Over The Contours

Standing in the drizzle in the beautiful Knole Park, I wondered what on earth I'd been thinking. This was my first cross country since 2019, and I was a little nervous about my fitness levels. But needs must; I had been looking forward to the cross country series for some time, and had promised myself I'd get to at least four of the seven events in the KFL series. Knole Park kicked off the cross country season. Because of parking restrictions, there's a long walk from Sevenoaks town centre into the Knole Park estate. I walked in with a few other members of Thanet Road Runners, chatting about the rubbish weather and spotting deer roaming the parkland in its autumn colours. A decent turn out for Thanet Road Runners meant that we were in with a reasonable chance of scoring some points. I was under no illusions that I'd perform particularly well, but it was really good to be back out doing a cross country. The pre-race information included a rough map of the course. The sha...

Herbert Gatliff was one of the founding members of the Croydon YHA Group, founded in 1934. In 1984, to celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, the Gatliff 50k ultra marathon was organised. Now in its 35th year, the Gatliff 50k is still going strong. The course changes every year, but it broadly follows the same principle as it's always done; rural cross country around West Kent/East Sussex, multiple checkpoints and a time limit of ten hours. Participants can walk, jog or run...all for just a £10 entry fee. The route isn't marked, and written turn-by-turn instructions are provided on the day. Saying that, a sketch map is made available in advance and so I used this to familiarise myself with the route. Leg 1 Leg 1: Edenbridge to Toys Hill At around 8.25am I left Edenbridge Rugby Club and followed the directions out of the town, through the churchyard and into open fields. As I passed a number of other participants, I soon realised that I needed to reassess my finish time ex...