I’ll be doing this race myself for the first time in 2025 so will offer more details afterwards.

It looks like a beautiful trail from the video on this page and comes highly regarded. With 306 metres of elevation it’s certainly not flat. So where are the hills.

The first few miles are uphill, Mile 4 being one of the toughest. 5 & 6 are downhill, whilst 7-9 are rolling, 11 is another tough one, but once you reach the top, it’s mainly downhill (still 1 more climb) to the finish.

For those of us who work in kms, the first 6 are uphill, 6 itself being the most challenging. Then there is 3kms of mainly downhill. 10-15 are rolling. 18 is one of the toughest, but once you get past that’s it mainly downhill to the finish.

Obviously the trails, the stiles, gates and underfoot conditions will slow you down. If you are racing the best you can probably hope for is someone close to your marathon pace. That’s around my target, but whether I can sustain that is to be seen.

It should be a very enjoyable race though. I’m looking forward to it.