This is a picturesque but tough course through Shrewsbury. A UKRunChat event, it's definitely a race designed by runners for runners as there's not too much extra nonsense going on and there's a real sense of community amongst the runners.

The hills are very steep so unless you've smashed your hill reps in training you may end up walking a lot of them.

Add to that one of the hottest days of the year and I personally found it a struggle to get round. By mile 5 I was pretty much ready to surrender to a DNF. This is one of those races where the crowd support can get pretty sparce at times for the runners at the back, so you do appreciate the residents and volunteers that are out on the course with makeshift showers and a few friendly words of encouragement.

Adding an extra water station due to the forecast weather was a good shout.

Safety for the most part is ok, but again for the slower runners at the back you can find yourself alone for quite long stretches, particularly through the countryside sections. At these points it's a mind over half-marathon battle to keep putting one foot in front of the other!

The thing that concerned me the most was in the last couple of miles where you turn right off of the road into the field to head towards the finish, a driver ignored the road closure and marshalls and drove at speed along the course, putting the volunteers and runners in danger. Unfortunately we didn't manage to get the full car registration in time. This is obviously not the race organisers fault but something to be wary of for next year's event.

Overall I was relieved to finish this race. Whilst the medal and tshirt is lovely, I don't think I'll be doing it again! However, the price and value for money is great.