This weekend saw the return of the legendary White Star Running Giants Head and Sydling Hill race weekend, back after a covid break since 2019. Everything about this event is big, the welcome of the village of Sydling St Nicholas, the frequent and steep hills, the monstrous post-race ice creams and most of all the Cerne Abbas Giant’s ‘best feature’, a spinning version of which features on the medal.
As befits a popular local race we had a good turnout across the marathon and Sydling Hill 10k events. A hilly half dozen took on the marathon. Simon Denson was first back in 4h16m, followed by some precision running by Scott Weetch to cross the line 2 seconds under the 5-hour mark. Next back was Rob Harris whose local knowledge of the hills took him round in 5h23m despite his training being cut short. The next pair to secure the legendary finishers’ medal were Mercedes Thorne and Jules Griffiths-Jones in 5h57m followed by White Star event regular Rob Murr in 6h45m.
The Sydling Hill 10k, which starts 90 minutes after the marathon and benefits from the combined supporters for both events, had seven from the club taking part. First back and securing an early position in the ice cream queue was Vicky Hanna in 1h24m with Duncan Gordon less than a minute behind. Rachel Reid also ensured she was back before there was any risk they were out of sprinkles in 1h45m. The next four crossed the line in pairs – Kirsti Nelson and Sarah Reed in 1h59 and Suzanne Templeman and Lisa Windsor in 2h3m.
Dorset has some decent hills, but if you want mountains then Wales is the best local option, and as a result it receives visits from club members several times a year. This weekend Sam Wharton and Mark Wilson took on the Trail Events Co Black Mountains Marathon, which comes complete with 3 bonus miles taking the total to just over 29 miles. Not content with over-delivering on distance, somehow they’ve managed to cram 7000ft of climbing into the race as well. Sam and Mark finished together in 7h23m in what was very much a test of endurance to complete the route, and determination to make it through the weather, which treated them to horizontal hail storms.
Tracy Marshall headed over to Lacock in Wiltshire for a Relish Running 10k which she completed under the hour in 59m42s.
Sandra Moffat took part in the Montane Summer Spine race along the Pennine Way, covering a ridiculous 145 miles before retiring, but I’m sure she will be back for another go!
parkrun saw a good attendance of 23 RFRCers at Longrun Meadow, and UK-based tourists roamed as near as Exmouth, Killerton and Weymouth, and as far as Greenwich. By far the most exotic destination, and also trickiest to spell, was Speyer Leinpfad on the banks of the Rhine in Germany.