If an event has the title, "DB Max Events" attached to it, you can be sure it will be a well organised and enjoyable event, and the Malmesbury Carnival "Flying Monk" 10km is certainly no exception.

Although it's not the biggest event in the DB Max stable, arond 400 registered in 2017, it was right up alongside some of their other events for value, organisation and support, and I was happy to be given the chance to pace the race at the 60 minute target time.

Registration through the DB Max website is straight forward, with race bib's containing timing chips being picked up on the day, runners were kept well informed on the lead up to the race through email of what to expect and to do on the day, and each runner was notified of their race bib number in advance of arriving at the start to speed up collection. there were also day entries available on the day. 

Getting to the start line was staright forward, despite it being carnival week and many of the town centre roads being shut off, it was wonderful to see bright, easy to spot signs from miles away on the main roads to direct you around the outlying roads and into the car park at the nearby secondary school. The advertised 5 min walk to the registration tent may have been a little conservative however!

Once at the startline, and numbers collected, there was a bag drop tent, and toilets set up, with stands from some of the sponsors including Busom Buddies and Up & Running. Hot drinks and food were also available, although withe the race starting at 11am, and the temperature already reaching the mid 20's prior to the start, I didn't see many hot drinks being consumed.

A short, but concise race briefing prefixed the start of the race, before runners were invited into the start chute based on their expected finish times, led by pacers starting from 50 minutes and up to 65 minutes. Start was bang on 11am and we left the football ground and headed out onto the course.

As soon as you left the ground the "undulating" (official course description) nature of the route soon become clear, staright away into a steady climb heading back up towards to car park from where we had just came, before heading out into the surrounding countryside. Here we found the real Hills, and plenty of them, and with the temps now climbing into the high 20's many found them tough to handle. The course was on open roads, but it was well marshalled and traffic levels were light, so no real issue here with safety.

A water station was positioned at around 4.8kms, water being handed out in cups, and here I advised many to stop and take on water to avoid dehydration. The course had a dead turn, turn around point shortly after this, and you could grab another cup from the same station at about 5.4km to top up your fluids.

The course now followed the Fosse way, one of Britains Oldest Roads dating back to Roman times, back towards the town, with still a few sting in the tail hills to comquer, the only real downhill section being the final 2kms back towards the football ground. Some local residents were out to support the runners, but not huge numbers which is to be expected for a race of this size.

After arriving back at the finish and crosing the line, the towns Mayor was on hand to present each finisher with their excellent medal, and there was water and protein drinks available as well, plus the usual DB Max offering of a jelly sweet or Jelly Beans. After printing off their race times on the instant results service, most runners headed to the bar, for the free glass of "Flying Monk" beer being supplied by the local brewery of the same name.

Medical facilities were first class, being called into action at one point, and being on the scene within minutes of the incident and an ambulance there in quick time.

In summary, the usual excellence from DB Max, probably not the course for a PB due to the nature of the hills and especially this year due to the heat, but if you are looking for a good, value for money, well organised and challenging event then this is the one for you. 

Incidently, if you are wondering about the "Flying Monk" references, it dates back to 980AD, when a Monk, called Eilmer from the nearby Abbey strapped wings to his feet and hands and jumped off the Abbey in an attempt to fly, needless to say he didn't but apparently survived despite breaking both his legs.  Bonus history lesson as well as a review!