I have ran 1/2 marathons before. Plenty of them. If I was to commit to saying what my ideal event distance is I would say that this would be the one. This though; this felt like much longer!

To put it into context, Darwin is stunningly beautiful. Hills, fields, hills, animals, hills, forests, hills; it really is a fantastic area of the country to run. Very picturesque. Did I mention the hills?

As a run, this one was as unforgiving a route as I have done. Starting at a local academy, we were straight onto a hill for the first mile or so; I should have taken the hint. Finding a pace was challenging. My breathing was not in check and I must admit, I had the dreaded inside voice asking me, 'what the hell am I doing?'

Now, to be fair, it wasn't all the route's fault. Poor planning on my part and a change in pre-race routine led time to literally be the second to last person to join the start. That and what I would describe to be some misinformation from the event organisers that could have been a little clearer to aid the registration process.

The website stated that registration would be from 7.30am but had no cut off, and that there were plenty of toilets. For a change, I ate before the race and had two coffee's which prompted an additional toilet stop; enough said. The problem was that as I arrived at 8.10am, I then spent an hour and 15 minutes (5 minute changing time in the car) in queues for my number and the toilets; one of which had no cubicle door. It was a minor miracle that we got the race off at 9.32am, but it led to no relaxing, mingling and general 'taking it all in' for yours truly. Not a great start.

Once I settled into a pace at around mile 3, past the first water station, I felt comfortable and had been able to control my thoughts and began to embrace the challenge. Each hill was met with determination not to stop. To keep pushing. To stride out and keep pace and to not allow myself to believe that the course would beat me.

The hills continued pretty much throughout. Of course, what comes up must come down, and there were plenty of declines. These though are the easy bits! The gradients ranged from between 113ft and 230ft, with an additional four gradients inbetween. Every step downhill was earned beforehand I can assure you.

Beyond mile 8 came two significant hills and a series of undulations that were worth it for the views over the town below, and for the descent leading into the final mile. I always finish on a sprint; leave it out on the course and push for the last mile. On approach, the last 150 metres were lined with supporters cheering and ringing cowbells (seemingly a favourite of many supporters of this event).

Veering right, the finish appeared from nowhere and it was done. I am yet to see my official time, but it will be just under 1 hour 45 minutes. Not bad for a final event before an ultra marathon on the 2nd April.

In all, this was definitely an event that I would recommend. It was well supported with a good sense of community amongst the runners. Road closures at key sections were important and whilst I thought the water stations were quite basic, they did the trick. I am just not a fan of running with cups! Sign my upto 2019 now; I’ll just arrive in plenty of time and ideally, do my business beforehand!

Challenging yet scenic is probably the best summary of this race. If you love a hill then you're in for a treat here.

The course is largely run on country lanes and today's weather was perfect to take in the local views, the spring sun also brought out plenty of local support. I won't waffle on with details but as well as the ups there are plenty of downs too.

For the entry fee finishers received a tech top, large medal, which had a bottle opener in it and a specially crafted bottle of beer to test the medal on, decent value.

Overall it was a decent event, big thanks to the marshals who did a great job at the numerous junctions and special mention too for the groups of supporters who brought along cow bells and created a great atmosphere.

This is a race that ticks most boxes that runners want, great organisation, top class facilities where the school sports hall is used for baggage and collecting numbers and most of all the scenery is fantastic. This is a cracking local club event. You might not get a pb on a course with over 1,500 feet of climbs, but you get a great bottle of Hopstar beer at the finish!