Ahhh, race day! It had finally arrived. My last few weeks worth of training all lead up to this, I was feeling excited! The hour was early when my alarm went off and I got up, the race didn't start till 10:00am but I had a 2 hour drive before that so I grabbed some breakfast and packed my gear into my bag and set off to pickup the car I would be driving for the day.

I was heading towards Landsdowne Racecourse near Bath in the Cotswolds for the latest event in the Maverick Original series. I had done a couple of their previous races before and I've always thoroughly enjoyed them, they're well organised and are set in some stunning locations in and around the country, this one was no exception. I absolutely love the Cotswolds, and although it was maybe a bit further than I would usually go it fit nicely within my timeline and was totally worth it.

I arrived shortly after 9:00am and after a quick toilet break I headed to the registration tent to collect my race number and prepared myself for the race. Just before 10:00am they called us all to the start line, it was at this point I began to wonder what I had let myself in for! But I didn't have too much time to dwell on it, the race briefing was over and the start bell was tolling and we were off. It was at this point I think I made my first mistake, caught up in all the excitememt and the rush of bodies I got swept along with everybody else and started too quickly, way too quickly! My watch registered a sub 7 minute kilometre, I was going to pay for that later. Luckily the course split very soon after the start, at Maverick races they have 3 race lengths, a short (the one I was doing), a middle and a long, and I settled in to a slower pace but it was still faster than I was used to. I found latching on to a group in front of me helped to keep me focused and sustain my pace. With the blistering pace I quickly reached 1km, as marked by the buzz of my watch, the 2km mark passed by shortly after, despite the heavy breathing due to the fast start I was feeling good, a water and refreshment stop presented itself at this point too but it was too early in the race for me to stop, a bit further into the race and it would have been welcomed. Over the next few kilometres I stayed within touching distance of the person in front of me using them as motivation to keep pushing as we passed through fields and farms, along single file footpaths and crossed country lanes, there were even some cheerleaders in the form of onlooking cows, no doubt wondering what was going on as we dashed by! The terrain was forunately fairly flat on our course but the long grass was tough going and took it's toll, the gates as well proved difficult, having to stop to pass through and then trying to restart again on the other side, and there were a number of gates! The views we passed though were spectacular and I could have easily just have stopped and sat and stared at them for the rest of the day, this is one of the reasons I like trail running and the Maverick series. However, the race needed to be finished and as I entered the last kilometre it definitely felt the hardest, with my brain finally registering that my legs were sore and tired I entered the racecourse enclosure and the finish line was within reach, I just needed to keep my legs moving. The short grass of the course made it easier as I followed the perimeter, the last thing I needed to do now was stop, so having to duck under the barriers of the course wasn't ideal but the marshal standing their cheering me on helped! The home stretch was now in front of me and I could hear the finish line bell, just a last dash down the final straight and I crossed the line! The timer had ticked just over 44 minutes but that didn't matter, I had finished and that's what counted.

What a feeling crossing that finish line was though, it made it all seem worthwhile, and as I was handed my finishers medal I couldn't help but smile despite the weariness. And as I was sitting there recovering and eating a large rocky road slice I'd just brought I couldn't help but wonder what was next...!?