RACE RUNDOWN: Wiltshire 10

I entered the Wiltshire 10 as it is a perfect spring half marathon training run. It takes place every year in the middle of February and is a great local organised event.

Starting in the King George V playing fields in Melksham, you head out on a very pretty, scenic route. It starts off relatively flat and you spend the first couple of miles running down some winding country lanes. Traffic isn’t closed off for the event but as it is a quiet area, there aren’t many cars about but you do need to be on high alert for any that come careering around the corner. There are also plenty or marshals along this part who are on guard to warn runners of cars approaching (and vice versa).

After this you carry on through some undulating areas before arriving in the quaint village of Lacock (where I believe parts of the first Harry Potter movie was filmed!). There were a great bunch of crowds at this point cheering you on, which was fab as we had reached the half way mark at this point. 

(Lacock Village)

Next, you do head up a small, steep hill but nothing too challenging before ending back up on the bendy country lanes heading back on yourself to the King George V playing fields. I actually liked this part of the course as it gave me a good gage for how long I had left and determined whether I could start to push the pace. The very last mile of the race is along the River Avon, which leads up the playing fields where a good, straight sprint finish awaits!

The capacity for this race is very small (when I ran there was around 200 participants) so I would recommend getting in quick when entries open, which I think is late summer. This does come with pros and cons. The positive side is that you aren’t sandwiched into large groups all pushing and shoving but the downside is that it is quite a lonely run – I ran mostly by myself.

Overall, I would highly recommend the Wiltshire 10 and I will definitely try to return in 2015. I loved the whole experience and the course was varied, scenic and not too challenging. You also get a finishers mug at the end (because you can never have too many mugs!). My only niggle would be the toilet situation. There weren’t many as they only open those available in the playing fields hall so I did have to wait in a big queue for a while. But I can safely say that everything else adds up for this.

RACE OVERVIEW

Course: 5/5

Scenery: 5/5

Facilities: 2/5

Water Stations: 5/5

Medal & goody bag: N/A

My time: 1.23 (Feb 2013)

LIPSTICK RUNNER'S OVERALL RATING: 4/5

Find out more information about Wiltshire 10 HERE.


Lipstick Runner.