Hatton 5 mile multi-terrain

Sometimes it's a refreshing change to get away from the high-profile events and take part in smaller, more low-key events.  For the last seven years the village where I live has held a 5 mile multi-terrain race at our local tourist attraction - Hatton Country World.  The race is put on jointly between my athletics club, Leamington C&AC, and the Hatton Joint Organisations (HJO) - a group of various village organisations / clubs that join forces to hold several large fund raising events each year.  I love taking part in this race as so many people in the village, and my athletics club, show an awful lot of support for my running and it's great to thank them by turning up at their local race.  The organisers also like to use me to help promote the race - it gives it some kudos to say a GB international is running!!  Having been involved in some of the village organisations in the past (I was even on the HJO committee for several years!) I'm also keen to support their fund-raising efforts.

The race is superbly organised and takes the runners across fields (both grass and ploughed!), footpaths and dirt tracks.  There are even mile markers and a water station part way round, manned (or 'womanned'!) by the Brownies.  And with a marquee at the start / finish area serving tea, coffee and delicious homemade cakes what more do you want!!

This year's race saw a record entry and 107 finishers, and it's hoped that the number of entries will grow even more over the next few years.  True to its rural atmosphere the race is started with a shotgun!  I was only going to 'jog' round this year's race, being as it was only two weeks after my 100K, however I can't seem to resist racing when I line up on a start line and found myself up with the leading men as we ran round the edge of the first field.  A short, twisty section through a woodland plantation followed, before an uneven path around the edge of another field and into a hollow / ditch.  Often this is ankle deep in mud / water but luckily this year the ground was as dry as a bone and very firm.  The undulating route continued around the Hatton Estate in a big loop before we retraced our steps from the first part of the course and back into the finish.  So much for my 'jog' round - I had a sprint finish with a man from Kenilworth who just pipped me on the line!!  We were both given the same time, 31:03, which was a minute faster than I've ever run the course before!  (A measure of the good ground conditions rather than a reflection of my fitness I suspect!)  I won the women's race (and was 9^th overall), and with my two Leamington team-mates - Zara  and Faye - we won the women's team race too.  The prizes (vouchers) are generously donated by Warwick Sports Shop - they are an excellent shop and their knowledgeable staff will give expert advice on all kinds of sports equipment, including running shoes.  The shop is run by Ray and John Hammond - John was a successful middle distance runner with Coventry Godiva, and many of the staff are runners too, so you will definitely get good advice.

The presentations are always done really quickly after the race, in fact most people were stuffing themselves with cake and hadn't realised they'd started!  This is then followed by a Family Fun Run of approx. 1.5 miles.  It's aimed at families with young children who can't manage the full 5 mile distance, however it has also become a bit of a tradition for my family to take part, with the older generation (mum and dad!) unable to manage the full 5 miles but just about managing a 1.5 mile walk / jog!  So, as a warm-down, I joined them, my sister, brother-in-law and baby niece for the fun run too!

It was good to be back to winning ways but, more importantly, it was great to just enjoy being in a race and running purely for fun with no pressure.  I had no expectations of running a particular time, I just set out to run how I felt.  It was so enjoyable to be running round the Warwickshire countryside and I often feel that the more relaxed and happy I am the better I run.  We can sometimes get too bogged down in split times, pacing and heart rates and need to get back to 'grassroots' (quite literally in this race!) to experience the pleasure of purely running.