driven over those many times, going to have to check out this run for next year!

@MobyCarp - You can buy you own bling with that.

@silverfiend - Congrats!

Sunday was the Bovington Marathon and Half Marathon, a bit of an experiment as it was an attempt to use Ministry of Defence training area for the races. So 360 runners in the marathon and 550 in the half. A considerable amount of effort had gone in over the year to make this work, and whilst the MoD do work to make the training areas accessible to the public, there are some areas where that's hard work. This was a good example of that, with Bovington being the Armour Centre, where we train phase 2 and 3 soldiers either in the Cavalry or the Royal Tank Regiment, and the various supporting arms. That makes it normally closed to the public. There is always a risk of last minute cancellation with MoD land, but that's mitigated by this being a school, so the training use is better forecast.

The camp is the home of the tank, having been established in the 19th Century as an Infantry garrison, during the First World War it was identified as the garrison of the Heavy Section of the Machine Gun Corps, essentially the force element responsible for operating the earliest tanks. It's been the garrison ever since.

Personally I'd entered the Half, as when places came open on 1 Jan I wasn't entirely convinced I'd want to do a fourth marathon this year. In practice that was probably best, after the Clarendon Marathon in October I've generally been a bit run down, so this was never going to be pretty.

The key point from the race briefing was not to pick up anything metallic, in case it blew up.

A foggy start as we dropped into heathland to the south of the garrison camps, on a nice forest track, broken with a few knee deep, cold puddles. That lead to a long, slow climb to the West of the camps, rising through woodland. These areas are used to train wheeled vehicles or light recce vehicles. Breaking through the treeline the terrain changed significantly, the area used for the heavy armour, with bigger roads, deep mud and much clearer skies. This area was hard going, it had been heavy rain for several days before the race, meaning that the ground was saturated.

The route then led back down into the tree line, and whilst it was a long descent, there were a fair number of quite steep climbs in there as well. Getting back into the forestry meant firmer going, but a number of very deep streams to get through.

We finished under the barrel of a Challenger Mk1.

Personally I found it pretty tough, as my training hadn't been on form since Clarendon. That said, it was a good race. Great to get onto an area normally closed to the public, and as ever with White Start Running events some very friendly runners. Few people are chasing times, and most see these races as an opportunity for a bit of fun.

I used my Inov-8 Mud Claw 300s for this one, which I found was the right choice. The terrain was very soft, and the traction really helped.

Anyway, the bling... It's massive!

@MobyCarp Awesome trophy.

Thanks to DayQuil and Halls cough drops, I finished 24th out of 357 for the New Year 5K today. It was good for 4th in my age group. Had I run the same speed as my Thanksgiving Day 5k, I would have won my age group. Oh well, at least I didn't cough up a lung.

Time 24:13

Award Placement Ages 45-49 Males 4 of 19
Overall Place 24 of 357
Overall Males 20 of 142
Ages 45-49 Males 4 of 19
Males 47 1 of 5

Good for you Moby, 1st in your group is a great result. Cold and windy runs suck, so congrats for getting out there and doing it! Love the hat and bling, they look great.

lporter229 wrote: »

@Wendy98- Wow...first in AG at a race the size of Disney is pretty spectacular. Especially with photo ops! And I love your headband!

Thanks! I enjoyed the experience. I am trying to decide if I am finished with the WDW Marathon or if I have more to do. I think I want to go back and compete hard. I hate to say it, but I got passed by two women in the last .25 mile. At the time I didn't care, but now it is bugging me to no end!

MobyCarp wrote: »

Pineway Ponds 5 mile, a.k.a. Freezeroo #3, was today. Ran it in 33:41.577, for 19th of 153 overall and 1st of 11 in the M 60-64 age group. Would have been 18th, except the 1st Under 19 M was able to blow past me like I was standing still in the last 200 m. This is not a PR, but is a respectable 5 mile race result for me. We had good weather for January, but 23º F (-5º C) is cold enough to merit the Freezeroo name.

No bling for the low budget race, but this makes 3 age group wins in the first 3 races of the Freezeroo series. Series results are based on best 4 races of the 6-race series, with a complex point system. I'm in good shape to win the age group for the series, which might not get me anything but bragging rights.

That is what it is about, right? Unless you're making l a living out of it.

Very well done, Sir!!!

Chevron Houston Marathon on Sunday. My first marathon. Hot conditions for January....mid to high 60's with 100% humidity, plus rain and gusting winds. Finished in 5:32. Haven't seen full stats to know my standing and all. I under-trained for this and with the humid conditions, I was just happy to finish my first one.

Also ran the ABB 5K the day before in 31:38, which was just a warm-up. Double medal award for that.

Ran my first official 10K this weekend. Chip time was 44:56, which earned me 2nd in my age group, 10th female, 32 of 537 overall and a PR. Sadly, there was no bling, only bragging rights. There was also some concern about the course measuring short according to Garmin. In all likelihood, the course was accurate and the Garmin discrepancy is due to the majority of the first mile being through a tunnel, but it's still always a little bothersome when your Garmin data doesn't support your race PR