I was originally meant to be on a organised trail running weekend in Exmoor but that was cancelled last minute so I scrambled about for an alternative.
Maverick Races to the rescue! I was very impressed by the one I ran in May so I quickly entered (in the nick of time! Places sold out an hour later!) and opted for the half marathon distance this time. When I discovered Queen Elizabeth Country Park also hosts a parkrun and the timings meant both were possible, I simply had to! Who can pass up a chance to bag a ‘Q’?! Under the guise of ‘checking the underfoot conditions to decide on shoes’ I had a lovely, leisurely 5k and it was a beautiful course.
Quick run back to the car, change of shoes and t-shirt, jog back to the start line and off for the half! Straight into a steep ascent and then a bit of a bottleneck. A couple of dogs on waist leads threatened to take me out but I remained upright! Once the group thinned out, it was very pleasant. I chatted to loads of people and sang songs with one lovely group of three ladies, all of whom were running their first trail event. I hope the trail running bug bit them!
Maverick have wonderful aid stations and it’s very easy to linger for ‘just one more’ orange slice. There were a couple of arduous hills, one of which came directly after the direction from the marshal of ‘This way! Into the hedge!’ A scramble along an overgrown path and over a stile led to a steep climb on a narrow path. I won’t lie – I was glad there were members of the public walking their dogs directly ahead of me so I had a good reason to slow to a snail’s pace! We’d enjoyed a steep descent earlier on a very narrow path lined with thorns and stinging nettles, during which I was very glad not to meet anyone coming in the opposite direction as I’m not sure how that would have worked out…!
There was a brutal ascent around the 17km mark that felt like it would never end but then all of a sudden it’s 20km in and I’m thinking about my finish sprint! (There was a chance to win a pair of shoes for the fastest in each gender/age category! Had to try!) That sprint was enormous fun!!
And then it’s suddenly all over, someone’s reminding me to stop my watch, I’m being offered a free can of something sparkling, and I know if I sit down I won’t get back up again so I keep pacing. Lots of debrief conversations with random strangers (it’s a very friendly event!), a delicious pizza, and then it was my turn to cheer as the ultra runners came in.
Such a fun day!
– Felicity Haines
