Magnificent Eastnor Castle 7 – 10/4/11

Last year the Magnificent 7 trail race was held on a beautiful sunny day and this years race was no exception. After registering, I was tipped off by Cliff Berry that there were a few boggy bits but nothing too concerning. Road shoes it was!

Red vest on, I met up with Tri Club’s Andy Taylor for the warm up, having both done the race last year we decided to do the first mile and half to familiarise ourselves with what we were in for, back to Race HQ with 10mins to go, where I was greeted with a smiling Jon Pullen.

One blast from the starting horn and we were off, I held back to about 15th for the first half mile, to suss out the pack and let JP go in the mean time. First hill after .75miles sorted out who was to become a threat and who wasn’t. First mile done in 6.29 and I was up to 9th. Second mile completed in 6.25, and now 7th, I could see JP with 2 other runners, the gap stayed the same for another half a mile untill we began climbing. One runner in the group couldn’t handle the Muddy Woody Champion’s pace and soon lagged behind, he now became my target and I closed him down gradually and passed him after 4 miles. I remained 6th for the rest of the race, unable to catch up with my Blue vested friend who finished 5th after loosing out to a Mercia Fell Runner.

Course conditions identical to last year, I finished the Mag 7 in 44mins 47secs, 2mins 18secs quicker than last year.

Fellow Couriers were Alison Cooke and Neil Lewis.

For those that are interested click here for my Garmin readout… http://connect.garmin.com/activity/78294478 

Easy week now to wind down and prepare for the duathlon next Sunday,

See you at the 5km

Eliot #