What a lovely morning I had! Arrived at the village in plenty of time to get organised - registered and got my number, visited the loos, took Squiggy for a stroll and got Canicross gear on. A small, locally organised event so not too busy and a lovely relaxed ‘fun’ atmosphere. We were given a talk by the organiser - he warned us about the long uphill section and rough terrain! Then we were off - some folk with doggies of all shapes and sizes, others without dogs. As we were warned the first part out of the village was steep (most walked) then a short forest section before a long, steep uphill 😬🥵I did manage a little jog! At the top (3km) there was a water station and the routes split. I followed the 10km route out on tracks through fields with great views. Most of the time I was running by myself trying to keep up with a couple of ladies ahead of me! Of course following others is not always the best idea - they went the wrong way and we wasted several minutes looking for the arrow to signal the way 😖 Several gates and more fields, running on the grass was hard work! Eventually I reached the trig point and the Marshall shouted - ‘go left, all down hill now!’ (7km). My pace picked up as we ran fast downhill through a grassy field - great fun! Then a forested part - watch out for roots and finally down a sting, rough track. I managed to keep running but really needed to concentrate. Squiggy has learnt to run to heel when we go down hill - good doggie 🐶. The last part of the route was past the church and through the village back to the start. I picked up the pace and gave a little sprint to the line, determined to get there before two other (younger) ladies with their dogs who were hot on my heels!! 😂.
Squiggy had a paddle in the river and then I had a cup of tea and delicious homemade carrot cake, made and served by local volunteers - yummy. All in all a great event and all that uphill must count as a good training run!
Dorset Ooser HM
