Wytham Woods 10k, 2023

I'd never heard of Wytham (White'm, not With'm) Great Wood before. It's a really special and beautiful ancient woodland in Oxfordshire, and the site of much ecological magic, including a 500+ year old badger sett. And it hosts an annual set of races around the quiet forest trails. Race HQ (some barns around a working small-scale timber outfit) was 10 minutes walk from the carpark, and we were in tranquil countryside before we'd started, with a great dollop of humid June weather thrown in. After a 5-minute cursory warm up I was sweating like a good 'un.

It was my first proper race following a hamstring encounter, which has become a recurrent risk. After a few weeks of reduced intensity, I knew my speed had dropped, but I was eager to see what I could do on a reasonably hilly off-roader. It was a reasonably-sized field of about 450, including 15 or so competitive-looking runners at the front. After a bit of a delay (no one minded in the warm weather) and a droll race briefing we were off.

It was a quick downhill first km before encountering some natty little hills on soft grassy tracks (it had rained during the night). It was a bit technical with a few holes and roots and I very nearly took a tumble. At 4km we started on a long uphill grind upto the Swiss Chalet. By now there were two other chaps with me, taking it in turns to pull ahead.

It's hard to remember much of the second half, as we were taking a series of turns in the heart of the forest and I lost my sense of direction. I was glad to overtake my two adversaries. After completing a looped section I emerged back on to a short two-way stretch at a T-junction with no marshal. I flapped briefly about which way to go, but thankfully runners on the outward leg pointed me right. 

The final 2k or so were fairly uneventful. I emerged out of the woods to be directed towards a big open field, sloping downhill to the finish line. I pushed hard, but my goodness it was difficult in that heat, and with no one directly in front or behind it was a tough gig.

I finished in 12th place in 43:11, and 2nd M50. Here are my stats. I'll take that - I felt as though I had maintained a reasonable pace and in my post-injury state I couldn't have gone any faster. The lovely Mrs S came bombing down to the finish a few minutes later, and it was a sweaty but happy stroll back to the car.

Mrs S puts her best foot forwards

I am being controlled by wires connected to my right ear

Happy sweatfest