Buntingford 10

It looked as though it was going to be a cold, wet race, like last year, but by the start time of 10:30 am the rain had stopped, it was rather mild, and just right for a nice run after all the Christmas food and drink.

Organised by Royston Runners, with race HQ at the local College, you couldn’t hope for a more comfortable base, with hot drinks and cakes for sale, plenty of toilets and a warm place to sit and socialise.  Perhaps this was why it was chosen to incorporate the Herts Vets Road Running County Champs and the British Masters Athletics Road Running Champs, as well as the presentation of prizes.

With just under 500 competitors, 14 of us from BDAC, it felt like a Midweek Road Race! Most runners were from local clubs, but we saw a few from Ealing, Norfolk, Southampton and more.  We thought perhaps the Championships had drawn the better ‘age category’ runners from near and far.

The first couple of miles are within Buntingford. They are ‘undulating’ (and hard work!). Then you head out into the countryside. At the village of Westmill, 4 miles in, you begin a mile uphill until reaching the top at Cherry Green. More undulations follow until a second peak at 6.5 miles.  Then it’s all downhill on roads through the fields, circling back to Westmill and a similar route home to Buntingford, with about three-quarters of a mile uphill near the finish.

The roads were quiet but not closed, with plenty of fantastic marshals controlling the situation and encouraging everyone.  But it had been very wet, and the peace of the countryside was broken now and then by screams from unfortunate runners, soaked by cars going through huge puddles!

Calvin Wu topped the list for Barnet with a super-fast time, and congratulations are due to Paul Bassa, who took 2nd place in MV60 British Masters Champs and 2nd place in the Herts Vets County Champs! The winners of each category seemed to have very fast times, as I suppose you would expect in a Championship race, and we didn’t win any more medals.

Our women were led home by the ever-reliable Davina Gutteridge, closely followed by Annabelle White who had a great run and is clearly returning to top form. All Stags ran well and are to be congratulated for turning out during the Festive period.  

We all went away pleased with our personal achievements, and it was a lovely morning out. Well done to those who drove carloads of BDAC up North for a thoroughly enjoyable race! Royston Runners must be congratulated for their superb organisation and hospitality.