o.t.s.o…..The 1.5 forts challenge ?

Is that what you’d call half of a 3 forts challenge ???

Well actually 2 of the ancient iron age hill forts were visited on the run, but as I’d intended to do the full marathon (plus) distance of the 3 forts marathon and backed down to the half distance at the last minute, it was only half the challenge !!!

Nonetheless, with 1550 feet of climb on a cross country trail route, the half marathon still felt like a decent workout on a Sunday morning. A steady climb for the first two miles to reach Cissbury ring, followed by a rollercoaster of ups and downs along a 9 mile anti-clockwise loop which topped out at Chanctonbury ring at about 750 ft elevation just before the half way point, returning to pass Cissbury ring for a second time before a genuinely enjoyable final two mile steady downhill stride back to the finish. I think the decision to drop to the half distance was proved to be a good one, as my hip flexors were stiffening up by about 10 miles, and I think anything beyond 15 miles would have become a long drawn out painful jog/walk exercise. My finish time of 2hrs 04 is my slowest 1/2 marathon by more than a quarter of an hour, but a finish position of 63rd of 208 finishers tells me it wasn’t too bad a run. It’s a nice low key event – a bit of a pricey entry fee, but it is used as a fundraiser for a local animal charity. For more info, and they are already open for entries to next year’s race click here: https://www.threefortschallenge.org.uk/

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