Sunday 1st September was the date for the bbb10k (Battel bonfire boyes) set around the lovely Sussex town of Battle in 1066 country.
Arriving earlier for the start then ever before, namely as there was a kids run before hand and my girls were keen to be registered. Often the kids race takes place during the main event so it was lovely to watch them.
Soon after we were lining up. Set off by a starting pistol which frightened most of the unsuspecting crowd.
The route takes you up and down the high street, past the abbey and down powdermill lane. The road here had been recently tarmaced- the cheap stuff that left gravel and a 20 mph/h zone for a few weeks. This meant the you were okay if you ran in the tire tracks, but treacherous if you veered over. In fact a guy did so just in front of me. I helped him up, he was quite grazed, but determined to carry on. Luckily he was near the first water stop so was able to rinse the grazes and get some attention.
As for the water stops, they were advertised as 3k, 7k and at the finish. For the first stop my strava said 3k - no stop. My strava said 4k - no stop. 3km marker. Another 500m and the water stop appeared. I spent the rest of the race wondering if my phone was out, or the markers. I steeled myself for an extra km at the end.
The route itself takes a lovely loop around to lanes around Battle, with a couple of quite challenging hills. It is a nice friendly event.
Needless to say the markers were out which is a shame as it would've been better had they not bothered. But it was a nice run nonetheless.
If you fancy a pleasant but challenging 10k in lovely countryside I would recommend.
Still waiting for my official results though.
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Whatsapp
Half Marathon
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Lovely report, enjoyed reading it.The Brillant and the frustrating.You coped well with the surprises, that would have destroyed me.Perhaps not, knowing me I would probably had a ruck sack on my back.👊🤣🤣
Thank you. I think you get stronger at each event you do as you learn so much more. Fortunately it didn't mean another km, but I was prepared at least.
What a fab bit of bling! Very unusual, I love it. Sounds a lovely race, well done!
We visited Battle for the first time last year and did the tourist track which I loved. The area has great scenery so I’m sure your route was very pretty.
I did hear about the problem with the km markers, the lack of finish line and clock as it's a race in our club championship. It seems Nice Work were only responsible for the chip timings and everything else was done by the Bonfire Society this year hence the problems. Hopefully it will be sorted for next year as it sounds like a lovely race. Very well done to you and your daughters - lovely that you were able to watch them 😁
Yes a bit of a shame, but that is the payoff for smaller, local events I guess. The girls were up against some very serious little runners. It was great to see them all so keen though.
I don't think the organisation is usually as bad as it was this year. My friend reviewed the race on his blog and Nice Work contacted him very quickly to point out that they weren't responsible for anything other than timing this year. I think they're hoping to get back the race management next year - their races are usually very well organised so fingers crossed.
There are some very fast young runners out there - our fastest junior has a 5k best of 17:56 and he's only just 11!
I love watching all the kids run. It comes so naturally to them - most of them have form I would kill for no matter whether they're fast or not x
I didn't think it was that bad. I've certainly been to worse. It felt like a good atmosphere at the event. Just a few minor niggles. The worst imo being the markers. Fortunately I had my phone but if you were relying on them it would've been terrible.
I think I've probably been lucky with all the races I've done - no bad experiences so far. They had a problem with the results at the King's Head Canter this year as they were using a new system but it was all sorted by the evening and I knew my time from my watch anyway.
I'm definitely going to do this one next year as I do like a good atmosphere and the reports about that have all been great x
Hopefully you will find the GSR is well organised WhatsApp. It always looks so from the sidelines. I’m doing it this year too for the first time, along with a few others on here.
Well done WhatsApp, sounds like a lovely run despite a few annoyances! I had hoped this would be my first 10k this year since the HM in March but my hip/heel had other ideas. Maybe see you there next year!
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