Dorset Ooser Half Marathon

The races (a Half and Marathon) start from an ancient thatched barn in the historic tiny hamlet of Turners Puddle in the heart of Dorset.

The routes follows farm tracks, fields, trails that wind through ancient woodlands, old hidden trails following historic drovers routes, short road sections through picturesque hamlets with thatched roof cottages, managed woodland tracks and heathland.

Despite all that lovely countryside though this race is not a pushover. In the marathon there are 13 hills, around 1000m of elevation, a fair bit of mud, lots of stiles to clamber over and 2 fords. You can read Liz Halley’s race report from 2020 here. In the half marathon there is about 400m of elevation, mud, and about the same number of stiles but no fords. Plenty of variety to keep a runner entertained.

The Races are predominantly trail. The Marathon has a maximum of 3km (approx) in total of short tarmac sections, the longest being 1km. The Half Marathon has a maximum of 2.4km (approx) in total of short tarmac sections, the longest being 1.4km.

There is a generous 8 hour cut off time limit on the Marathon and a 4.5 hour cut off for the Half Marathon.

The organisation was very good. Detailed instructions were emailed together with OS maps to follow. Maps were not needed; the route was very well signed with lots of friendly marshals encouraging runners.

And most importantly… the refreshment and aid stations were very well organised. Spaced out about every 7km they had plenty of cake, drinks and encouragement. The finishers medal is a one off – see the photo. And after all the running there were lashings of home made cake and plenty of cups of tea at the finish!

Interested? Then find out more at The Dorset Ooser Marathon

Thanks to Helga Taylor for the report.