Melanie and I did this one last year and quite enjoyed it. I say 'quite' because there seemed to be a few long straights which I usually find a bit dull. However, apart from that, it was an enjoyable day out. Typical LDWA event, lots of friendly people, cheap, lots of food at the checkpoints and a basic meal at the end.
Last year I struggled a bit, I think I was just tired. I also didn't know the route and the last two or three miles surprised me (it surprised a friend this year and he has described it as like going through a portal to Switzerland!). This year, I was going to be on my own as Melanie didn't want to risk her recovery by doing too much too soon. Also my longest run since the Hardmoors 30 on 1 Jan was 15m, so with both of these things, I expected to struggle again.
It started cold and misty, but villages, attractive churches and checkpoints appeared regularly.
There was no pain in my calf, so all was good. I managed to rescue about eight people who missed a turn and ran and chatted with them to the next checkpoint where the 17m route parted from the 27.5m route. They all went off on the 17m route and suddenly there were very few people about. In the mist this was a bit eerie, but after about two and half hours the sun had burnt off the mist and it started to warm up.
I was remembering the route well and I was enjoying it, the long straights didn't seem as long as I thought they might be. There was hardly any mud. I was walking the long uphill stretches but that had been the plan all along, I didn't want to risk doing any damage to the calf and I was after time on my feet.
Switzerland arrived and went by without too much difficulty and I was soon back in the village hall. Nowhere near as exhausted as I had been last year and much to my surprise, only a minute slower.
A lovely way to spend half a day !
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