The Swift Run is an independently organised virtual event, where runners are pitted against nobody else but the clock! One hour in a location of your choosing at any point in the given race window, run as far as you can and be rewarded with a brilliant t-shirt. This was the 4th time I’d be taking part in one of Swift Run Coach Olly’s events, the entirety of the race window falling within a work trip to America not enough to prevent me from being thoroughly lured by the prospect of a Simpson’s themed tee.

Race week saw us in the Carolinas, being hosted by a brewery and being VERY well looked after, with a packed schedule largely based around beer and meat resulting in us missing out on the local Parkrun. Our wonderful hosts were based close to Anne Springs Close Greenway, a beautiful nature park in the town of Fort Mill, South Carolina, with miles of trails to explore, so we were determined to set aside an hour to complete our challenge in a new and exciting place.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early, still adjusting to the time difference, and seized our opportunity. The kids we were staying with were incredulous – “you’re going to RUN all the way to the GREENWAY?!” – and indeed the first mile or so was on roads with variable amounts of pavement (or “sidewalk” to get down with the local lingo) which wasn’t ideal, but we had at least checked we weren’t going to get fined for jaywalking. It being the week before both Halloween and the US election in a predominantly Republican state, there were lots of scary things to look at en route. We quickly reached the Greenway though and were able to hit the trails. It felt great to be moving after days of sitting still but I could definitely feel the effects of a long flight and overconsumption in my legs – clearly this was not going to be a PB attempt.

Our chosen route followed a woodland path called the “Paradise Loop”, gently undulating throughout and with beautiful autumnal colours – we were treated to the best week of “fall”, in an area of the US which attracts a lot of tourists to look at leaves, so it was pretty magical amongst the trees. Our distance covered was curtailed a little more by a herd of baby deer, and me getting very excited about seeing a bluejay.

We put on a bit of a burst of speed to juuuuust make it past the 6 mile mark within the hour. Great fun.

 

42 participants completed Swift Run 6. The winners were Brad Wight (unaffiliated) who completed 9.13 miles and Alicia Gilbert (Silverdale RC) who completed 7.19 miles.

Striders results: