After running Parkrun and participating in the final race of the North Midlands cross country league, the Sunday was to be dedicated to the Rasselbock Winter Day 2 at Sherwood Pines for Caroline Davis.
As the Saturday run at Bulwell was still covered with snow, Caroline wasn’t sure how far the snow had fallen across Nottinghamshire. Temperatures were also set to be in the minus figures and with frost on the ground that had frozen in places, it did prove to be a tricky course.
The course meandered around the Parkrun course, but did run through the forest paths, which gave some respite from the main pathways which were covered in frost. Once the rain started to come down, an hour into the 6 hour run, the patches of frost turned to ice, turning the route into an ice-skating rink.
Caroline did set-out to complete 8 laps which would be over a marathon. However, with the cold temperatures, the icy patches out on the course, the general terrain and having caught a cold in the week, she called it a day at 6 laps. That equated to 37.01 in 4 hours 16 minutes and 57 seconds. First place was the only person to complete 11 laps equating to 67.85km.
As disappointing as it was to not complete her target, Caroline was pleased to have put some distance in without over-do things so that she can keep pushing through to her next marathon/ultra event. Caroline also gives props to the volunteers who had to stay out on the course for over 6 hours. Having got frozen just walking back to the car and taking another couple of hours to warm back up again, their resilience in staying in one place to ensure the event went ahead was phenomenal.
Image c/o Chat GPT