Chedworth Roman Trail 10 Miles, report by Al Graham
As I sit here in 23C blazing sunshine, it seem hard to fathom that less than a week ago I was lining up to start the Chedworth Roman Train race with blue fingers and chattering teeth. The wind was biting, and the hills looked formidable, but the race delivered everything it promised – and to be honest I wouldn’t want to race 10 miles over terrain like that in weather like we are experiencing this Easter weekend. The most important thing to mention about the Chedworth race was the star quality of the marshalls. Despite the cold wind, I’m pretty sure that every single one of them cheered on the runners, offering hearty support all the way round the course. And the clarity of instruction was also great to hear – no one was going to go the wrong way on this trail run! Earlier than I expected, at around the 8km mark, we had a river crossing to make – bringing back ‘happy’ memories of Ascott cross country! This meant kilometers 9 and 10 were a bit of a challenge with heavy feet, but we were then rewarded with a further two kilometers of flat terrain (bliss!). I had a strong finish (for me), picking off those runners that I could see ahead of me in the final straight kilometer of road running and I put that squarely down to Ian’s Tuesday night sprint sessions (it might have taken four years of attending those sessions but it’s finally paid off and I knew I could have a fast finish this time!). If you fancy a spring challenge next year then this is a good one to run.
