Greensands Marathon Race Report

What better way to spend a damp autumnal day than to go for a ramble in the woods?  The ramble in question was the Trionium Greensands Marathon in Surrey.  I set off nice and early Sunday morning so that I’d be in Dorking with plenty of time to collect my race number and get myself ready for the 10am start.  Once everyone had amassed at the race start there was a short briefing from the race organiser which was followed by everyone singing Jerusalem to a small gathering of onlookers.

Ready for action

The singing of Jerusalem before the start

At 10am we were set off and immediately had to climb the first hill of the day.  The Greensands marathon is relentlessly hilly.  None of the hills are that big, but there isn’t much that is flat.  As soon as we reached the top of the first hill we immediately started to descend again on a steep path covered in wet, slippery, fallen leaves that also hid numerous tree roots.  I almost slipped or tripped about three times in the first half mile.  This was an early indication of what the day would be like.

First hill of the day and into the woods

Once over the first hill we started a gradual ascent towards the foot of the next major hill and landmark on the marathon route, Leith Hill, at just over six miles.  Anyone not making it to the top of Leith Hill in 73 minutes were stopped and sent back to the finish, which was the fate of 12 runners this year.

Those who made it beyond Leith Hill had to tackle numerous climbs and descents on woodland trail to get to the turn around point.  In places the path was submerged under large puddles, in other places the mud would attempt to suck the shoes off your feet.  I had to tighten my trainers after almost losing them on one occasion.  The turn around point was a road cone in the middle of the forest at no particular landmark.

The half way point

There were many unavoidable puddles...

...and deep, sticky mud to pull off your trainers.

The out and back run meant seeing runners going the other way.

As I turned to head back home I realised I was far more knackered than I should have been at the half way point of a marathon.  The second leg was going to be tough.  Someone also seemed to have remodelled the landscape.  I thought the run from Leith Hill to the half way point had been fairly undulating on the way out.  On the run back there seemed to be far more up hill sections than I’d remembered.  I was reduced to a walk on climbs that would normally not have been a problem to run up.  It was a relief to get back to Leith Hill and to know that the next 5 miles would be almost all down hill at a shallow gradient.  Then there was just one last hill about half a mile from the finish.

Made it!

 

Just a little muddy

I reached the end muddy and knackered and in 12^th place overall in a time of 3 hours 47 minutes.  I was very happy with my result.

Race goodies at the end included a medal, mug and long sleeve technical T-shirt, which is very good for a fairly low key marathon with about 200 entrants.  A cooked breakfast was also laid on for all runners.

The only downside of the run is that I seem to have picked up an injury.  My right ankle has been in agony every since getting home Sunday evening.  I’m hoping it’s just a minor strain from the times that I almost twisted my ankle on tree roots.  I’m really hoping I can get out and run this weekend given that I’m supposed to be running the 88 mile Druid Challenge on the Ridgeway from Buckinghamshire to Wiltshire in about 3 weeks time.

(I've taken some photos from another blog, after first getting permission: http://kristhehungryrunner.wordpress.com/2012/10/21/race-report-greensands-marathon/#comment-382)