If you're not feeling up to a trail marathon, then the relay at the South Downs Marathon is a great event!! There's nothing like a bit of teamwork to complete a hilly and difficult race!!

The relay consists of a team of 4, running legs between 5 and 7.5 miles. Each runner completes a leg, holding the baton which contains the chip and passes this onto the next teammate at each checkpoint.

The course itself is beautiful. I ran the first leg of 7.5miles which is predominantly uphill, and the views at the top are amazing! On the day I ran, it was the hottest day of 2017 so far, and even starting at 9am it was really really hot! My teammates enjoyed each of their legs and the day was great fun for everyone!!

Everyone in the relay team receives a medal and a goody bag including a t-shirt (and a jar of pasta sauce??).

The only faults I have with this even were:

1. The race information was flawed as some of the checkpoints did not include Postcodes. Checkpoint 1 was also missed by a number of people due to the way the instructions were written. Luckily a marshal corrected the teams and sent them to the correct checkpoint!!

2. At Checkpoint 2, the parking situation was flawed - parking was available down a lane only wide enough for one car. This same lane was part of the race course so cars were trying to navigate up and down the road whilst runners were trying to reach the next checkpoint.

I would recommend this race, it was great fun to race as part of a team and afterwards everyone meets at the finish line and watches the rest of the teams and the marathoners finish!