This is the second running of this 27.5m (or you could choose to do 15m) event. I couldn't do it last year for some reason and I was looking forward to it this year.
Having done two marathons in the last two weeks I became a bit complacent with this one. Firstly, I forgot to put on my Garmin, but that wasn't a major problem as I was running with Melanie who had remembered hers. Secondly, I got my kit out on Saturday morning and realised I had forgotten my running tights. I normally keep spares of most of my running gear in the car boot (after a Strider turned up a race without his running shoes !). There were plenty of socks in there (four pairs !), but no running shorts or tights. For some inexplicable reason, I had brought with me a pair of summer cargo trousers and that seemed my best option. Then I reconsidered and went for my waterproof trousers which are breathable.
They might have been fine on a cloudy day, but although the temperature was -3° when we left for the start, it turned out to be sunny all day without too much wind, so I was a bit warm at certain times.
The Race HQ was the South Cave community centre. If was good to see two regular marathon runners who I haven't seen for a while and have a chat about upcoming and previous races.
There was a mass start for both distances and for runners and walkers. We started at the back, but there was plenty of room to overtake the walkers in the first mile. The first four miles were mainly flat, following footpaths around fields, through country estates. It was lovely to see some of the spring flowers coming out and the birds singing whilst running on a cloudless day. As the miles went by the flat sections were replaced by gentle ascents which seemed to last a while. The route was not marked, but we had printed off the map that had been emailed the day before. That was just about enough. There was a written route description, but it wasn't very specific. We went wrong once, but only lost maybe 3 or 4 minutes.
After the third checkpoint at about 7m, the routes split and we started more serious climbs. Nothing too steep, but up typical Wolds hills, rounded with lovely valleys which twisted and turned as you went up them. Not all the checkpoints had food and drink, but the vast majority did and they seemed to turn up every 3m or so.
We went up the Wolds and then down the other side getting close to Beverley, before heading south towards Skidby. By then I was feeling pretty tired although Melanie was still feeling pretty fresh (she had completed a tough half marathon and a marathon in the previous thirteen days before this one). We then started more gentle ascending as we went back up the Wolds again. This was followed by a rapid descent with fantastic views over the Humber, past the lovely Brantingham Church and on to a brute of a climb before another lovely descent back into South Cave, where we caught up with some of the 15m walkers. Lovely vegetarian stew followed by rice pudding was quickly devoured at the end. I think we may well do this one again
Apart from the two mistakes mentioned above, I had also managed to book our hotel for the wrong night (I had booked the night after). The deal I had got meant that I could not transfer the booking, so we had to book a second night the day before the event. This turned out to have been a good thing to do, we didn't have far to drive before we could have baths and just chill for the evening.
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