A very challenging off road route where pace will vary a lot from one km to the next. In fact hiding your watch and focusing on effort level is probably the best approach here, but I will discuss my pace to help with strategy.

The only part of this course which can get muddy is through the woods, in the first km. So my advice would be head there for your warm up, just to check conditions, you might find trail shoes are needed for this section.

The route starts at the highest point with a little flat section before you head downhill, on quite a severe camber, so be careful, but if going for a quick time this is the opportunity to bank some seconds.

It gets narrow fairly quickly as well, so if you go off slowly, you might find yourself stuck behind runners in the narrow wooded section. This is the one race where a quick start is advised so you don’t then get held up early on lap 1.

Km 1 is 60 metres downhill and I found I did this at my 5k pace, being a little careful of my footing.

When you reach the bottom of the woods you take a U-turn, and are faced by a really short sharp hill. Walking this little section is probably a good strategy for when you reach the top as it flattens out. You then have a long gradual climb up the lighthouse cottages.

Your pace might be 2 mins per km slower up the hill than it was down the hill.

But if you’ve read this post, you know that will be the case, so keep going, focus on good form, relax the shoulders and stay tall. Try and find a rhythm with your breathing. The hill won’t last forever.

Grit your teeth as well. Show some determination. Fight. Care. Give a shit. Running is a great metaphor for life. When it’s gets tough, don’t give up, try harder, work harder, believe in yourself.

The year I ran my best race here, kms 2 and 3 ended up being marathon pace. Just after the cottages, for laps 1 and 2 you turn left, negotiating a tricky rocky section, so be careful, a few kissing gates, which are annoying, followed by a sneaky climb up the field towards the road.

At this point you’ll be working very hard, but with a flat and downhill section to come, a little walk to catch your breath, is a decent approach. There’s no point running to the top of that hill if you have nothing left when you get there and have to slow down along the flat to catch your breath.

How quick you run the flats and downhills will probably be more beneficial to your time than how quick you are uphill.

You then come back into the car park, complete lap 1 and repeat it two more times, albeit the last lap being shorter as you don’t turn left at the cottages.

The route itself measures 10.28km, so be prepared for an extra stint at the end. Good luck.