Weekends are normally reserved for club runs and are a great social event, though this weekend with the canicross season well on the way a number of us had decided to run in the Southern Multisports 11k 12km at Coombes Farm.
This race was an intimate affair with only around 40 runners for the 11k trail and 20 for the Duathlon though there were no canicrossers brave enough to mix in the Bikejour as well.
After a 5 minute briefing we all lined up ready for the off, as with any race it is always a busy time and with no staggered start for the canicrossers, as ever being mixed in with all the runners can make it a little tricky but the start went well and the main pack was lead up the hill by one of the canicross runners with a 2 dog team.
Once the running pack had thinned and started to spread out the race used a number of tracks and trails around Annington Hill and Steep Down which really does live up to its name. The course varied from thin chalk paths, wide access trails and open fields and having rained it was quite slippery under foot even with trail shoes which added to an already challenging route. It was well marshalled but the wind had turned a number of the course pointers making it somewhat confusing at times but easy enough to work out with all our runners coming home safe and sound.
One unfortunate oversight was a number of cattle grids where the animal gates had not been unlocked or in a couple of cases untied which made life a bit difficult for a number of us with larger dogs something which is worth remembering to check at other events in the future.
Once home we were rewarded with a nice medal and a BBQ hamburger which was well received.
Congratulations must go to Gary Moxon and Claire Spencer for coming in first in the Male and Female class with their pooches as well as being first male and female over all.
Congratulations to everyone for a great effort!
