Lesley Pymm reports: I thought things looked promising when I got an e-mail from the organiser telling me (and everyone else as well, presumably) that the village had been baking cakes for ages now in preparation for the event. That seemed like a pretty good sign to me.
I duly turned up at the race HQ, which was a business just outside the village of Fladbury where they grow vegetables. There were lots of glasshouses and not very much parking space. Anyway, I got parked and realised that I would have to be one of the last to leave as I was totally blocked in. All the more time for the cakes, then! A quick explore of the facilities, this was when I bumped into Sarah Rock and Stuart Pearson, and we all agreed that the facilities were really good. Not at all what we are used to, especially for anything resembling XC! There were even showers!
The vast number of paramedics did cause some concern – what on earth were we in for? It turned out that they were just being safe. The course was a bit muddy, being alongside the river for much of it, but was pretty flat. It wasn’t the most exciting course I have done, but was pleasant enough and there was a lot of support from marshals etc. The weather was fantastic.
The goody bag was Craft shopper with a banana, energy bar, water and runners water bottle. Not bad at all. A quick change (I had not come prepared for the showers) and then off to sample the cakes. Runners had free coffee/tea and cakes, spectators made a donation. There were prizes for winners and for FM50 and MM60, and loads of spot prizes – which were pieces of kit. Stuart was 9th overall (36.02), Sarah 35th (40.50) and I came 111th (51.21). We agreed that it was a good start to running for 2012.
Full results (PDF)
Thankyou Lesley for your Report on the Fladbury Festive 5.It is good to know what my fellow BvHers are doing. Good solid runs by all concerned with respectable times and age cat. positions. Clearly,a good start to 2012. (I hope to start soon!)
Barrie Roberts