3rd September 2006
I discovered this fine race by chance last year after we’d planned a family holiday in Swanage. This year I managed to persuade the family that we needed to stay in Dorset a couple of days longer to fully explore the Jurassic Coast and just happened to end up back in Corfe Castle.
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The 2005 race was run in blazing hot sun but with low cloud and gale force winds this turned out to be a rather different Beast altogether. We parked up in a damp field and the wind howled around us. Like cross country in December nobody wanted to leave the car. Except me.
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My wife, Catherine, peered out, winced and said: “But do you really want to do this. How far? Fourteen miles. In this weather. I’d just be thinking oh no …”
In fact I was thinking “Fourteen miles of cross country and cliff top trails, exciting racing, oh yes, oh yes, now move out of the way so I can get my trail shoes on …”.
Among the 500 runners there seemed to be a fair mix of both these sentiments as we lined up for the start. It is a big local challenge race but had attracted a smattering of fell-running holidaymakers from as far away as Wreake and Pudsey & Bramley.
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We all ran off down the hill, looped back up towards the castle, waved goodbye to the cheery supporters and headed off into the misty Purbeck hills. I settled into about 6th place resisting the temptation to lash of with the leaders. Last year I’d seen the early leaders gradually tire and come back towards me as the inclines increased. A sensible tactic but unfortunately this year the first 2 disappeared faster than you could say Mike Halman and would continue to finish over 3 minutes ahead of the rest of us. As we scrambled up stony paths through the woods and out over open common I gradually clawed my way through the chasing group up into 4th place.
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After 6 miles we joined the long chalk track leading out to St Alderns Head. In theory this is flat, fast and a rare opportunity to build up some pace but the gusting headwind made it feel like hill reps. Turning on to the cliff top path the wind was so strong that I was repeatedly buffeted to a standstill. Fortunately the wind direction was mostly away from the cliff edge. The cloud was down hiding the spectacular views, so deprived of sight seeing, I pressed on into 3rd place.
The high cliffs are broken in two places and the resulting steep steps are a feature of the race. I slithered down the first set and improvised a fell runners stride up the other side. Up the longer flight of 70 steps above Chapmans Pool, bent as low as Joe Nuttall, I chewed on an energy sweet and glanced behind. Unbelievably 4th place was running up the steps and had caught me by the top.
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The wind now veered behind us as we joined the ridge path leading inland. Still battling for 3rd, I repeatedly caught up on the downhill only to lose the advantage struggling over slippery stiles. Finally Corfe Castle loomed out of the mist and we chased up across the common and in to the finish. I tried to sprint but that part of my legs had been left somewhere on the cliff steps and I trotted in 4th.
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http://www.explorethesouthwestcoastpath.co.uk/swanage_chapmans36.html
This link shows the terrain – we ran along the cliff tops inland then back up onto the highest ridge.
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4 Rob Downs 1:25:46
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Full results at http://www.pooleac.co.uk/infopage.asp?infoid=231