A weekend of wood-chopping battles at the Three Counties Show in Malvern delivered six new National Records across three days of original extreme sport action at the British TIMBERSPORTS Championship.
The action began with the Pro Qualifier on Friday with twelve athletes competing to qualify for the main Pro Championship on Saturday.
Everyone was clearly focused on making it through to the main event, as between the competitors, they achieved 26 personal best times.
Dave Thomas, who was returning to TIMBERSPORTS after a 7-year break, took the top spot, closely followed by Harri Hogg, Ben Chapman, Seamus Ryan, Jack Morris and Ryan Tonkin, who all qualified for Saturday’s Championship.
The Pro competition delivered even more personal best times, but the headline from the day was focused on defending British champion Glen Penlington, who cemented his place in TIMBERSPORTS history by winning his fifth Pro Championship in a row.
Penlington started the day in style with the fastest time in the Underhand Chop and from then on, it was a masterclass in performing under pressure. He recorded the fastest times in the Standing Block, Single Buck and Springboard, breaking a 10-year National record for the Standing Block and his own Springboard National record in the process.
Whilst Penlington put on a dominant display, there was also success for other competitors too. George Spencer recorded the fastest time in the Hot Saw. The second and third places were filled by George Spencer, who had the fastest Hot Saw and a personal best time on the Springboard to finish in second place, whilst Joe Groom’s impressive performance on the Springboard helped him to his first ever podium finish in third.
With Penlington finished competing for the weekend, his attention turned to Sunday’s action where his partner Georgia Lewis was looking to step up from her second placed finish in the British Women’s Championship in 2025. Last year’s winner Rachel Ferrington was aiming to defend her title, just days after achieving sixth place in the Women’s World Championship in Budapest. But Ferrington was off her game and could only secure fifth place in the British competition.
The rest of the pack delivered immense results though, with 29 new personal best times and three new National Records; Georgia Lewis in the Standing Block, Catherine Eccles in the Underhand Chop and Justine Ellis in the Single Buck, who was returning to the sport just weeks after giving birth.
Ultimately Georgia Lewis took first place for a double celebration with Penlington, but Libby Arrowsmith also found a return to form taking second place, whilst Catherine Eccles took the third spot on the podium.
The final competition of the weekend was the Rookie Championship, where Rowan Luxton was hoping to win his second title in a row. But a slow time in the Stock Saw made that task even harder, especially with 17-year-old Billy Gore winning both the Springboard and Stock Saw disciplines to take maximum points after two rounds. Luxton stayed focussed on the task though and recorded the fastest times on the Standing Block and Single Buck events.
He still needed to deliver a top time in the final discipline of the Underhand Chop, and deliver he did, with a time more than eight seconds quicker than his nearest rival, to win the overall Championship by just one point! Gore still managed to take second place, which was three places better than his finish in 2025 and shows that he is definitely one to watch for the future. The final place on the podium was taken by Max Wright, who achieved four personal best times during the competition.
STIHL TIMBERSPORTS British Championship
- British Pro Championship – Pro athletes must be able to compete in all six disciplines: the Stock Saw, Standing Block Chop, Single Buck, Underhand Chop, Springboard and Hot Saw.
- British Women’s Championship – Women compete in four of the disciplines: the Stock Saw, Standing Block Chop, Single Buck and Underhand Chop.
- British Rookie Championship – Rookies are athletes under the age of 25, who compete in five disciplines: the Stock Saw, Standing Block Chop, Single Buck, Underhand Chop and one-board Springboard.
