The Slaughterford 9 - Club Champs Race Number 2.  

 

As I drove through the village of Box, in the direction of the town of Corsham, my sense of trepidation began to increase. It increased as I jammed my car into 3rd gear, revving hard to get up Box Hill. Up and up we rose, my little red VW Fox screeching at me. 'Dude! what are you playing at!? It's far too early to be exerting myself in such a fashion at such an ungodly hour on a Sunday morning! (9 ish. She's a late riser). You should have sourced a plane to get you here - not a little red car!'.  If only little red VW Foxes could speak. My trepidation stemmed from my suspicion that it would soon be me that would be doing the screeching, if I had to run up Box Hill. As we know, Brunel liked a challenge, but I'm guessing that even he wouldn't have bothered tunnelling through this mountain unless he absolutely had to! So, The Slaughterford 9 was shaping up to be a hilly one. 

Now why on earth would I choose to do a race called The Slaughterford 9!? It sounds pretty terrifying. Like the scene of some medieval massacre. To be honest, I couldn't quite remember why! I recall that I loved The Slaughterford 9, but as with many races I've done before, I can't quite remember them until I'm actually doing them! So I just had to trust that I loved it.  As captains, Wendy and I chose this race to be part of our magical 15 Club Champ Races this year for a few reasons. It's an old favourite that last featured a few years ago and we wanted to resurrect it.  It also fits quite well into what we call our 'inbetweeners'. We're keen to encourage club members to literally go the extra mile and we wanted to offer something to those that want to take the next step. E.g. for those that have done a 5k but never done a 10k, or those who have done a half but never done a full marathon - something inbetween. Or in this case - those who have done a 10k but never done a half marathon - here's your inbetweener!  It's further than a 10k, but not quite a half marathon. There will be one or two more inbetweeners along the way this year - so look out for them! 

So, there I was screeching up Box Hill. I'd achieved my first objective - remembering that Slaughterford 9 wasn't actually in Slaughterford. It's in Corsham! It goes through Slaughterford to be fair, but definitely starts in Corsham.  As I arrived at the start line - it all came flooding back to me. Ah! The Slaughterford 9 - yes of course! I remember this! It starts at the top of a massive hill on a country lane. So the start is very fast! Unfortunately, as we all suspected, the end was to be at the top of said hill! Or just around the corner thereof. After the very fast country-lane down-hill start, the route soon turns into a roller-coaster ride of narrow trails - some rocky, some very muddy. Up and down they go! There feels to be a lot of down-hill actually and it's a case of - eyes down - to see where you're putting your feet. A key factor of Slaughterford is the hills. Oh the hills! There are 2 or 3 very steep hills! Possibly more, as I may have blanked them from my consciousness so that when I next come to look upon Slaughterford I will think - ooh I really love this race - I can't remember why! How steep? Think - ridiculous steep. The type of steep that you cannot possibly run up. You have to walk up. Stagger up. Puff and pant up. The plus side is that you're met with some glorious views! Providing you have enough oxygen left to be able to see them. There are also some rivers. The fast-flowing flooded stream we'd been warned about pre-race turned out to have receded to a disappointing trickle. There was however the Keynsham Dandy-esque river crossing towards the end of the run to make up for it however. Ok, it was no where near the (what felt like) half mile ish of river wading Vietnam-stylee that we did at the Dandy! But definitely something to stretch the definition of 'river-crossing'. It did involve wading down it for a few metres before we had to clamber out up the steep bank, leaving our dignity in the river, to be then met with one of those massive hills. The up-hill finish to Slaughterford is actually pretty cool. I knew it was coming so when I saw it I felt a surge of excitement / relief knowing the end was just up around the corner. Now is this the sort of hill you can just grit your teeth and charge up? Not quite! If you can keep some momentum going, that's not a bad thing, but then it's a case of just digging in as best you can and just trying to keep going. The crowds at the top spur you on around the corner and then you've just got a hundred metres or so to go to the line. 

Your prize for completing 9 hilly country miles? Aside from having a lovely little scenic run in the countryside with your running buddies and the satisfaction of having completed the thing - a tot of gin! A mini bottle of gin and a pork pie or veggie pasty. This definitely makes a nice change from the usual medal or t-shirt I think. I know we love our bling people - but top of my list of questions when considering a decent prize is - can I eat it!? 

So hat's off to you Slaughterford! For this punchy little roller-coaster of a country race! Good views, good friends, good pie, goodbye!