I always try to support races local to me and they don't come much more local than this, being just 1.5 miles away from where I live.  This meant a bit of a lie-in and later departure than usual on race day, which meant the day started off very well! 

This year's race was a new incarnation of a race that has run in the area for a few years, formerly known as the Rugby Rover.  It is run mostly on tracks and paths around the Derwent Valley in Derbyshire. Registration was easy and well-organised at the Belper Meadows Sports Club.  Pre-race information was released on the website and Facebok pages, but not by email, meaning that you had to go an look for it.  There was little in the way of a pre-race briefing, but the field seemed to be mostly made up of experienced runners and I knew the area well, so that didn't bother me.  The race started on a lane a little away from the registration area and made its way along a track before the first climb up a number of fields.  There were a couple of hold-ups here as participants had to wait to get across the first two of numerous styles on the course. From here a short stretch of road brings you to Shining Cliff Woods - there were plenty of marshalls around doing an excellent job of stopping traffic at the road crossings, meaning runners didn't have to break stride.  After a couple of miles through the woods, the path decended through farmland and we found ourselves ankle-deep in mud. Anecdotally, I hear one runner had to retire after losing a shoe in the boggy ground, but that has not been confirmed!  The middle part of the route is the most scenic, a fabulous descent across fields to the Chevin Golf Club near Duffield gave some absolutely fantastic views, before a(nother) climb up onto the Chevin and the final descent back into Belper.  The route totals just over 17 miles in length, but with over 1800 feet of ascent, it is not to be taken lightly.  I had a fabulous morning though, the great thing about trail races is that people talk to each other, walk the steep uphills and generally have less of a focus on the clock.  This is a cracking event and I will definitely be back next year! If you like your trail races, I would very much recommend this one.