Last Sunday saw another early start to be on the road heading towards Bawtry Forest Trail Race. We did this for the first time last year and really enjoyed it and decided it was worth the 80 minute drive to get there. This time my teenager decided to join us too – it would be his longest race so far. Advertised as a 7 mile race, I knew that it would be slightly short, ending up just over 6.5 miles by my watch.
Very low key, held on a farm (watch out for the piglets), small, but well organised and very friendly. We turned up with just over an hour before the start, plenty of time for loo, collect numbers, drink, loo, change shoes, loo…..
All on rough tracks, grass and woodland trails – a bit muddy and slippy in places but nothing particularly difficult.
I didn’t have a time in mind for this one (and actually couldn’t remember my time from the year before) so headed off to run to feel. One thing to note that I will try and remember for next time is that I should have started further forward. This isn’t chip timed, and it doesn’t really matter as there are less than 200 running, but I felt that I got very held up at the beginning as well as a bit jostled about.
Shoes. My Karimoor Trail shoes to be exact. Will not be worn again. I’ve persevered with these, thinking that they would get better for wearing a few times. I’ve now worn them about four times and they are getting worse. So I’m getting rid.
What trail shoes would you recommend? I’ve heard good things about the Salomon ones….
My right foot and toes were painful / numb for most of the race and seemed to mentally take a lot of space. As much as I tried to stop thinking about it I couldn’t help it! I’ve also got the start of blisters on the arch of my right foot.
The final 500m of the race is along a flat grass track, muddy and puddles in places but good, until the turn for the last 50m or so to the finish. Then it is uphill. Steep! It really makes you dig deep to find the energy to run up that hill.
Bling? Tech tshirt
Goody bag? The best goody bag that I’ve ever experienced. Sandwich, banana, water, lucozade, crumpets, wafer bar, mini soreen loaf, gels…… Literally a bag full!
Finish time: 01:00:03 (over 2 minutes quicker than last year)
a mile run 