Battle Of Woodbury Common.
Hosted by Wild Night Events and based at Bicton College, The Battle Of Woodbury Common took place in the evening of the 2nd of March 2019. There were four races, a 1k for 3-7 year olds, a 2k for 8-11 year olds, a 10k and a half marathon.
The sun was sinking below the horizon, on a cold, windy, damp evening, with Storm Frayer threatening to blow up at any moment, five hardy Mighty Green’s got themselves prepared for what was to come. Just as the participants were gathering to do battle, the darkness descended upon the Common! At 19:00hrs the Half Marathon and 10k races were started from the helm of Uphams Plantation and Crook Plantation. The runners exited Bicton College along the back entrance and then skirted around the Castle Plantation. The half marathon adds on a section through Colaton Raleigh Common towards Hawkerland, making this battle similar to the Bicton Blister.
The route was hilly at the beginning, with very thick mud and some deep puddles in many places. There was also a lot of ducking and diving to miss low hanging and storm damaged branches. At the halfway point there was a very well stocked water station with fruit and jelly babies ,which helped the last leg of the race pass wonderfully. Laura Broughton, invited her friend Becky McDonald for an evening out… only telling her at the last minute that it was actually a 10k night run! Laura, Becky and, Terry Bewes all ran together. Emma Vine was using the race as a warm up for the London Marathon. Martin Truman took Stig his dog with him and ran the half marathon canicross. Stig was rewarded with two warm pasties for his part. Phil Welsford blinked at the wrong moment, missed a directional marker and ran extra distance totalling 15.6 miles!
A birch wood medal was given to all that completed, along with pasties and lots of cake at the finish line. A tough experience , with a great sense of achievement at the end.
SRC Results
In the Half Marathon, Martin Truman arrived back in 2h16m14s, with Emma Vine not far behind in 2h19m34s and 2nd in age group. Amazingly Phil Welsford who missed a directional marker, ran 15.6 miles and still arrived back 2h19m34s.
In the10k, Laura Broughton and Becky came back in 1h19m30s, and Terry Bewes in 1h19m39s giving him a 2nd in age group