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The weather turned out perfect, sunny but not too hot with a pleasant light sea breeze. And there was a real bonus at the start (in Swanage), when we walked up the first steep two-thirds of the path to the cliff top, leaving just a small incline to run up. I had thought we started on the sea front! Progress was slow for the first four miles along the coastal path, with the queues forming for stiles, kissing-gates and muddy patches meaning we spent a fair time walking. No bad thing. At 5 miles the route cuts inland for the first real hill up to the picture-book village of Worth Matravers. Everyone walked the steep second half of the hill. Then on to Kingston at mile 9 – miles 7, 8 and 9 were the only three in the entire run that were under 10 minutes for me. At 15 miles is the deserted village of Tyneham, taken over “temporarily” by the War Office in 1943, and never given back to the 200-odd residents. The photo shows the bottom of the descent from the cliff top. Notice the large group of Plymouth Brethren out for a walk in the background. The are stopped waiting for a herd of cattle to pass by. We didn't wait: the last cow has just passed out of the picture to the right. Ahead of us is the last (thankfully) of about a dozen stiles on the course. There are no brass bands on this marathon but there's still plenty going on! You walk from Tyneham up to the inland ridge, which then gently rolls its way towards Corfe Castle, with magnificent views of the sea to the right and Poole Harbour to the left. Then steeply down to Corfe, and a less steep walk back on to the ridge the other side of the valley. This is mile 22, and at the point where the gradient lessens I started to run again, stopping after about two paces because both of my calf muscles were screaming “NO”. I could walk (slowly) but any attempt to increase speed or run resulted in immediate cramps. I walked the next two, slightly uphill, miles – not a happy chappy. I had been worried about the final long, steep downhill off the ridge, but this turned out to be a respite as my quads were still willing to do some work! Along the sea front to the finish. My chip time was 5:34:18, but who cares. I was 211th out of 299 finishers, out of a limit of 450 entrants. It's a lovely, small, friendly event which I highly recommend, though I don't think I'll be doing it again. Maybe I would, with more training, if I could find someone to promise the same weather. John
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