Jue at the Endurancelife Coastal Marathon - Charmouth, Dorset

Jue James begins her quest to complete the "7 x 7 x 7 Challenge"

Just back from the marathon at round 1 of the Endurancelife Coastal Trail Series (CTS) at Charmouth, Dorset. Having completed the marathon at the last round (stage 7) of the CTS last year I knew what to expect. All the stages are based in stunning coastal locations and make good use of the coastal paths and off-road trails in the area. Hills feature heavily and roads/towns kept to a minimum. Game on....

The forecast earlier in the week was not promising but undeterred I headed south and after a rainy night safe in the campervan I arose to a cold but sunny morning. The race started right next to the beach and headed straight uphill on the coastal path! With legs and lungs kick started it was time to enjoy the views. The coastline and cliffs didn't disappoint and with the sun strong and only a slight wind initially it was near perfect conditions for running, especially for early November. Only problem - running east without sunglasses!!

The pre-race briefing warned of treacherous conditions under foot especially the clay based mud, slippery bridges, stiles, steep steps etc.. Thanksfully I was wearing my RocLites! While other skated I could confidently run past. There were the odd handful of people at the the race briefing who admitted to not wearing trail shoes - ummmm!!!!!

The course was fantastic - a real variety of terrain: coastal path, shingle beaches, woodland trails/singletrack, farmland, cyclepath and a two mile section back along the beach to Charmouth. The only noteable section of tarmac was through West Bay and back through Charmouth to the finish (less than about a mile in total over a 26.5 mile course). The weather was definitely favourable but changeable from glorious sunshine and minimal winds to squally showers and strong winds. The memorable moments include the far reaching views (including from the trig point at Golden Cap), running through the autumn leaves around Langdon Hill with the sun streaming through the trees, the pounding waves on the shingle beach below West Cliff, a beautiful rainbow climbing up one of the steep sections of coastal path and the numerous fossil hunters complete with rock hammers on Charmouth beach.

Having gone through a rough patch about 4 miles from the end where any inclines were a struggle, i regained some energy at the end. The downhill section from Golden Cap was a blast and I managed to keep running (or was it just a jog?!) along the beach which seemed never ending except for catching a few competitors. The final challenge was to pick up rubbish from the beach and deposit it in the bin at the end - not much left by the time all the 10K and half marathon runners had already passed through but the full bin was evidence to everyones efforts. Well done guys for this great initiative.

Running into the finish felt a real achievement, especially having completed the OMM 2 weeks earlier. Awesome course. I definitely look forward to the next stage in 4 weeks time and the rest of the series, in my bid to complete Endurancelife's 7x7x7 challenge (7 marathons in 7 months).