Well, what a start to race season! We’re so glad to be back. The first three events are done and dusted. Andy Palmer has written up this blog on his thoughts on how it’s gone so far.
We’re back
After a year plus of restrictions, people are used to social distancing, wearing masks, etc. I think now restrictions have slightly eased, people understand and appreciate what they need to do, and Covid awareness has become second nature.
I’m glad we waited a year before restarting our races, as they’re somewhere near to our normal.
In traditional English style, let’s talk about the weather for those first three events.
The Ox: wet, windy, even more windy and the sun shone through briefly.
Weekend at the Races: warm weather kicked in and light breeze.
Crafty Fox: surface of the sun
Ox Races
The Ox was our first race back after 15 months of no racing, so it was great to be back to familiar ground on the Rushmore Estate.
We started with the long-anticipated Ox of Two Halfs. A windy affair where the runners had to finish not just a marathon, but three tasks as well. Our intrepid runners had to wear a Batman-style mask and cape, create a masterpiece self-portrait, and then choose and wear a tie at the Lovestation™. Funnily enough all the horrid ties went first. Congratulations to Daryl Venner on getting his first marathon that day as well.
The Ox, as we have said before, is beautiful, hilly and smells of wild garlic. Covid added a lot of restrictions that at the time seemed quite invasive, but I think we coped pretty well. The area lends itself to being ‘apart’ both while waiting for team runners and for spectators, and we selected routes where people could overtake while socially distanced (big paths).
Weekend At The Races
Weekend at the Races gave us the first glimpse of good weather. A new route for the Moreton Marathon meant running into Oakers Wood. A private and untouched old forest, the going underfoot was hard, but no one got lost. Massive thanks to the landowners at the Moreton Estate and Moreton Equestrian Centre for creating the routes with us.
The Unicorn Frolic is always a goody and provides great support for runners, as is the kids’ race we do that day. Lots of fancy dress and big achievements of running in hot conditions. We closed our pop-up gin bar so the kids wouldn’t grab a drink on the way round… more on the gin bar in the next blog.
Lots of new runners at Moreton this year; many achieved a first ultra, marathon or half-marathon. Seven crazy runners got a marathon in every day for the three event days, and will receive their extra wooden medals for achieving this.
Crafty Fox Races
Crafty Fox, based at Brewery Farm, had a change as we thought two laps for a marathon wouldn’t do this race justice so we made it one lap. It was tough, hilly, with hard terrain under foot, lots gates and cows – angry cows.
Great half-marathon as ever and a new 5-mile ish Cub race too. We had lots of new runners here, so I hope we didn’t disappoint. It was great to welcome new runners to experience a White Star event at an entry-level distance and still show off the amazing countryside we have on offer in Dorset.
As ever, we would like to thank our fabulous landowners. Without their consent and the hard work they put in, we wouldn’t be able to run and create these great events for you.
Up next is a couple of Frolic events and we’ll be spending some time on the routes for the summer races (https://whitestarrunning.co.uk/wsr-events/), so expect to see some phots and videos of what you can expect. As ever, if you want to be first in the know with what we are planning, sign up to our newsletter using the form on our homepage.