chateaux we collected our samples and carried on running with them but we lingered at the chateaux that served the wine in proper glasses. I tried to keep track of each chateaux and remember the names of samples I liked but it all became a bit of a blur

-marathon makes it a great family event, with both races starting at the same time. Race website: www.omdiedam.co.za Two Oceans Marathon 56K & Half-Marathon (March/April) 2009 Date: April 11The Two Oceans Marathon claims to be the world’s most scenic race

race in Cambridgeshire'.Each lap of this road race means another chance to see the inspiring views of the Fenland countryside from the summit of the course's 'big hill'.This UK Athletics bronze-graded event comes with supervised bag storage, tidy

the train on foot means taking on more than 14 steep and muddy miles of roads, fields, hills, stiles, tracks and agricultural land. Book family and friends on the return train journey for support, encouragement – and witnesses to your feat!With over a

the backlight on my Garmin (if indeed it even has a backlight – I still don't know). Instead I'm running along holding my wrist up to the streetlights, desperately trying to track my pace. Then there are no more streetlights. Approaching the first drinks

, Surrey Hill (Berkshire, May 31) Push yourself to the limit by tackling mud, hills and bogs galore in this extreme off-road event.   City of Manchester 10K, July 5 Filling Up Fast…Birmingham and Black Country Half-Marathon (July 4

organisers promise an even better course - get ready for woodland trails, plenty of mud, steep and narrow tracks plus a tour of the Eridge Estate Deer Park, an ancient Saxon fort, Victorian follies, springs and a loop of the local fishing mecca, Furnace Pond

of the group before we had to line up on the running track for the start.Before the event I'd promised to try to help DawnM finish in under 4 hours. ICRAM caught onto this in the forum thread and it wasn't long before I had a group of people threatening

, sand and intensity of the MdS, but smart training will get you as close as possible. Nail down a long-term training plan and sign up for an ultra or two (there are a growing number of multi-day stage races on our events listings). For a pre-race multi

.Soon we’re guided onto one of the undulating scorched-earth tracks that will form nearly half of the course. A riverbed running alongside looks the way the insides of our mouths feel by now. The surface of cracked mud and smooth white stones is bone dry