Twist 10k

A funny old event, this.  A super multi-terrain race in the chalk hills of Oxfordshire; a lovely course, well marshalled, friendly... but it was all a bit quirky, the pre-race info was all over the place and it was a bit unclear who was organising it.

Poor Mrs S was suffering from a bad knee so she came along as support crew.  I was feeling less than energetic before the start and my warm up was a rather desultory trundle about Kingsclere playing fields. The race numbers were in multiple colours but this signified nothing more than what digit the number began with.

The course was actually very simple: head south, climb up an almighty chalk escarpment (the same hill, but in a difference place, that I'd run at the Hoppitt last month), buzz around on the nights for a while, then zoom downhill and then charge about a bit to the finish.

The hill was great fun, and contrary to my expectations, I managed to keep running all the way.  It was the final slightly-uphill ridge run that I found most debilitating. After a few tussles around half way round I was on my own.  In the second half we overlapped with the Hoppitt course, including the finish where I had been as broken as I can remember after a race; this time I was feeling good.

Synchronised arms, about 1km in

Time for a bit of mime on the way down the big hill.

Close to the finish we passed a beautiful old mill, which was in familiar territory as we had parked close by.  We had the option of going through the millstream or on a boardwalk around it; walking to the start, the boardwalk looked fine, but in the dying stages of a race there was no question of doing anything but charging through the water and avoiding the narrow, wet planks.

Emerging from the mill stream

And then back to the finish line, dodging the 5k runners.  I finished in 41:00, but somehow managed to miss getting on to the results, which are themselves a triumph of idiosyncrasy.  I think I was 13th. A charming, off-beat and slightly bonkers event - great fun!