Heritage Coast Marathon Walk

Richard Fellingham ventured out onto the marathon sporting a hat that looked like it was straight from the Foreign Legion. Les Basham and I completed the half/fourteen miler in about 1hr 57 minutes. Anne Fellingham, Jane Fellingham-Boyce, Linda Steward and Jan Starmer ran the six miler. I wonder why more from Striders don't go as these are excellent races, there's a distance for everyone, they are well organised and in a superb location.

All the races run from Thorpness. The six miler takes a circuit through country lanes and footpaths out towards Sizewell. The half and full marathons run up the coast, through the dunes past Sizewell and on along the cliffs at Dunwich where they head inland through country lanes and woodland. The marathon carries on through the countryside to the north before heading back to rejoin the fourteen mile route for the last five miles. The last three or four miles, where both runs rejoin the six mile route, are through narrow footpaths and sandy tracks, very hard at the end of a half marathon and harder still at the end of a marathon.

It was a very how day and the run along the dunes in full sun with the breeze behind us was very hot. Richard's hat would have been useful. We took advantage of any shade that was offered.

The half marathon course was absolutely gorgeous, it's not somewhere you'll do a particularly good time but as a run it can't be beaten. I'll let you have the times when I get them but to be honest time was not an issue.

Chris Gladwell