A glorious sunny summer evening, and off to Blackfield, an unusual setting, wedged between the New Forest and Southampton Water. I had marshalled here 2 years ago when I was a Hardley Runner and was curious to run it for the first time.
Driving down, I noticed how flat the landscape is here. Properly flat, the whole area around Fawley Refinery. We set off into blinding low sun, with the path quickly narrowing, which led to a lot of risky overtaking and leaping over tree roots. There were a couple of narrow valleys - gullies, really - in the first 2 miles or so, and I gradually worked up the field.
The second half was an awful lot tougher than the first. The steep gullies kept on coming, and I found myself right on the edge of my breathing limit. Hanging grimly on, I was desperate for the end... and it never seemed to arrive. A desperate need for the loo didn't help much either.
The result - 28th place, which was sort-of respectable, but I'd underestimated the course. Still, I've just realised that I'm currently 4th place in the M40 league... let's see if I can break top 3 by the end of the season.
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