Saints centre Thame shows his stamina as he claims glory in Blakiston Challenge
Toby Thame is the Blakiston Challenge winner for 2025.
Each year since 2018, Saints players and staff have participated in the event at Castle Ashby, which pays homage to former Northampton captain Sir Arthur ‘Freddie’ Blakiston and his life-saving heroics in World War I which earned him a Military Cross.
Dan Biggar (2018), Reuben Bird-Tulloch (2019), Piers Francis (2020), Alex Coles (2021 and 2022), Fin Smith (2023) and Archie McParland (2024) are the previous winners who completed two 2.5km runs, either side of an arduous 2km of 30kg and 50kg sandbag carries, ahead of dozens of competitors.
The 2025 edition was once more played out under sweltering conditions, and it was 21-year-old centre Thame who raced to victory to have his name etched onto the honours’ board that lives outside the gym at cinch Stadium at Franklin’s Gardens.
Thame has already been tipped to enjoy a big season at Saints as he looks to help the black, green and gold deal with the departure of South African ace Burger Odendaal.
At the end of the previous campaign, Saints boss Phil Dowson said: "(Saints will miss Odendaal) a huge amount and we'd have loved to have kept him, but as I keep saying, we need to balance the squad and we've got to make tough decisions.
"Burger was brilliant for the group - not only from a playing point of view, but also off the pitch as a senior player and a leader.
"He quietly went about his business in a professional way and I've got a lot of time for Burger.
"There's a couple of players in the midfield coming through the Academy. You obviously saw Henry Lumley (against Gloucester), but there's also Toby Thame, who's had an ACL injury.
"Toby is going to be in the environment full-time and he's someone with an outrageous ceiling, so we're excited about seeing how he goes."
Toby Thame fact file
Thame, son of former Saint John Thame, came through the Northampton youth system, signing with the club's Senior Academy ahead of the 2022/23 season.
He progressed from Saints’ Under-13 DPP into the Under-18s side – and caught the eye as he featured heavily at fly-half and centre at that level as an Under-17.
The centre’s first appearance in black, green and gold came in his fledgling season as he featured against London Irish in the Premiership Rugby Cup.
Two more appearances would follow that season, with Thame making four more in his second term at the Gardens, including a Gallagher Premiership bow against Bath on the final day of the regular 2023/24 season.
Thame was prevented from playing by an ACL injury last season, but the 21-year-old is now fully fit, as shown in his superb performance in the Blakiston Challenge.