Forest of Dean Spring Trails

We had an impressive Allrunners turnout for the Forest of Dean Half Marathon which took place on Sunday 24 March.  There were 11 of us – Mel Niven, Tina Cutler, Debbie Bullock, Julia Ruggles, Stuart Sharland, Rachel Pearce, Liz Richards, Fran Hill, Andrea &Mick Playle and Marica Gonsalves-Thompson.

We arrived in a number of car shares Tina, myself and Debbie being kindly chauffered by Ian, Tina’s Partner.  Ian popped up along the course to support us, looked after our bags and gave us lots of encouragement and post running tips. So many thanks to him.

The race headquarters is a lovely open space by Speech House which provided all the facilities needed – car parking, quick registration, plenty of toilets and good refreshments for afterwards.  There were nearly 1800 runners supporting the Forest of Dean Rotary Club .

It was a beautiful sunny day, perfect for a Spring run around the forest.  The course is undulating and harder than a flat road race.  But the paths were wide and not at all muddy. It was well-marshalled. There were 3 water stations – definitely needed and some jelly babies available en-route.  Towards the end of the race we seemed to run past a rave with very loud music which I found quite motivating.  We had some good running times with a PB by Mel Niven – maybe some other PBs?  Tina Cutler pipped me to the post by 5 seconds – well done her. 

After some coffee and cakes and a rest in sunshine we all headed home.  The race was very well-organised, beautiful scenery and good value for money. 

If you are inspired – you don’t have to wait until next year as there is a Forest of Dean Autumn Half Marathon which takes place on Sunday 29 September or wait until the spring for Forest of Dean Spring Half Marathon in 2020