The Cranleigh 15/21 is a fairly small local race that is perfect for spring marathon training.
Many clubs in Surrey/Sussex use it as a great final long run before Marathons and it has a really friendly feel to it.
It’s incredibly good value, is really well marshalled, included chip timing, photographed by Sussex Sport Photography (extra cost) with regular water stations.
I believe this is the first time they have done chip timing and it may have led to some issues as we only received a spreadsheet at 5.30am on race day with our numbers. At registration we just told volunteers our number and were given it - no ID requested or name check. I know at least one person who found out his number had already been taken by someone else so this needs to be fixed for next year.
However, most people are there for a training run and it serves very well. There is a 9 mile big loop and then a 6 mile small loop. At this stage, runners who want to can finish the 15 mile course. Others carry on with another 6 mile loop to complete 21 miles. This was my first ever 21 miler and I liked the way the loops worked. In my head I just had to reset and tell myself I was now running a 10K!
Course is on open roads but for the most part these are very quiet. There is one short stretch on a busier road but this was well marshalled. Undulating but nothing too steep and approx 700 runners.
I really enjoyed this race and would recommend it to anyone training for a spring marathon.