Well, I enjoyed that.
Apart from a small diversion on the way to the Leisure Centre, everything went fine with arrival and the bus ride to Longridge.
I wasn't sure what the surfaces would be and so would have settled for anything under 2 hours. In the event I was just under 1:47, which equates to 8 m/m apart from the initial gradients.
Great course, really scenic and of course mostly gently downhill (and with a following breeze) so my time flatters me. Next year's upstream jaunt will methinks be a bit slower.
There seemed to be a mixup with the route in the first couple of miles, with the faster guys having to scrabble down a steep embankment to join the rest of us. From my mile times I suspect they took a roundabout detour rather than me taking a short cut. Also, there were a few mutters about the guy at the water station at about 8 miles, who was engrossed in his newspaper and not watching which way runners were going.
But all in all, for an inaugural staging I thought it went well. Big thanks to the organisers, who managed to handle the flooding problems and were highly communicative, including by showing up on this forum. Greatly appreciated.
My only, and minor, gripe is that although the memento was nice I do prefer a medal. But that's personal taste.
I'll be back next year.
