From Matthew Kennedy…

An old friend who lives in London suggested we run this race together, then when he had to pull out due to injury, I decided to make the journey south anyway, having never been to the Chilterns.

Starting at Berkhamsted Castle and finishing in Wendover, the route mostly followed sections of the Ridgeway on rolling, flinty paths. With a similar amount of climbing to the Rombalds Stride (about 3,300ft), spread over 50% more distance (almost 32 miles), the race was potentially runnable throughout, but an over-enthusiastic start left me nursing my legs and hiking some gentle hills towards the end.

In perfect cool, sunny weather, it was great fun nonetheless – the scenery rotated between open views, picturesque villages and bluebell woods (but with a noticeably different flavour to the Dales), and the logistics were spot on (thanks to organiser Runaway Racing and a small army of volunteers). All in all, definitely worth a look for anyone interested in running somewhere new, or on some flatter, faster trails.

Results

(1 Richard Loader 3h38)

13 Matthew Kennedy 4h31 (2nd MV50)

316 starters, 305 finishers