Worcester City Runs Half Marathon (Sunday 15 September 2024)

Report by: Derek Boughton
Distance: Half Marathon
Location: Worcester
Web link: worcestercityrun.com

Event Details: It is a Thursday / Saturday / Sunday Festival of Running with a 10K and a Half Marathon on the Sunday!

Before the race: There are a lot of road closures but the Satnav picked these up and had a very easy trip to park at Worcester Race Course. There are toilets in the Race Course car park, on the start line and in the Athletes village. Hard to fit in a last minute “stress wee” if you want a good starting place. Over 2400 did the 10K and almost 1500 the Half Marathon.

Who ran: Just me! Derek Boughton

The Race:
The 10K which I did in 2022 goes into the city, then along one river bank and back down the other side. The Half Marathon is a figure of eight with the first 10K being away from the city and up to the university and then back to the racecourse. The second half is similar to the 10K. Very congested start and then uphill on quite narrow roads / paths. Took 2 miles to thin out. The pacers seemed to go too quick – I was on 2.10 pace early on and never got near the 2.10 pacer. The 2.20 pacer was at the finish in 2.16. Miles 2 to 7 seemed good to run. Then the part through the city seemed longer / steeper / twistier than I remembered from the 10K. It is badged as flat, fast and a PB course – I found it hard to get in a rhythm so not sure it is a PB course.

BDRC Results:
Derek Boughton 2.16.46

Funny Moments
Three dinosaurs giving high fives about a kilometre from the finish – really needed it as my last 5K or so was really hard – through my lack of fitness not due to it being the hardest part of the course. !

Would you recommend?
Yes – hoping to do 2025 and do better!

Stratford Upon Avon – Shakespeare Half Marathon & Marathon (21/04/2024)

Report by: Melissa Boulton
Distance: 13.1 Miles & 26.2 Mile Options
Location: Stratford
Web link: shakespearemarathon.org.uk

Event Details: This flat and fast route, follows 1 lap for the half marathon and 2 laps for the marathon. The majority of the route follows closed roads around the town, with the remainder on the Stratford Greenway footpath, a hard compact footpath, ideal for pb racing!

The route heads from the town centre, past the racecourse, into Luddington & Welford-on-Avon before joining the Stratford Greenway back into Stratford-upon-Avon. The half marathon will head into the Recreation Ground from there. The marathon will complete a 2nd, extended loop, which also heads through Long Marston, before returning to the Recreation Ground for the finish.

Before the race: The queue to drop the bags was quite long, I would recommend getting there earlier than what you think, we ended up jogging to the start as it was quite tight on times. You also want to ensure you car share were possible as it gets quite busy. There was a great atmosphere at the beginning of the race, lots of crowds had come out to support as well as local businesses. You couldn’t hear the person on the microphone counting down as it was so loud!

Who ran: Melissa Boulton, Kim Fox, Keith Fox, Mary de Frates, Sara Brookes, Nicola Crookes (Half), Martin Percival (Half)

The Race:
The race itself was very scenic, going through some gorgeous villages, it also helped it was a lovely spring day with perfect running conditions. There are a few options for supporting spectators to watch particular those who are doing the full marathon. Only a couple of moderate hills, overall a very flat course. It was quite mentally tough to do two laps but also advantageous that you knew what was coming. The Greenway was not very pleasant, it was a gravel track with large rocks that made it difficult to run on, this went out for 4-5 miles, it ruined a good route, however this has apparently now been tarmacked.

The medal was very nice and there was great support as you crossed the line, there were businesses promoting their products and no bananas but water and protein cookies were given out.

BDRC Results:
Marathon: Keith Fox: 02:59:10, , Kim Fox: 03:24:48, Melissa Turner: 03:50:29, Sara Brookes: 04:15:42, Mary de Frates: 04:26:06
Half: Martin Percival: 01:32:31, Nicola Crookes: 01:42:06
Would you recommend?
Definitely, it was really nice to support a more local event, the race itself during the second loop was a lot quieter as well so it really opened up for personal best opportunities. The course itself is well marshalled with water sessions throughout. Just a note that there are no toilets available on the route until mile 13 if you are doing the full marathon so something to bear in mind.

White Horse Half Marathon (07/04/2024)

Report by: Toby Cartright
Distance: Half marathon, of course
Location: Grove, near Wantage
Web link: whitehorseharriers.uk/halfmarathon/

Event Details: A popular road half marathon organised by White Horse Harriers AC. This was the 39th edition of the event, having been cancelled in 2020 & 2021 due to Covid, and again in 2023 due to flooding.

Before the race: The official parking was a long walk from race HQ & the finish line – will be parking elsewhere next time.

Who ran: Toby, Matt, Dawn, Dave G-A, Chris (Noz), Christie, Jane plus ex-member Gareth (Chairbow)

The Race:
The race is run on a level and attractive rural course through the country villages of the Vale of the White Horse. Starting from Grove the course follows quiet country lanes through the villages of Denchworth, Lyford and Charney Bassett.

This is a well organised event which several BDRC members have run many times over the years. After it was cancelled last minute in 2023 it was good to see the event take place, with 424 finishers. However, given the rainfall over the previous days it almost didn’t happen again with parts of the course clearly only just dry enough. Parts of the course have badly deteriorated with potholes etc but WHH did a great job clearly marking these with traffic cones.

The wind really made this a race of two halves. The course follows an anti-clockwise loop with the first and last miles following the same out & back road. The wind was largely with us until about mile 7 but then turned into a vicious headwind until about mile 11. Any gains made in the first half of the race were sadly undone in the second half and everyone seemed to agree that this was as much a mental battle as physical!

WHH always offer a commemorative mug to all finishers which makes a nice change from a medal or t-shirt. There were also spot prizes and I understand Noz was the winner of a bottle of wine, although he clearly doesn’t understand the concept of sharing.

Great to see Chairbow who’d made the dash across from Wales to join in and smash out another stonking run.

Sadly Dave G-A had to pull out at 3 miles due to a calf injury but great of him to wait at the finish to cheer some of us in. Also Dave Herring unable to run due to injury but look forward to seeing him pounding the tarmac again soon.

BDRC Results:
Gareth B: 1:26:14
Toby C: 1:32:26 (PB)
Matt W: 1:40:38
Dawn B: 1:46:00
Chris N: 1:46:56
Christie L: 2:26:43
Jane R: 2:28:09

Funny Moments
Speaking to Christie before the race and she casually drops into the conversation that she’s fractured her elbow but is running anyway – full respect!

See above Noz not sharing his prize bottle of wine.

My brother cycling a 20 mile round trip with his daughter in a bike trailer in the howling wind to support BDRC was great!

Would you recommend?
This is one of my favourite half marathons and I’d recommend it to everyone. It’s an ideal PB course and well organised with great support from the marshals.

Hardy Half Marathon (12/05/2024)

Report by: Louise Honeyball
Distance: 13.1 miles
Location: Dorchester Rugby Football Club, Dorset, DT1 2H
Web link: hardyhalf.com

Event Details:The Hardy Half is a scenic hilly trail race across Dorset farmland looping around the Hardy Monument.

Before the race: For most, the idea of a girly weekend away includes food, booze, and relaxation. Not for us! We did of course do this, but we also threw in a parkrun, a pedalo and a ridiculously hard trail half marathon! We really should have read the bit that said ‘Only for the hardy’ when we booked it!

There was a tiny car park at the Rugby Club which was full when we arrived but there was plenty of parking along the adjacent street. Number collection was straight-forward and pre-race facilities were good. There were plenty of toilets – some ‘interesting’ composting ones and thankfully a normal one for me! There was a very short walk from the race village to the start.

Who ran: Louise Honeyball, Kim Fox, Mary de Frates, Nicola Crookes.

The Race:
We got going and the first couple of miles didn’t seem too bad, BUT then it went up and up and up some more! The ups were so steep that most runners were forced to walk them. It was a really hot day and the course had very little shade, but the incredible scenery made the climb worth it. We got some cracking selfies along the way!

The marshals were super friendly and supportive, and the signage displayed around the course was very amusing. There were at least three well-stocked aid stations along the route with food, sweets, water, and sugary drinks as well as free beer at the finish.

BDRC Results:
Kim Fox: 2:10:32, Nicola Crookes: 2:13:15, Louise Honeyball: 2:33:27, Mary de Frates: 2:33:27

Funny Moments
The start was delayed by 10 minutes – we had to wait for the bus to go by before the road could be closed!

Would you recommend?
Yes definitely, it is a well organised event. The route is beautiful, the support is amazing, it is reasonably priced, and the medal was good too.

Westonbirt House Easter 10K (29/03/2024)

Report by: Derek Boughton
Distance: 10km
Location: Westonbirt near Tetbury Gloucestershire GL8 8QG
Web link: dbmax.co.uk/events/westonbirt-house-easter-10k-2024/

Event Details: There is also a half marathon starting at 9.30. The 10K starts at midday. Pacers provided for most time targets. The 10K is two laps on country lanes and about 1K each lap though the school grounds. Seemed more traffic that two years ago though no real impact on run.

Before the race: Very good parking. Registration very efficient. Separate gent’s loos. I thought a lot of loos but I heard some people saying their friends were still in the loo queue at race start time. The loos are some distances from the start so I’d say if you need a final “Stress Wee” give yourself an extra 10 minutes. Early affiliated entry £22 – a quality medal – no t-shirt but excellent very large jelly snake to eat at the finish! Bar coffee and food available (I did not).

Who ran: Alison (Ali) Young and Derek Boughton

The Race:
10K is 2 laps. Two hills each lap. Excellent Pacers and Marshalls. Each lap has about a 3K fairly flat section but worth conserving a little energy for the final 1K of which the first half is uphill. Thanks to my wife (Helena) for the support and photographs.

BDRC Results:
Ali 1:08:21 and I believe a new 5K PB on the first 5K and then a new 5K PB on the second PB 5K – negative splits! Ali was aiming for sub 1:10 so absolutely smashed!

Derek 53:55 – aiming for sub 55:00. The two Pacers thought I was in a lot of trouble at half way but memories of Humphries Hills and also Macca’s strong pace on this last Tuesday evening kept me going!

Funny Moments
1. Having shirt back to front all day – I think I styled it out!

2. Two people from Brackley independently choosing to do a 10K 70 miles and an hour and a half from home. 3. I did it as an excuse to meet up with assorted friends – some of which have known for 45 years – Ali then proceeded to do a lot of the race alongside two of my friends!

Would you recommend?
Well organised, pleasant setting, large car park for picnic and Cava after the race if that is your thing (yes please!). Pacers were excellent so if you have a time in mind then you can achieve it but as the course is not flat then other than Ali a PB might be a struggle!