Broadway Half and Marathon
If you haven’t done a trail half or marathon, please do try it. They are so much fun….why? No pressure, beautiful countryside, chatty runners….need I go on?
Having had a disastrous road marathon, this was my opportunity to ‘redeem’ myself and to check out the hip. Registration for the marathon was early as we were starting at 8.15am and the half was starting at 9.30am. This is a small race, so there was adequate parking, toilets and room to move around at the race HQ. We had to have a full kit check, including first aid kit, whistle and emergency blanket.
The start of the race was in the centre of town, and Jo and I walked up with Lizzie, who was waiting for the half to start. The first mile was straight up – no joke, 1,000ft in 2 miles. By the time we got to the top, to Broadway Tower I told ‘speedy’ Jo to go on ahead of me. Unfortunately, the tower was covered in scaffolding and sheets. However, the view from the top was still good.
We then proceeded towards Broadway Woods and Snowshill. I was a little disappointed that there were a few sections that covered quite a bit of road, particularly when there are some nice trails around that area. From Snowshill we carried on down into Stanway, where the half marathon route would circle round back to Broadway. The route for the marathon is a Figure of 8.
We then headed towards Hailes, eventually ending up in Winchcombe, and taking the trails to Sudeley. Again we were on roads rather than trails through most of the estate. Once we reached the top (again some terrific views), we then looped on back towards Farmcote, Hailes Wood and then Stanway to then cross over seriously undulating fields back to Broadway.
I should point out that the weather conditions were just right, and the ground underfoot was good, except for the last mile. There was mud, quite a bit of it, and yes, I did fall in it!
The marathon was very well signposted and they had well stocked checkpoints. What more could a trail runner ask for?
I was delighted to get back to Broadway, having completed the marathon with no hip issues. Jo was already there having finished about 30 minutes ahead of me – very well done!
I’d definitely recommend this race – you can find out more at https://cotswoldrunning.co.uk/