If you prefer your Half Marathons farmyard fresh, with rolling English countryside to keep your mind (and body) amused instead of dull suburban roads, and if you like to have room to run, then Horton in the South Gloucestershire is the place to be for the Hogweed Hilly Half Marathon.
Hosted by the Hogweed Trotters, the first attempt at staging a Half marathon appeared to be flawless. The race pack included personalised baggage ticket, a map with some pictures of what we might expect to see during the race and a course profile which left the runner in no doubt about the hills that lay ahead.
The course is testing and not for the faint-hearted but if you enjoy going up and down (and in Hogweed country what goes up most certainly does go down in equal measure) then it’s worth a try. The first testing climb comes in the second mile, after which the course undulates until miles 7 to 9 when Kilcott has to be overcome. Kilcott is a hill that never seems to end - it just goes on and on and on - with a nice dogleg in the middle to tease you into thinking that you’re approaching the summit when in fact you still have ½ mile more to climb. But from there the final 4 miles are almost all downhill and if the road surface is dry you can make up some time and some places. There’s one more climb in the 12th mile before a last long downhill all the way to the finish.
101 runners enjoyed the first running of the race, which was blessed with lovely running weather. The marshals were friendly and supportive throughout, the route well marked, and with 4 drink stations en route we had enough to drink.
There were plenty of prizes (certificate, trophy and bottle of wine) for the leading runners, some spot prizes and a special trophy (and wine and certificate!!) for the 100th finisher. The goody bag included some useful gel and powder and best of all a Hogweed Hilly Half ski hat, and there were plenty of rolls, sandwiches and cakes available to buy before and after the event. (Rich Kenington)
THE DATE FOR THE 'HOGWEED HILLY HALF III' IS SUNDAY 11TH MARCH 2007.
