Race review from one of our runners.

I entered this one on a whim a few months back - told that it was a brutal course that will test even the most seasoned of trail runners - of which I am definitely not. have to start somewhere though and this crew came highly recommended as not up their own arses and welcoming to all. training went really well but a trip to Berlin and a load of fucking germs ruined the last couple of weeks so was very much banking on what I had laid down in November and what little bits I had managed in between. if I'm honest the distance was the absolute least of my concerns - I know I can move my carcass 13.1mi. the course profile, the terrain, and not having used gpx on my watch was the cause of my worrying. doesn't matter how many times people reassure me at times like this I am riddled with self doubt - maybe I enjoy having those anxious nerves?

anyway I was proper ill all week and it was touch and go if I'd even make it to the start line - Friday night saw a big improvement in my symptoms so I made the call to crack on and get to the race for 630am registration.

quick panic over daps - grippy trail innov8s which are now too small for my feet or hybrid Salomon with less grip but wouldn't make my feet hurt - comfort all day long sorry. decided i’d rather go careful on the mud slopes than deal with anymore blisters or black toenails.

picked ffion up at the arse crack of dawn and we were on our way to our first trail half. all the feelings - mostly excited but a huge dump of imposter syndrome arrived too…do I even belong here?

registration team were lush as were other competitors as we huddled under the shelter signing forms, pinning on numbers and deciding how many layers would be needed once the sun finally come up!

brilliant race briefing where it was all laid bare - no egos, look out for each other, help anyone struggling and generally have a kickass time.

8am prompt and we were off! love the energy at a start line - everyone full of beans and the waiting finally over...up a bit of tarmac road (straight onto a hill!) and then off onto the trail - first up was a load of fields and stiles (one was 6ft high) - treated to an amazing sunrise - the clouds had finally buggered off after what has seemed like weeks of rain. bit boggy underfoot but mostly ok...this is going really well I thought to myself as we took it all in - enjoying high up views of the area. time for a couple of selfies and snapchats for Ffi.

loving life...daps were going to fine...until a couple of miles in we hit BOG CENTRAL...oh my christ...it was ridiculous - some mis steps on what looked like tumps meant mud up past the ankle (shin in one particularly epic fail). we muddle out way through with a load of others equally trying not to get sucked into the earth - so much fun but slow going - wondered at one point if just ploughing on through it would have been as messy in the end? would probably have ended up shoeless or with a broken leg so best keep to noob approach for a while yet.

we then headed into the forest - warmed up by this point and shed a layer. Oh my gosh - absolutely stunning. I think I'd take a forest over sweeping views any time. I love feeling enclosed by the trees - the smell is always a comfort too. makes me feel calm and safe somehow? anyways we trusted the gpx where we weren't sure (starting to get to grips with it by this point - Ffi was using a Garmin 255 vs my 245 and she had much more data available - I will look into upgrading before my big run in June) few miles of this and I was loving life - then we saw another runner dip into the tree line and bob down put of sight. we assumed she was just going for a wee...couldn't have been more wrong there...it was the course - unmarked path through the trees (trust the instinct and gpx to the max here)

then the steepest of slippery mud banks leading down to the river crossing - wishing I had worn proper trail daps about now - absolutely treacherous - still not sure how I didn't end up on my arse. there was no running here - teetering from tree to tree and hoping for the best. we were big brave girls come the river crossing though and straight through - no dicking around. we were getting wet - accepted it and ploughed on through.

then..hill and more hill and a bit more hill. walked this - absolutely nothing to gain running it not even halfway yet. hill eased off and we were met at the midway checkpoint by lovely marshals who marked us off the check sheet and wished us all the best on our way. straight after this checkpoint there was an unmarked V in the path...headed down what felt right but thankfully Ffi's Garmin had a word about that...mine was happy enough to let me carry on and would probably have only pinged when I was much further off track. we spent a moment getting the course map up on our phones to double check and then off we went for more glorious trail. feeling good and mostly strong by this point and proud of our efforts so far... definitely not the fastest out there but we were doing well and dealing with obstacles well.

next couple of miles popped off quite nicely - legs felt good and we'd remembered to eat and drink. weather was definitely on our side and I was starting to feel like I did belong out there after all. turns out this was another of those things I had over thought to the point of nearly not trying - stupid humans.

mile 10 was a bit sketchy and we racked some extra distance up trying to work out where we were supposed to be - but we figured it out with another guy who was having the same difficulty...knew we must be getting close to civilization as there were kids and dog walkers!

soon as we escape the darkest bit of the forest and hit the fire road again we came across a group of other runners working other to carry someone back to the road - he'd injured himself and couldn't walk so they were getting him to the road so he could be evacuated. everyone was in good spirits and i've since found out he'd smashed his toe up badly but is ok. was such a sense of camaraderie and it was great to see people prioritising someone else over their own running needs...not me and Ffi though - we did check but we're of no use so off we went.

back on to tarmac...never thought I'd be so glad to feel hard surface and we looked forward to what we thought would be a couple of miles of easy road running to finish off...hahaha how fucking wrong were we...hahahah!

little arrow appears on a gate, gpx beeps and we look at each other fully aware of our silly assumption.

what was through that gate was the worst section of running/wading/bramble avoiding on the whole course - loads of standing water. no way around most of it and I'm too chicken shit to run hard though water I can't see bottom of - i've seen the vicar of dibley and I also value my ankles. so trudge, trudge, trudge...we miserably made our way through to some ugly arse landscape. by this point my legs felt like they'd been filled with concrete, my body had got cold from all the fucking trudging and I was essentially done.

we still had over 2 miles left though so bucked my ideas up and just got through fuck on with it. once I'd parked my asshole attitude I was ok again but there was nothing nice about the last bit - was purely getting it done. just wanted my medal and a sit down. back into parc slip and some more pedestrian terrain - meant we could run faster again so everything warmed up and at least it was over quicker. the welcome back at the finish line was lovely - loads of people wrapped up warm with cuppas, mince pies and sporting epic medals.

we'd done it - fully fledged trail runners! medal was bloody epic and I would definitely do the course again next year and recommend it to anyone wanting to start exploring trails!

got home - ate as much as I could possibly eat, jumped in the shower (trainers in with me for a shower gel wash) and then proceeded to fall asleep for a few hours. woke up absolutely hanging - turns out my germs hadn't gone and I really shouldn't have run. spent two days sleeping and filled with codydromol. not the recovery I had planned but we live and learn. well supposedly we do...

so there we go - my honest write up. sorry for the grammar, layout and any other glaring mistakes. I will write warts and all until I am consistent and then fuss arse around.