5th October, 2024
Where: Bristol-Bath
Distance: Marathon (25k also available)
Terrain: Mixed
Organiser: Trail Escape
Cost: £50+
2024 was the debut year for this mixed terrain marathon and 25k event.
Starting at the University of the West of England campus in Frenchay, the route weaved its way through various trails and paths from north Bristol across to Bath.
It was popular, with around 600 people running the marathon and at least a further 1000 people taking part in the 25k run, or the hiking option across both distances.
Many parts of the route were beautiful, taking me through parts of Bristol and the surrounding area I never knew existed. (Who knew Winterbourne looked like rural Cornwall!).
But…it was much flatter than I was expecting. Basically flat for about 21 miles, which meant a lot more running. If that sounds odd, what I mean is I was expecting to hit some hills and then do some walking. But the hills never came. We did the first half in two hours, which is pretty pacy for a trail run.
And there was a lot more tarmac than I was expecting. There was a fairly lengthy section on the Bristol-Bath cycle path, and several other parts on roads. One estimate I heard was that up to 40% of the race was on tarmac.
And then at 21 miles in, you hit Kelston hill. It’s a beast. By the time I got there, my quads were all over the show, so trekking up some huge inclines for a couple of miles was torture.
But the views from the top were spectacular! And there was lots of lovely downhill.
But the worst section of the whole race was in the last mile. The route takes you on a few backstreets of Bath which were so steep it felt like you were climbing a ladder. My swearing reached it’s peak at this point.
But there was a gentle downhill to the finish in Royal Victoria Park in the centre of Bath. And with the weather being glorious, there were crowds out cheering you on, and decent selection of snacks and drinks once you cross the line.
There are a couple of things I think the organisers need to look at for next year.
1) The amount of tarmac was pretty surprising and didn’t make for great running in your trail shoes.
2) I think it needed at least one more aid station. I think there were three on the marathon route.
3) The most disappointing part of the day was the shuttle bus back to the cars. I’d parked up at the start in Bristol and paid for a shuttle bus back from Bath. When I found where to get the bus from, I discovered that nothing had shown up for over an hour and there was no one from the race organisers in sight. Two busses then came, but both were taking 25k runners back to their different start location. Eventually a third bus appeared, but by then some marathon runners had been waiting two hours.
BUT….overall, it was a great event. Plenty of communication in the build up, decent race village at the start and some great views. And it’s back for 2025 so check out the Trail Escape website.