Loads of silly fun!

It starts and ends round the corner from the National Trust cafe so it's a fun place to gather in your various Christmas outfits. The course is on the old military road so it's more road than trail on a dry day, but it makes the route easy to follow. I couldn't hear anything the race director said at the start line, luckily it probably wasn't anything important anyway. 

If you don't drive then find a friend who does because there's no buses there on a Sunday, you have to run 10km just to get there from Weston-super-mare like I did. 

I was "encouraged' to do this one by a running friend....he said it was fairly tough...he was right !!! It's a two lap rsce (so at least you are prepared for the 2nd one) with a pretty steep hill just after the start then a series of inclines and a teeny bit of downhill. It's a beautiful spot, stunning views, not for the faint hearted (I'll admit to a bit of walking on the steep bits!) but a great course. Very well organised, small enough to be quick and easy to get to and register etc. Marshalls were also fantastic and the smallness of the event made for a lot of friendly chat all the way around. The post race cakes etc were lovely. I'd recommend it...even tho i was made to wear a Santa Suit (and I am The Grinch). If you fancy a Sunday morning jaunt and earn that roast, this is a great one to do.

This is the second time I’ve entered the 10k Santa Scramble at Brean Down. Registration is very easy online and you pick your number up on the day. This year I ran it with @carolinesandall and @Oxongardengirl.

Car parking is easy at the event but you’d struggle to get there by any other mode of transport. Registration is very close to the car park and the start line is directly outside it. There’s the option to dress up as santa for this race (which of course we did. There were hardly any queues for the toilets too which is almost unheard of!

The race, a two lap tour of a 5km circuit, begins with a 100 m stretch of tarmac before hitting a very steep tarmac path which rises for about 80m before levelling out for a few metres. The course runs along the top of Brean across the grass and in doing this you head up another steep hill, before a short downhill and then yet another tough climb to the Trig point.

Theres a steep, muddy and slippery downhill to the fort at the end of the Down before a relatively short but muddy climb back up on to the gravel path which leads after a few km back to the steep downhill section. Once you’re down the steep hill there’s a water station before the second leg of the race starts by going back up the steep climb again.

Once you cross the finish line you get a bottle of water and a medal. This tear’s Medal was a cracker and was much better than last year’s so a big thumbs up. There were sweets and cake in the registration building for everyone too.

I really like this race, not just because it’s a fun Christmas event but because it is a real challenge. If you don’t like hills don’t do it, but if you’d like to step beyond flat races and challenge yourself and still have fun, this is a great one to do. It’s great value for money and I’ll be back again next year.