Hampshire Hoppit Update – April 29th 2020

Today, England Athletics have updated their Coronavirus Statement, extending the suspension of all licensed competition activity in England up to 30 June 2020 (previously it was until 31 May). As a result, our race licence is withdrawn, and we must therefore postpone our event scheduled for 21st June.

We considered rescheduling until later in the year, but have decided to postpone for 12 months , for two reasons: 1) the race calendar in Autumn 2020 is already busy with plenty of other rescheduled races, and 2) there is no certainty that the social distancing situation will be significantly improved by Autumn 2020.

I have had a call with Kingsclere Stables who generously offer us their land access for Hoppit parking and for the Hoppit race start/finish field, and they are happy to commit to hosting us again in 2021. So, I’m pleased to announce that the new race date will be Sunday 20th June 2021. Please mark it in your diaries. If you have a race entry for 2020, then this is automatically carried-over to the new 2021 date, and we will see you next summer. However, should you prefer a refund, then please send an email to enquiries@sportsystems.co.uk with the request (please note that there is a small banking fee to cover their transaction charge).

As the Race Director, this is a sad day to be writing this message. All of us on the race committee (who work so hard for the months prior to the race to ensure it is a success) are very disappointed. However, please be assured that our race in 2021 will be bigger and better. Meanwhile, until then, the Hampshire Hoppit will place in safe storage (for the next 12 months) the various items that have already been purchased, including our new Hoppit medals, our new colour-imprinted keepsake beer glasses, our new keepsake Hoppit coffee cups, and a few other surprises that we had ready for race day.

Wishing you a safe and healthy summer, and I’m looking forward to that time when (as Her Majesty mentioned) “we will meet again”

Kind regards,

Tim Fowler

Hampshire Hoppit Update – March 24th 2020

The following update will also be sent out to all race entrants via email…

“We know that you Hoppiteers are a fabulously positive bunch. We know that because anyone that visits one of the Hoppit social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram) will have seen positivity radiating in abundance. And your positive thoughts and ideas help to move others into a better place, when perhaps their mood is less upbeat than normal, in these troubling times. As the Race Director, any decision to postpone the Hampshire Hoppit 2020 rests with me, and I want to share with you my current thinking. It’s likely that it will be postponed. But it’s not inevitable.

At the moment, England Athletics (that grant our race licence) have issued a statement extending the suspension of all athletics activities until 31 May. In all likelihood, they will review the situation at the end of April, and extend to the end of June. But, at the moment, there is a possible scenario (unlikely – but possible), that the outlook for the country next month will be more positive than it seems today, and perhaps, just perhaps, a trail event with the appropriate safety measures is what we will all need in June.

I commit that I will inform you all in early May of the go/no-go decision. In the meantime we have our fingers and toes crossed that our race can still go ahead for you. For the next few weeks, if you can, please keep training (perhaps with the Hoppit as your race target), because running is one of the few activities that is encouraged by the UK Government. In the meantime, stay safe, stay healthy, and look after your nearest and dearest. 💗”

Tim Fowler,

Hampshire Hoppit Race Director.

Athlete First Policy

With the cancellation of the Tokyo and Paris Marathons, along with the postponement or anticipated cancellation of other large endurance events, some registered athletes have been left in the lurch forced to forego travel plans and lose associated race-entry fees.

Today, the Hampshire Hoppit announces a new athlete-first policy regarding cancelations related to Coronavirus.

Should the Hampshire Hoppit event be forced to cancel or postpone due to Coronavirus-related circumstances, the organisers will extend automatic entry to the next year’s event, at no additional cost, to all registered runners, or alternatively, to a rescheduled race date. Runners will not be forced to pay any additional fees, even if the cost for the following year’s event changes.

Our primary concern is always for the safety of our runners and volunteers” says Tim Fowler, Race Director of the Hampshire Hoppit. “However, we also want participants to know we have their backs and that they can confidently register for our event, knowing that they won’t forfeit their entry.”

Beer Update!

We have secured a new supplier for your 2020 keepsake Hampshire Hoppit beer glasses. Their ‘Tulip’ beer glasses are a more robust quality, and should be less inclined to accidental breakage. As with previous years, all finishers in the Half Marathon will receive the half pint glass to keep, and all finishers in the Marathon will receive the pint glass to keep. And there will be Hoppit beer (or shandy) on tap at the finish line for every finisher to fill their glass with fabulous locally-brewed ale. We are proposing some improvements to previous years, to celebrate our 5th year 😁 . The Hoppit logo on the glasses will be stamped in multi-colour (previous years have been single colour) – see photo attached.

It’s Celebration Time!

Every finisher can have two glasses of ale each (instead of one). We completely understand if some finishers will drink water and rehydration drinks at the end of the race, in preference to ale. But ale’s there, if you want it. And the glass to keep, whether you fill it, or not.

This year there will be a choice of two ales at the finish. Our primary sponsor, Loddon Brewery, brew a light summer ale that you might enjoy, alongside the regular Hoppit ale. Or maybe you’d like one of each? We think that you will have earned it.

Gold Award for the Hampshire Hoppit!

We’ve done it again!! The Hampshire Hoppit has achieved the Gold status as a top-rated race event by Racecheck. Their awards are unique in the industry, based 100% on actual race participant experiences with the criteria being a minimum of 30 reviews and a rating of 4.6 or above. In total, 51 endurance events achieved this Racecheck criteria in 2019 (twice as many as the previous year).

A huge thank-you to all the Hoppiteers that went onto the Racecheck website and rated our race. To again achieve a Gold-rating, for two consecutive years, is very humbling.

Re-usable Cups are back for 2020

I’m delighted to announce that Hoppit 2020 will – once again- have reusable cups for every runner.

If you entered last year at Hoppit 2019, you will recall that we piloted reusable cups. We received 100% positive feedback, so we’re doing it again! Your reusable cup will be included with the runners pack at race registration on the day, and it is intended that this (collapsible) cup will be used at each water/feed station.

Reusable cups are an important contribution to reducing the dependency at races on plastic cups that are usually ‘use-once and then discard’, contributing to the plastic problem that faces our planet today. If we can reduce plastic dependency without impacting the race experience, then that must be our aspiration.

2020 Medal Design

We’ve been working hard in the background coming up with new inventive designs to dazzle you with on race day. So we would like to present to you our current work in progress…

This is likely to be our final mockup before going into production with it’s integrated whizzy spinner marking our 5th anniversary.

We hope you ike it, we certainly do.

Hoppit Re-usable Coffee Cup

Every finisher of the Hampshire Hoppit 2020 will receive an engraved 2020 beer glass, a commemorative medal and various other goodies, including (pause for dramatic effect)… a reusable robust Hoppit coffee cup with lid! We hope that it will help you lovely Hoppit people to avoid using the cardboard cups from coffee shops, and instead you will now use your new Hoppit cup on future trips to purchase your favourite beverage.

Cardboad cups from coffee shops can’t be recycled because they’re actually coated in plastic (around 5% per cup). It’s also why they don’t get broken down into pulp and turned into recycled paper. So anything that reduces their use has to be good for the planet.

Our friends from Cafe2U, who will be located in the finish field, will be offering their fabulous coffee at 20p discount to any people that use the Hampshire Hoppit cup for their coffee…

Hoppit Christmas Giveaway!

Win a 12 pack of our infamous Hoppit ale. The successful runner will be chosen at random and notified in the first week of January. Best of luck!

Prize courtesy of Loddon Breweries

New To The Catering – Mexicali

We were disappointed in the burger van last year, in the Hoppit field. The food quality was not great with prices to match.

So, quite quickly, we wanted to fix that problem for Hoppit 2020, and we think we’ve sourced a fantastic option. They get booked very early, particularly in the Summer months, so we are delighted to announce that Mexicali have been booked for our Hoppit event on 21st June 2020!

They sell fantastic Burritos and Nachos and other Mexican-themed foods, as well as vegan and veg options.

Note: Not all Mexican food will set your mouth on fire! The food is flavoursome and you can add heat should you wish with the many chilli sauces she has on offer with differing heats.

Mexicali UK can be followed on Facebook, and also on Instagram at mexicali_food_truck_

The infamous Mexicali Truck will be coming near you!

Hampshire Hoppit 2020 is go, go, go!

It’s the news you’ve been waiting for … the fifth Hampshire Hoppit half marathon and marathon trail race will take place on Sunday 21 June 2020 at Kingsclere stables. AND entries are OPEN. Sign up at:

Register for Hoppit 2020

We can’t wait to put on another great race for you.

Our Most Successful Race

We are proud to announce this year’s Hampshire Hoppit race held on Sunday 9 June has been our most successful Hoppit to date. We achieved record-breaking numbers with 960 runners entered, a race rating of 4.9 out of 5 on RaceCheck, we ditched plastic cups and gave every runner a reusable cup for the race and to take home, we raised almost £1,500 for the Hampshire & Isle of Wight Air Ambulance from the sale of Hoppit T-shirts and around £8,000 towards our running club’s new spectator stand from the event. What’s more we gained the time, energy and expertise of around 100 volunteers to make this race happen. Thank you everyone for your part in our most successful race yet. Now time to get cracking on Hampshire Hoppit 2020.