This was my 3rd time at the Ridgeway Run and once the mist cleared it was obvious we were in for a treat of a run on a beautiful sunny day without even the wind that made itself felt during last years edition. I met Peter and Simon at the start, about a kilometre walk from the HQ where we were to finish. I’d promised myself I’d take it nice and easy, targeting 1:35, so as to spare my sore foot and there’s not many starts as easy as this – I didn’t hear any countdown or bang – we just started shuffling, then walking, then eventually jogging along narrow Marshcroft Lane.

Peter left us behind soon enough and somewhere during the second mile I realised I was running much too fast and let Simon go ahead. Much of the first 3 miles are uphill and what with kissing gates and some huge puddles to get round we suffered minor congestion leading to a brief walk several times on the ascent. I passed Simon then he must have passed me as I snuck behind a tree for a leak. I caught him again at the water station near the Bridgewater Monument at the top of the main climb.

A couple of miles along a wide track through the woods then a sharp descent down a bit on gnarly single-track. Soon enough we were on the Ridgeway which takes the form of a partly sunken track through chalk grassland at this point. Then up and over the two lumps on Pitstone Hill and into the long final descent through woodland avoiding walkers and trying not to trip over roots and steps.

The last mile and a bit was mostly tarmac which I know peeves some runners but for me was a chance to expend a bit of the energy I’d been hanging onto and get myself to a comfortable 1:30:45 finish 378th of 559 and only 30 seconds slower than last year.

I decided to give the long queue for the technical shirt a miss as I have too many running shirts as it is. I grabbed a bottle of water though and went to see Simon finish. Peter appeared from somewhere having finished 5 minutes before me and we posed for a photo. Peter and I then went into Tring proper to visit the vegetarian, mostly organic, Anusia Cafe where we refuelled on vegan soup and cake.

Two days later, the ibuprofen having long worn off, my plantar faciitis appears to have got a bit worse. Maybe running up that hill wasn’t so good an idea after all but it was fun. I’d run the Oxford parkrun the day before, not fast at 26:22 but not exactly a rest day either. I’m hoping that a few days of nothing but the easiest of taper running will allow it to recover enough to survive the Abingdon Marathon on Sunday – after that I think it’ll be time for a bit of a rest, nothing more than 10ks for the rest of the year, and I’ve already dusted the bike off to get a few miles in the saddle instead.