So this has been a race I have been looking forward to all year, its a fast course with some cheeky hills thrown in for good measure. The registration is held at the council offices in Penallta where participants can also use the toilets, they dont tend to get too over crowded either which is a bonus with my pre-race bladder. Registration run like clockwork with friendly volunteers on hand to give out numbers, just outside the offices in the carpark there was a refreshment wagon selling teas, coffee and food if needed - a welcome improvement from last year. This race had been re-scheduled from earlier in the year due to bad weather, which I thankful for because I was recovering from injury on the original day planned. There is a slight uphill at the start to get onto the park cycle track where its relatively flat for about half a mile before heading up a still gravel track wide enough to get vehicles down, so there is plenty of room for the runners. At the top you turn right and head up towards the mound sculpture of Sultan the Pit pony and around the events arena and down towards the local village before turning right down a long downhill section allowing you to cat up any time lost on the uphill section, at the bottom of the hill is a great place for supporters to gather, just like the ones out to support my club Hengoed Harriers with a banner and full fog horns finely tuned to cheer everyone on, this is where we have a short section before leaving the park towards Taf bargoed lake, which you reach after about 3/4 miles, at the mouth of the lake there was a water station at the 6 mile point, I would have like to have had a water station further down the route possibly 4/5 miles but thats only my preferance. Taf bargoed lake is the turning point, as you lap the lake you can see other runners on the otherside for a cheeky wave if you spot anyone you know, I had Diane screaming and waving at me from club, god knows where she got the energy from but she was in fine fettle ;-) The rest of the race is pretty uneventful back to the finish line, this section is very flat which allows you to pick up pace to get that PB, sadly this year there was no PB for me because I had a 48hr bug that saw me stopping to relive myself of the earlier breakfast at the side of the track (my apologies to the marshals that had to witness my blood red vomit - it was beetroot juice guys dont panic) At the finish line there was a health bunch of racers and supporters there to cheer runners in over the line, where I finished off relieving myself of more breakfast. I love this event because its a no thrills kinda race thats hard, fast and super local to me, The Pontypridd Rodents (Organisers) have done themselves proud again where I will hopefully be back next year to pick up my 4th reverse 10 teshirt Thank You I did feature this in my youtube video if you want to check it out - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FqELfH9t_nQ&t