A new course with even more mud and water!
New course but still starting with the infamous Big Dipper (apparently the largest natural sand dune in Europe), it really gets the heart rate going from the start. A steep descent to fly down depending how brave you are feeling before heading out onto Merthyr Mawr lane and a rare section of tarmac. The old course turned right after about half a mile on the road but the new course turns left into a grassy/muddy feild which slowly accends towards the forestry.
This is one of the muddiest parts of the course so trail shoes are a must even if the weather has been dry beforehand, which for this event, it hadn't been. The rest of the course includes several water crossings and due to the rain we'd had that week, some were thigh deep. Towards the end of the course you go out onto the beach which can be quite windy and you have to be careful with a few peebles and larger stones to contend with which did trip up a couple of runners.
The final few hundred meters of the course is the same as it was in previous years with small undulating sand dunes and attempting to run through icy cold knee deep rivers before a small incline to the finish.
The usual Christmas Pudding for all finishers as well as sweets and drinks being handed out. Plenty of people in fancy dress.
I almost forgot, there's also mulled wine and shortbread half ways round if you fancy a break.