I’m never very good at motivating myself to get out and train, so a race around the village where we live seemed a good reason to actually go for a run on Saturday morning. The Seagrave Wolds challenge is 15.8 miles in length, mostly off-road, and runs in a big loop centred pretty much exactly on our house. There are up to 600 participants, and in true countryside fashion the proceeds go towards the upkeep of the village hall.

The landscape around us seems flat at first glance, but actually consists of rolling hills. It’s mostly farmland, with the noteable exception of the grounds of Prestwold Hall country house, including the race track on the old airfield. Registration began from 07:30, so I started the day in the way I imagine all athletes do; by waking up at 07:00 and having a 45 minute lie-in. Nevertheless, I arrived at the village hall in Seagrave in good time, and found lots of people looking very serious (and some vastly over-prepared!). It soon became clear that people had travelled from far and wide for this event, which made me wonder whether I’d bitten off more than anticipated. The runners started at 09:00 and I soon found myself being carried along in the throng out of the village hall gates.

After a short road section, the Mile 1 marker came up very fast. A check of the watch showed I’d managed a six-minute mile, raising the possibility of serious pacing issues. However, everyone else was also under the impression that the marker was a bit short, and my next ‘mile’ at the same pace worked out at about 8m 30s so I wasn’t too worried. The organisers had pointed out that the course was very muddy, but with plenty of rain overnight it really was both wet and sticky in alternating sections. My fell-running shoes did a good job of keeping me upright, but unfortunately kept being sucked into the mud. This resulted in some lacing issues from miles 2 to 5, as I kept having to tighten them to avoid leaving them behind in a muddy puddle somewhere.

Mile 5 brought us into our village, Burton on the Wolds, and the thought of being on home ground spurred me on. Trudging across familiar fields, we diverted from the normal dog-walking route into the grounds of the airfield briefly, before reaching checkpoint one in Hoton. A quick drink and a couple of Haribo set me off again, covering the next few miles without any major issues. Having crossed under a major A-road through a drainage tunnel on stepping stones made from breeze-blocks, we headed for checkpoint two in Wymeswold. Again, a 30s stop for some water and to grab a (large) handful of sweets, and I cracked on.

I reached mile 12 shortly after, and that’s when I began to feel the pain. The fields in this part of the world are possibly the stickiest known to man. The passing of feet before me had eased it a little, but it was still awkward. Heading towards the back of our house, I was having to put a bit more effort in. After the road crossing, I soon had to stop and walk. After 20s I got cross with myself for being weak and started running again. I reached half-marathon distance at just under two hours, which I was very pleased with given the ground conditions. However, the last two miles turned out to be purgatory. Two more big hills, and my quads were in agony. Again, I stopped and walked for 25s, before the possibility of being passed became apparent, and I forced myself on. The last 0.8 miles was a nightmare, and I was ready to drop as I entered the village and made my way towards the finish line. My feeling of general lethargy wasn’t helped by the person behind me putting on a big sprint over the last 200 yards to finish in front of me.

I crossed the line in 2h 23m, the last two miles evidently having taken around 25 minutes; a good indicator of how tired I was! According to the results sheet [edit: no longer available online], that also put me in the top 1/3 of the runners (106th out of 324). At the finish, there was plenty of soup and cake – the organisation in general was very good. I left feeling that I’d at least not disgraced Burton (our village), and it was obviously a good training exercise. Given the conditions, my aim was to finish in less than 2h 30m, so I achieved that. I also managed to run the whole lot with no stops longer than 20s and only walked for less than a minute, which felt like a real achievement as I’ve not done that before. I don’t think I’ll ever like running here as much as on mountains, but it’s a better way to spend a morning than lounging around in bed.