After the jubilation of running a PB at the very fast ad flat Bristol 10K a couple of weeks ago, the Westonbirt Arboretum 10K is about as far removed from a large, city road race as you can get. Situated just outside of the well-heeled Cotswold village of Tetbury (Think Highgrove/Prince Charles country), Westonbirt is a stunning arboretum (a vast area of natural and cultured habitat, comprising of hundreds of different species of trees and plants in well-kept grounds that are open to the public) that holds an annual 10K race. The strap-line ‘Run for the Trees’ is essentially the charitable side of the event, supported by the Forestry Commission, who maintain and upkeep the arboretum.  

Entries for the race are made available in mid-February and it is far from well-publicised, so knowledge of this race tends to be kept within the running fraternity of Gloucestershire and given that there are only about 800 places, it sells out quicker than a Take That concert!

I ran this race a couple of years ago and was instantly attracted to the picturesque surroundings, friendly atmosphere and stunning, but challenging course. More of that later.

The race is held on a Wednesday evening (usually in late May/early June) with a start time of 7pm, so working in Bristol, it’s easy to make the 30 minute drive to the arboretum after work, with plenty of time to spare.

In 2015 it was a fairly mild, breezy evening, which was great for running a fairly decent time. However, when I arrived at the car park this year, I was greeted with cloudless blue skies, warm sunshine and a temperature of 26 degrees, which made me think that it might be a slightly tougher gig this year. Getting out of the car was akin to getting off a plane when you reach a hot holiday destination, so I instantly realized that not having drunk much that afternoon and having no liquid supplies with me was not great preparation. It’s not like there’s a Tesco Metro around the corner, so I was stuck with having to deal with a dry mouth before I’d even started running.

The check-in/race number collection area had moved since I last ran this race to the main entrance, which was a big improvement and administered slickly. There were ample toilet facilities so no real queues; even for the ladies!

The temperature had cooled to about 23 degrees by the time us runners made the short walk to the starting pens, which were staggered into predicted finish time sections. Given that the paths are narrow and that the first few miles can bunch up, I purposely made my way to the front, but not too near the start, as I’d have stuck out like a sore thumb, in comparison to the ‘elite’ runners in their vests with barely an ounce of fat covering their bodies!

The ‘hooter’ sounded at 7 sharp, and I was off. The first mile was fairly flat and after a circuit of the starting area, the course took a nice downhill route into a more wooded area of the arboretum, where the stony track became a more palatable path, minus the rocks, unevenness and loose stones.

I hadn’t really set a target time as such, but had run 47.19 two years ago in far cooler conditions, so the aim was to run a sub-47 if all went to plan. There was no way I’d get close to my Bristol time, given that this was largely a trail race on a lumpy, undulating course with 20+ degree heat to content with.

So, back to the race. I ran through mile 1 in 7.10 and all felt good in the world. However, the next couple of miles comprised of fairly long gradual inclines, with the odd flat section, and I found myself working quite hard to keep to what I thought was a decent pace. I was panting by mile2 and could feel the heat taking its toll. I knew it was going to be tough when I registered a 7.33 and a 7.26 for 2 and 3, which actually felt like 7‘s flat, given the effort I was putting in. Eeek! With each mile feeling like a mile and a half, we were greeted with a fairly tricky hill at around 3.5/4 miles that completely knocked the stuffing out of me. As you would expect in a race like this, there was very little support/spectators along the course, so it was nice to see a decent crowd at the top of the hill along with a much needed water station. The said water station didn’t do me any favours, since I crushed the plastic cup upon grabbing it from the marshal (which meant most spilled out) and the remaining contents managed to completely miss mouth when I launched it in the intended direction. Great. I’ve still got a dry mouth!

After the hill came a welcome ascent into more woods for the remaining 2.5 miles, but I was shot to bits by this stage, desperately willing the km markers to appear at greater regularity than they were. Miles 4 and 5 were significantly slower – at around 8.15’s – and I was beginning to go nowhere fairly slowly. One of my running buddies went past me at around 5 miles and this gave me the kick up the backside I needed, so I tried to up the pace and get going again, which I started to do as the course began to flattened out somewhat. I knew a course PB was possibly out of the question now, so I set a goal of not getting over taken in the last mile and a half. (I think 3 people did, but they’d clearly run more sensibly, knowing the second half of the course was flatter, so had probably run a negative split as they appeared to be speeding up).

Despite the pain and suffering I endured, the course was stunning. Probably the best 10K I’ve run in that respect, as this time of year brings out bright, vibrant colours and a myriad of different smells and scents from the plants and flowers. I just wish that I could have appreciated it all more!

At 6 miles, I got a ‘mini-second wind’ (a bit late now!), but put my foot down and ran as hard as I could to the finish line, even putting-in an impressive sprint down the finishing straight that Mo Farah would have been proud of!

My time was 47.32, which was 13 seconds slower than two years ago, but I placed 69^thout of around 800 (compared to 133^rd in 2015) so I was pleased with the performance, given the conditions that were not conducive to a quick time.

The medal was great…a wooden leaf. Wooden bling!

This is a great, friendly event which takes place among some of the most stunning scenery in England, so I’m lucky that we have an event like this so close to home. It’s not your conventional road-routed 10K, and a PB is probably not up for consideration, but I’d highly recommend this as fantastic event to participate in if you like something a bit different to the norm. I’ll be back.