Wendover Woods is an amazing place to run in. It’s apparently the highest point of the Chiltern hills so you can get some breathtaking views amongst the trees. It’s also pretty hilly in places too. I’ve run parts of it during the Tring Ultra and really wanted to try one of the other running events that take place here, so I thought I’d give this marathon a go!
When I booked this I wondered how comfortable I would actually find it. The section we ran through in the Tring Ultra is mostly a steep uphill scramble to the top, so I was expecting this to be a very challenging course that I might struggle with if I wasn’t fit. I was feeling much more confident closer to the date after running a fairly competent Tring Ultra. I decided I would approach this marathon in a similar way to Tring, treating it like an ultra and keeping steady to begin with, walking the uphills, etc. Lorna and the girls are coming up too to do the Gruffalo Trail so it should hopefully be a nice family outing!
It was an early 8:30 start for the marathon runners (half marathons and 10k events started at 9:00 and 9:30) and we had a bit of a nightmare managing to get there. Despite having everything ready the night before and getting up early we still found ourselves running out of time while sorting ourselves and the kids out. It didn’t help when the satnav took us down a wrong path on the way to the car park and I didn’t help by getting worked up about being late. I was worried I’d be disqualified and really wanted to run this! I even ended up losing my phone in the car somehow and had to leave Lorna and the kids in the car park to make a dash for the start line.
I managed to get to the start about 5 minutes late, with not a runner in sight. To my relief the race director was totally fine with me starting late and gave me the race briefing while I pinned on my number and set off way at the back. To my surprise I started catching people after only a few minutes, and it wasn’t long before I felt like I was part of the run.
The marathon was four 10k loops around Wendover woods, with a kind of dogleg making up the distance. The beginning of each loop is all thankfully downhill, but there are a couple of steep climbs later on. Overall it was way more manageable than I expected and I was steadily making my way up through the field by the end of the first lap.
The 10k runners were just starting when I made my way past the start line for lap 2, and I caught up with Lorna and the girls at the cafe which was really nice after the rushed morning. Lorna was a star, she had the kids fed and happy and had also found my phone which was great because I wanted to take some photos of the amazing autumn scenery.
The first lap might have started off very lonely, but by lap 2 I was running along with hundreds of people starting their 10k race and joining the half marathon runners who had also set off after me. It stayed this busy for the next couple of laps as I continued to pass people on the way. I couldn’t resist taking some Jaffa cakes from the food and drink stations which were crunchy after being out in the cold air.
The last couple of laps were much more relaxed. By now the 10k runners would be finished, and it was mainly marathoners left. I’d settled into my place in the field, seeing the same runners around me a lot more. My legs were getting tired, especially on the hills near the end but I was still feeling quite strong. I even managed to lap some people I saw at the beginning (just before the eventual winner lapped me)!
I crossed the finish at 4 hours 21 which I really wasn’t expecting (I thought I’d be over 5 hours). I caught up with Lorna, Clara and Astrid and grabbed my medal for some photos with them. It was pretty cold by now and the girls were really ready to leave (I don’t blame them) so I got changed and we hurried back to the car to find somewhere to eat.
Starting late really wasn’t an issue in the end, and I’m really grateful that the event was so cool with it. This really was a fantastic, friendly event. All the marshals were amazing, especially encouraging at the harder bits, and the scenery is incredible at the time of year. I’ll definitely come back for this again, and would also like to try the centurion 50 mile race some time too.
