I did this race last year and really enjoyed it so last Sunday I was back for more.
The conditions were OK, cool and windy with the odd shower so actually quite good for running if not for the spectators.
Last year I got stuck in a huge queue for a stile in mile 2 so this year I set off at a brisk pace and was rewarded with virtually no queue at all. This probably saved me two or three minutes on last year's time. The second mile ends with a very steep hill and I trotted up it, overtaking quite a few runners. This may have been early race bravado but I felt good.
The next four miles are undulating and fun, up and down through fields and woods on paths, tracks and roads. The sheer variety of terrain really makes this race for me. I tried to keep the effort level down as I knew what was coming in mile 7. However three 7:15 miles in this section were a pleasant surprise.
At the start of mile 7 the hill of death begins. Over the next 3 miles you climb almost 700 feet. The first part is very steep but then it levels off a bit and becomes more undulating.
Unfortunately after the steep part I managed to take a tumble. I was merrily coasting along a rocky track when next thing I know my Lucozade bottle had gone flying and I was lying on the path. I guess I tripped on a rock. I retrieved my bottle and carried on, nursing a badly grazed knee. This tumble did knock my confidence for a while but didn't seem to affect my running, despite an impressive trickle of blood down my right leg.
I gained a few more paces on the slog up to the 9 mile point where the hill ends. From here you are rewarded with 4 miles of descent where you gradually lose the elevation you just gained. The paths are quite treacherous in places though so 8 minute miling was the best I could manage. At one point I was in a group of three, one guy in front and one behind me, which was fun but gradually the guy in front of me pulled away and I dropped the guy behind me. This seems to happen a lot in these sort of races as some people do better uphill and some on the down-hills meaning that you are always changing places.
Mile 14 contains the final nasty hill but I managed to trot up it without too much trouble. Then there are some steep downhill sections until the 15 mile point when it is a slightly downhill 3.5 mile fast stretch to the finish.
On the last steep downhill section some guy raced past me but I managed to keep him in sight and then reel him in on the flat.
I was feeling quite tired in the 16th mile but then I started to enjoy myself! I was being dragged along at 7:30 pace, overtaking a couple of stragglers and looking forward to a sprint finish. Last year I was counting down the 0.1 miles till the end at this point so this was definitely progress!
As we crossed a bridge with half a mile to go I finally overtook the guy in front and raced to the finish line. Having people watch me on the finish straight always makes me speed up and I had plenty of energy to zoom down the final straight. One lady gasped "look at that guy's knee!" Nice to feel like a soldier once in your life!
My time of 2:30:23 was about nine minutes faster than last year so I am obviously happy with that. The strong finish is a very positive sign. I would like to think that I could have carried on to 26.2 miles at a reasonable pace!
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