Checked out the Hope race results. I can't believe that Kev Doyle ran as well as he did - considering he not only ran but won the 100 mile Cotswolds Ultra on Saturday! Had a quick looks at his times and splits. I think he ran the 100 miles at a better pace than my best marathon!
Anyway I got to Elmton last night. Nice and rural. Plenty of parking. As I walked to get registered, I looked off to the side. an open field, couple of kids sat in it, a white horse. A field of corn beyond with a streak of scarlet poppy flowers. Would've made a great landscape....
Anyway the race is shy of 5 miles. Undulating, but basically 1.5 miles slope uphill, 1.5 miles slope downhill and the rest's another long, shallow (but definitely noticeable) ascent. The course is predominantly off road, fieldside and trail, which you could tell Clowne had been out and recently strimmed. There's plenty of marshalls about, which is good as I nearly missed the gap in a hedge and would've carried on down the road at one point.
I've decided to ignore my time. I was happy with the run and from about 1.5 miles in I was pretty consistant. I didn't really pass anyone, but then I don't think I got passed. When I got back home, I'd started to look at the Garmin, but end of the day, it's a trail race, with stiles, plenty of direction changes etc. I'm not going to do the same pace as a road race?..... Stuff it, I enjoyed it.
The other thing is. I was the first Strider home!
OK, I was the only Strider home, but next year I might see if I can tempt a couple more down to run it 
