Race Date: 19th May

Race report by Alan Evans

For some strange reason, I’d signed up for another marathon, this time in North Northumberland in the village of Wooler under the Cheviot Hills. Organised by Cheviot Trail Events, a family-run organiser, as part of the Cheviot Trail Series, this is a challenging out and back marathon with about 4000 feet of ascent.

There were about 50 runners who started from the bus station on the high street at 9.00 am sharp Sunday morning. Most were local to the area. Registration was a simple affair and Glen, the race organiser, was welcoming and made a point of making sure I knew the route. It is an out and back marathon to Kirk Yetholm just over the border in Scotland over high and open ground mostly covered in heather. We set off up a steep street towards woods where the path wound round a conifer plantation and up onto the higher ground. I was following in the footsteps of two local runners all the way out and did pass them on occasion but I then missed the path to their amusement so they always ended up passing me again.

The track took us through large fields with grazing cattle, across a felled plantation and was quite rugged in places. It wound past crags with names like Coldberry Hill, Gains Law and Tom Tallon’s Crag. We passed the small hamlet of Hethpool then the path followed a lane for a few miles before rejoining a track to Kirk Yetholm. The battery on my phone died about half-way so I only managed one photo but it was worth it. It reminded me why trail running is such a great sport with friendly and like-minded people.

My legs fell off with about 8 miles to go but I managed a respectable 11th place with a time of 5:18:54. First place went to Bruce Crombie (4:04:44) and first lady went to Marie Louise Drozdovicz (5:17:29).