Forest of Dean 1/2 marathon (trail)

Saturday 7th April 2018

The weather forecast was for heavy rain throughout the day. By 8.30am the rain was indeed heavy and I was wishing I'd bought the waterproof hooded running jacket that's on my list of items to purchase. At least it was warm and I was feeling happy enough to jog the distance and to get saturated in the process. By the start at 10am the rain had stopped and there was no rain throughout the race at all, and the course was in good condition. Apart from the West Highlands way many years ago, this was my first attempt at a trail race. As an introduction to trail running I'd say this was a pretty good course, with plenty of variety underfoot, including a very muddy patch at the end.

The route itself was quite an interesting challenge. The race info described the course as using "well-maintained tracks with gentle inclines" but the 'gentle inclines' is an understatement: there's an extensive amount of steep uphill. On the other hand, there's a very welcome lengthy gentle downhill slope later on in the race.

Hill profile rom Garmin