Avebury 8, 2017

Can anywhere beat Avebury for dramatic scenery, monumental historical heritage and charmingly bonkers village-ness?

The lovely Mrs S and I arrived there this morning in near-zero temperatures and bright sunny skies.  The Avebury Sports and Social Club was abuzz with people in varying states of dress and undress.  Inside, hot and humid, outside, really rather raw.

Absolutely no razzmatazz.  A low-key, informal event.  The starting process was delightful.  'It's muddy, sticky and slippy out there.  Have fun.  Off you go!' shouted the race director and off we went.

All very relaxed at the start line

 1km in, and it felt like we were doing a club run, with a tightly-knit knot of about a dozen of us packed together.  One bloke in front faded, and then the pack shifted and I was in third place.  It was a long run northwards, including a fantastically tricky ploughed field (photos courtesy of Mrs S).

Comedy gold

 And we had long stretches of open landscape... thankfully very little wind.

Classic Wiltshire countryside

The first two guys disappeared into the distance.  All the way around I was aware of a presence behind me, sometimes closer than others.  I tried to shake him off but it wasn't happening.  With less than 5k remaining we had a sharp climb around the edge of Windmill Hill, and he edged past.  400m later, and we crested the hill and headed downward I overtook him.  I really didn't want to lose out on third place.

Craig is just about to overtake me... before I take him... before he edges ahead again

The last 2km or so was a series of stiles and bridges made of slippy wood. 

We had about 6 wooden hazards in the last mile

I couldn't shake off matey (I later found out he's Craig Rumble... great runninmg, Craig) behind me.  I was keeping an even pace, but he accelerated past me.  As we got back into the village of Avebury he was 100m ahead of me.  I came home fourth place in 1:00:40, a really annoying time, but I don't think I could have gone any faster, and I got an M50 trophy and bottle of wine, which I was really pleased with. Check out the Strava Flyby.

Thank you, Marlborough RC - this is exactly what a race should be.

No muddy shoes in race HQ

Meon Valley Half, 2017

Somehow I forgot to write about this, and now it's a bit of a distant memory.

Lovely and hilly, deliciously muddy in parts and on a couple of downhills really quite lethal.  Gorgeous weather with great views.  I was chuffed with the pacing and managed to come in 7th overall and scoop M50. 

Super, good-humoured event. 

Results and Garmin data.