Bridport Jurassic Coast 2017

The Lovely Mrs S, Brenda and I made up an RRR trio, leaving home at a brisk hour to get to West Bay soon after 9.  The place was rapidly filling up with people for a big carnival day.  We soon realised that the race was a minor detail in the day, and we had to work quite hard to find the registration desk and decipher the route.  At the briefing we were assured that the course was jam-packed with marshalls and signs. Or were they?

Off we went, a mix of 10k and half marathon runners, first a dog leg on the promenade and then up the first hill.

This was full-on Dorset landscape.  Lots of climbing, a few narrow lanes with nettles and brambles and plenty of stiles and kissing gates. After a few minutes two guys edged ahead of me, one broadcasting awful music from a phone on his arm.  We stayed together for the whole of the first lap. As we approached Seatown, at the far end of the first lap, we were utterly confused about where to go, with marshals waving rather uncertainly in a general direction as we tried on angle and then another.  Capital FM Man charged up the monster hill to Thorncombe Beacon, and I was doubtful that he was pacing it right.  Sure enough, he dropped away after the first lap.

The hill to Thorncombe Beacon

Into the second lap, and I was feeling OK, but the hills were starting to make themselves known to my legs and was going uphill with a little less gusto. The third runner (Chris Miller, as I later learned) got ahead of me but I held on to him.  We saw other runners around us but I couldn't tell how many were ahead.

Into the final few km, and I tried to capitalise on the gentle downhill sections.  I'm not normally a fan of laps, but having a clear sense of the course to the finish was really helpful.  There was one last big hill to go... on the first lap I had managed to run up it, and I was hopeful of keeping a decent pace for the final furlong.

Chris was walking it!  I got in line behind him for a minute or so and then managed to heave into a run, everything hurting horribly.  Up to the crest of the hill and then a charge down the gravel track to West Bay, bellowing warnings to the poor walkers who were quite unaware.

And then on to another dogleg section on the promenade.  I was terrified of Chris overtaking me and heaved myself onwards.  This was wonderful, full-throttle racing.  I had several near-misses with pedestrians wandering around with icecreams and admiring the classic car show, my hoarse yelling adding to the exhilaration I was feeling.  Then around a final bend and over the line I flaked out on a pavement.

Someone approached me and told me I had been beaten by a lady.  I sort-of knew that, as I'd see a lady right at the front of the pack, but didn't really understand why she was telling me.  Slowly I became aware that I was first male, second place.  What a result, and huge kudos to Ruth Barnes for an astonishing run.

Here are the results and here are my own stats.  Sue, Brenda and I had all enjoyed a fabulous race, and we'll be back again for sure.