For the first time, apart from the War years, the “Jog Shop” Boxing Day races in Brighton’s Preston Park have been cancelled.
Race organiser Sam Lambourne said, "We much regret that we cannot hold the races this year but will hope to be back in 2021."
This is the longest continuously held Road Race in the County. Although the Easter Monday walks started early last century they were not held every year.
The races were held as Road Walks in the early 1930s organised by Jack Davis and the Brighton Labour Club and started in London Road before running along Baker Street and then north up Lewes Road to the Borough boundary and back to finish in Baker Street.
In the Mid-fifties, runs were introduced and attracted fields of more than 100, which was a big field in the pre Road Running boom day.
The Labour Club, and the races, moved to Lewes Road in the late fifties with increasing popularity and even went ahead in the severe winter of 1962/3 when the whole country was covered with a blanket of snow for a couple of months, aided by a move to the Carriage Way around the Level. Horsham’s John Luxford managed to travel there and won the rather shortened course, while the race walkers had their own short-run which was won by Brighton & Hove walking coach and international, Alan Buchanan.
Come the seventies the traffic was beginning to be a problem, particularly at the turn at the entrance to Stanmer Park and the races were switche
d, mainly off-road, to Preston Park, where it has remained for nearly fifty years.
A short 600 yards was introduced and received good support for several years and attracted many leading Sussex athletes including Chris Carter who won the event in 1975 in the twilight of his career.
Many athletes have bedecked themselves in festive clothing to run, many Father Christmases, including Julie Drake and plentiful fairies, a Phantom of the Opera and a Devil in just swimming trunks and red body paint and the three Bristow boys, John, Andrew and Paul bedecked themselves in tinsel while one year, this week’s profile subjects, Simon and Suzanne Morley, dolled themselves up as policemen to run the 5 ½ mile course.
After the forced loss of competition for most of this year maybe there may be a case for reintroducing a 600 yards race again next Boxing Day, and certainly we could celebrate, we hope, with plenty of fancy dresses.