There's not many flat parts to this route, which starts in Cassiobury park and heads out to the edges of the Chiltern Hills.  The inclines however aren't quite as evil as those in the Ricky Road run, but nevertheless take their toll.

The registration and bag drop in a tent in the park was very efficient.  The centre of Watford isn't far away for parking and early coffee, which is useful.  The organisers must be quite glad that the Metropolitan Line extension is on hold/cancelled, as the current Watford Met station is in a perfect location for the event.

There are two starts, I was in the red for older age groups, and the two routes merge further down in the park.  The start is one of the easier parts of the course, a gentle downhill in the park.

The route then goes through some of the nice housing estates (where there was good support) to the North of Cassiobury Park, before heading into the countryside next to The Grove, where the "fun" starts in the form of hills.  

There's not much support out in the rural parts of the race (though many thanks to those who did come out), but the marshalling and water stations were excellent, the road closures were all well covered.  

After a long loop through Bucks Hill and Commonwood  you return back into Watford, with a slightly shorter run in to the park.  The last km to the finish was hard, as it was a steady incline up to the finishing line.  

The medal is very classy, an image of the iconic Cassiobury Park tree, and the technical shirt is a basic (but nice, in a bright colour).  

This was my slowest ever HM, I hadn't felt great before the race, never really warmed up, and just managed to plod around.  I did try something different (walking up the hills, and not using gels), so did get something out of the day.

All in all, it is a good but tough race, recommended as an early season test, well organised, and the number of runners give it a slightly big-race feel.  

A huge shout out to all the marshals on the day, they were wonderful.