This was one slick marathon, and I’m not just talking about the organisation. 

Salisbury to Winchester, across rolling countryside, following most of the trail that links Cathedrals in the two cities. 

Race HQ is a college sports hall just outside Salisbury city centre. Registration is easy but involves finding the table that corresponds to your race number so make sure you read your event emails in the lead up to the event. Number collection is a painless swift process. The hall offers somewhere dry and warm if weather is a bit special outside. If you have warm kit you want at the finish then drop bags are taken from here by bus. Plenty of portaloos and a burger van for killing time before the start. 

If conditions are good then you’ll be fine in road shoes but if there’s been significant rain ahead of the event (as was the case in 2017) then trail shoes are your friend. For the most part the trail is hard packed, with a few road sections as you pass through villages on route. However there are sections which skirt around fields or up and over grassy hills. The footing in some of these sections can be described as a gloopy slippy slidey mud bath. With approx. 2500ft of ascent there is a significant amount of climbing and descending.  If you are feeling up for it then all the hills are runnable (2017 winner was a few mins under 3hours) but for the mid/back of pack runner then walking the hills early on will make the second half of the race feel easier (to me it felt there were more climbs on second half). Unless you are charging at the front, expect some single file action especially at mile 20 (Farley Mount). Here there is a particularly long narrow chalky rooty climb which is slow going with not many passing places. 

The finish line is at a school just outside Winchester city centre. Here you get a medal and t-shirt, foil blanket and access to your drop bags. In this day and age of massive medals the Clarendon marathon medal is puny by comparison. Unless you are a bling whore don’t let this put you off. This is an good value, well supported, trail race. 

Supported by Rotary International the course is awash with friendly marshals (Runners: Don’t forget to say thank you to them for giving up their time), plenty of drinks stations (with more in the second half) and the course is well marked. Shuttle buses are available to ferry to the start, but they need to be booked ahead of time. 

If point to point trail runs in fantastic countryside are your thing then this is one race you should sign up for. If you are a road racer who never ventures off tarmac then maybe you should sign up too and see what you are missing.