Leading up to my second race of the year, I had been distinctly nervous. With an injured ankle, and a hilly route I was worried about making the cut off if I ended up having to walk. On the day the weather was clear, with showers expected later (more incentive to get round faster) and a cold wind. I had all the appropriate running paraphernalia; my shiny new BVR vest, trusty shoes, even a running a partner, so off we went.

The description was accurate, it was hilly….undulating in fact. All in all it was a challenging but lovely out and back route on closed roads (with some allowances for farm/local resident traffic), the marshals were friendly, providing water and jelly babies on route, and it was well attended with about 200 finishers. It was advertised in the race brief that you could leave your own drinks and gels at checkpoints, although this isn’t something I took them up on. All my worries disappeared once I got going and I relaxed enough to enjoy myself. I actually ended up doing my fastest half marathon since getting back into running (I’d like to take all the credit, however it would appear those BVR Thursday track sessions are working).

After a final ‘sprint’ over the finish line we were handed goody bags with beer, chocolate and our medals. There was also cake for the taking, and some scones. Grim Up North Running seems to have a loyal following. I recognised several faces from January’s Pateley Pie n pint and many runners were clearly regulars, sporting matching hats and tee-shirts. All in all we had a lovely day, and really enjoyed the event. JC