THE SAYING goes that it’s the taking part that counts.

But winning is nice, especially when you get a bit of ‘bling’ for your efforts, with new medals being handed out at this year’s event.

“We gave away these bling medals because they’re all the rage these days,” said Butser Hill Challenge race director Alan Shons.

“Somebody at a different event started handing these posh medals out so we followed suit. They’re in the shape of Butser Hill with the mast on top, and everyone seemed to like them.

“Maybe it will encourage more people to join next year because if you don’t have a bling medal then you’re missing out.”

Some 285 children, a little down on previous events, entered this year’s competition while the number of senior entrants rose slightly to 174.

Mr Shons added: “It went well but we’ve got to thank Churcher’s College for supporting the event and helping out.

“Their sponsorship has been enormously helpful along with that from MacDonald Oates and Fullers,” said the race director, who added that the oldest entrant this year was 83 years old.

No pub teams entered this year’s event while Ditcham Park School and the Denmead Striders won the school and club team titles, respectively.