19th February 2012
The race organisers promised the opportunity to “run the majesty of the beautiful Cotswold countryside” on a 3 lap course…with a steep hill on each loop.” Having run the Brathay Windermere Marathon in 2011 in 3.18.35, I felt the time was right for another go at a road 26.2 miler. The morning of the race saw a pretty dusting of very light snow across the fields and temperatures of around 4 degress Celsius. Registration and the pre-run briefing was at Kineton Village Hall. We were then walked down the lane for about a mile to the start. The atmosphere was really pleasant – lots of chat on the way to the start about the runs people had done, who was doing the Ultra, who was doing the marathon and the usual claims by everyone to have done virtually no training and expecting do to finish at the back. I was chatting to a lady who told me she was going to do the marathon as a training run and then run home (about 12 miles) as a ‘warm down’. She did explain that she did a lot of Ultras! The race itself took runners through Guiting Grange near Guiting Power The promised hill arrived t about mile 2. The first time the 800 metre or so climb was ‘stiff’ but not too much. The second and third time it felt more ‘aggressive’. Perhaps more of a drain on the energy levels was the long gradual climb between approx. mile 5 and 7. Adam Henson’s Farm (he of Country File fame) marked the top and the start of a welcome downhill before reaching the start/finish of the loop again. I’d hoped to improve on my PB and was on track after the first lap. However, it wasn’t to be. I got myself round in 3.21.43 having managed to reel in a couple of runners over the last 10k or so. When it came to checking the results I discovered I’d managed to place 10th overall of the 129 finishers. My highest ever finish. Would I do it again? Definitely. It’s a pretty course, although you do end up running some of it on your own as the field spreads out, and I’ll be ready for the hills this time. Maybe, just maybe, I could manage a single figures finish.
Jo Daniels
