at Threshold, as it was his third ultra finish line in three months, raising funds for Pancreatic Cancer UK in memory of his mum, Jo. A massive well done to Alex from all of us in the Threshold Team.

1. Dean Lenihan – 27 laps – 24:16:01
2. Alex Sawbridge – 25 laps – 24:31:49
3. Petr Hrsuka – 24 laps – 24:03:29

Pairs

A challenge not to be underestimated, the Pairs category is a unique relay challenge which offers little room for rest or recovery compared to some of the larger team formats.

Female Pairs

In the Female Pairs race, Girl Power (Clare Rowles & Sarah Brown) moved from seventh place on lap one to first by lap six, holding that position for the remainder of the race.

Meanwhile, Sugar Run Fairies (Alice Harrington & Leah Nimz) and Monster Babes (Jennifer Hale & Buyi Ndlovu) were trading places for the first 12 hours of the race, but as the sun rose on day two Sugar Run Fairies had put in an incredible shift to open up gap by four laps. Monster Babes finished behind them in third place.

1. Girl Power – 25 laps – 23:53:35
2. Sugar Run Fairies – 24 laps – 23:55:01
3. Monster Babes – 20 laps – 23:28:06

Male Pairs

Team Hot ‘n’ Spicy certainly lived up to their name in the Male Pairs race, banking a 33-minute lap one and maintaining an average lap pace of 43 minutes to take the win. Behind them was a hard-fought race for second place – the OXCampers (Mark & Simon Harris) crept from fifth place to third before suddenly dropping back to sixth in the middle of the night.

They fought their way back into third place, a position they would have held had One More For The Road (Paul Oxley & Rob Burgess) not decided to stop before the 24-hour deadline to start a new lap. The OXCampers managed to send out a final runner at 23:56 elapsed, banking one more lap to take second place in their category.

1. Hot ‘n’ Spicy – 33 laps – 23:41:59
2. OXCampers – 31 laps – 24:46:57
3. One More For The Road – 30 laps – 23:44:56

Mixed Pairs

In the Mixed Pairs category, Team Tick (Matthew & Katie Hartgrove) started as they meant to go on – in first place. Behind them, A Pair of Perretts (Dave & Alex Perrett) moved up from 5th place to to overtake the Pickerslow Pair (Nick Onslow & Claire Pickersgill) in the final few laps of the race to take second place.

1. Team Tick – 30 laps – 23:59:4
2. A Pair of Perretts – 27 laps – 23:22:27
3. Pickerslow Pair – 23:37:59

Small Teams

Running in a Small Team is arguably the quintessential Endure24 experience – fast-paced but with room for team tactics and strategy to come to the fore.

Female Small Teams

Representing Maidenhead Athletics Club, MAC F(r)eaks lead the Female Small Teams category literally from lap one, banking a 34:39 first lap and sitting in first place for the entire race.

Hot on their tail were HWR Girls Are Loud and Blister Sisters 3, who traded places for a while before finishing in second and third place respectively.

1. MAC F(r)eaks – 35 laps – 24:17:40
2. HWR Girls Are Loud – 30 laps – 24:03:25
3. Blister Sisters 3 – 30 laps – 24:40:06

Male Small Teams

Again from Maidenhead Athletics Club, MAC On Track maintained quick laps throughout in the Male Small Teams category to take the win. Behind them, the Higham Harriers Heroes and Intensely Abingdon quickly climbed through the rankings to take second and third by Saturday afternoon, holding those positions through the night and into the finish.

1. MAC On Track – 41 laps – 24:23:28
2. Higham Harriers Heroes – 38 laps – 24:56:21
3. Intensely Abingdon – 37 laps – 24:36:48

Mixed Small Teams

Throughout the race, two Small Mixed Teams – The Graveyard Swift and The Large Small Morabito Brook Wall – were level-pegging, trading places here and there but only ever a few minutes apart. Indeed, With one hour to go, less than 9 minutes separated the two teams.

In the end, both teams managed 36 laps, with The Graveyard Swift putting in a late surge to win on time. In third place, Pimp My Stride managed 34 laps.

1. The Graveyard Swift – 36 laps – 24:11:00
2. The Large Small Morabito Brook Wall – 36 laps – 24:36:19
3. Pimp My Stride – 34 laps – 23:56:08

Large Teams

Often the most competitive category, racing in a Large Team allows runners the most time for recovery, resulting in some ridiculously fast laps throughout the 24 hours of the race.

Female

Whilst Coaster Queens took the lead early in the Large Female Teams category and ran away from the competition, the battle for second place was hard-fought.

HLDR Ladies and 6am Train To York were swapping positions well into the night, but on the 16th lap at around midnight Angela Akers of HLDR Ladies managed to pull ahead by five minutes. The gap fluctuated from there on, but 6am Train to York never quite managed to catch up, eventually finishing in third place.

1. Coaster Queens – 36 laps – 24:44:36
2. HLDR Ladies – 33 laps – 24:24:09
3. 6am Train to York – 33 laps – 24:43:53

Male

In the Male Large Teams category, it was another instance of one team running away with the lead from the off. In this case, The Gravy Train banked a 29:50 first lap to take first in their category, a position they held right to the end. Applying the pressure for the entire 24 hours, though, was Runny Mc Run Face, who after a brief spell in third place sat in second for the whole race.

Meanwhile, White Horse Harriers B had a less explosive start, but moved from 8th in their category to third after nine laps, again holding that position to the end.

1. The Gravy Train – 41 laps – 24:09:16
2. Runny Mc Run Face – 40 laps – 23:58:27
3. White Horse Harriers B – 38 laps – 24:34:52

Mixed

White Horse Harriers A were our winning Large Mixed team. They traded places throughout the race with eventual second place finishers Reading AC Huskies, both banking the same number of laps but with White Horse Harriers A crossing their final finish line just nine minutes ahead. In third, YR Premature Acceleration not only took home a trophy but honorary mention for “name most likely to trip up the emcee.”

1. White Horse Harriers A – 41 laps – 24:21:45
2. Reading AC Huskies – 41 laps – 24:32:47
3. YR Premature Acceleration – 40 laps – 24:04:59

XL Teams

Historically a less competitive category, in recent years we’ve seen more clubs and crews taking the XL Team category seriously, with some impressive results to match.

The vast majority of XL Teams are mixed, and so we only award trophies in the overall category – but we’d like to shout out the three Female Mixed teams who took part this year: 5k + Pub Runners (26 laps), CURC-a-doodle-doo (25 laps) and our Community Partner here at Threshold, Black Girls Do Run UK (24 laps).

Overall

Hailing from nearby, Vale of Aylesbury Athletics Club assembled a crack team of runners to take the overall win in the XL Teams category, sitting in first place from the off. Behind them, London-based run crew Mafia Moves were trading places for hours with team VMR.

Going into the night, VMR had the lead, but Mafia Moves put in some solid laps to overtake them somewhere around the 100-mile mark at 2am. They went on to take home second place, with VMR securing third.

1. Vale of Aylesbury Athletics Club – 40 laps – 24:22:23
2. Mafia Moves – 36 – 24:26:36
3. VMR – 35 laps – 24:37:19

Congratulations to all Solo, Pair, and Team runners who took part in Endure24 Reading this year. Remember, Early Bird entries to 2026 are open and already selling fast – sign up today to secure your spot on the Start Line next year at the best possible rate, and we’ll see you in Wasing Park once again next June.