Beachy Head Marathon

Hills, more hills, steps and more hills. Where to start with this one? Firstly it really is a well organised and well-supported event. The marshals are as always, superb, offering encouragement when you most need a boost. The aid stations are stocked to the brim with everything you could ever want. In fact, I think you could possibly even put on weight doing this one rather than lose weight! So on to the run itself. I had no clue what I'd let myself in for when I entered. As trail marathons go, this one is a beast. Everything about the course will take every morsel of energy you have and still want more. It starts as it means to go on, uphill. But with every uphill, there are the downhill moments, which are often harder when your legs are not your own and feel like jelly. The terrain is also very challenging. A bit boggy in places, but generally ok as it's chalk. But it is very rutted in places so not easy on the feet. There are a lot of runners on quite a narrow trail, so it's difficult to get clear space and get into a rhythm with your pace. If you had it in you to get a good time on a course like this you would need to ensure you started at the front of the pack. There are no mile markers which makes it difficult to know where you are with distance, but there are checkpoints at roughly every 4 miles, so you do see a bigger leap in the distance you've traveled, which is actually quite a boost. The first half is relentless hills, somewhere along there are 2 sections of horrible steps, can't quite remember where. At the turning point, 12ish miles in, there is a brief respite from the hills but not long before you're climbing again. The last few miles back into Beachy Head are very challenging, lots of short sharp hills that will leave you wanting to cry, before you finally head back down the hill towards the finish. On the plus side, the scenery is epic. Not for the faint-hearted, but a jolly good course all the same. Glad it's done though.