Forestry England Forest of Dean 10k 

As part of my half marathon training I’ve been taking part in some smaller races. They have been little confidence boosts, but also training runs with a perk. Who doesn’t love a medal?!

A few weekends ago and my second 10k race of the year brought me to the Forest of Dean. A cooler morning, autumn on it’s way, but it was bright and sunny too. It made for wonderful running conditions. Instead of carrying the world on my back, I decided to run this race with just my water bottle and some energy bloks (from Clif) and keep it light. I’d had a week of bad runs in the week before this race and was hoping it would help. Madly I had also run Maverick Somerset the day before, but that was only 4 miles!

We reached the start line, the temperature warmed slightly as we were all huddled. But before I knew it we were off on our way. A route I partly recognised from Dr W’s and I’s previous 9 miler together. This route is actually a way-marked 10k route from Mallard’s Pike Lake. If you want to run/walk it yourself you can! It’s pretty much all gravel track, a little tarmac, but nothing too crazy.

The route was definitely a bit hillier than I thought it would be, mostly all in the first half. It was a great challenge and I managed to run faster  (1:06:14) than my previous 10k at Cannock Chase in May. My half marathon training is definitely paying off here. Luckily most of the second half to the finish was downhill, which I quite enjoyed running down. Before I knew it I’d crossed the finish line by the lake and was picking up my gorgeous wooden medal to add to 2021’s collection.


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