“Vertical cliffs, mountains” – how we mocked Louise when she
reported back, having been the first brave Hubster to try out a CC6 (this one, Dibden), not long
after we joined Southampton Running Sisters.
Reason for mocking is that the New Forest has a few undulations, but is
a little more sedate in gradient than, say, Snowdonia, the Lakes, the
Cairngorms – even less hilly than Hampshire around QE Country Park (must try
that parkrun sometime).
But to be fair to Lou, she has a point. There are 2 sharp, steep climbs on this CC6
route plus a few long drag inclines. We
were all set to get wet, following the vast volumes of rain that have landed on
us over the last few weeks – but we stayed dry from above for the run. Like the last CC6, it adds onto the route
dodging around swamps and leaping over streams.
We started better than last time – the flag went up and
stayed up! And it looked super clean
thanks to some tlc applied by Louise.
Having told Louise I wasn’t going to be able to overtake any
others so wouldn’t be able to improve my place, I found a rare bit of speed
after a couple of miles – although 2/3 of the overtaken were blokes so no impact
there!
Marshals were great – well placed and very supportive. The route was very varied – the steep climbs,
equally steep downhills giving us a chance to practice crazy runner balance
arms (technical term). Gravel tracks,
mud, streams. Open forest, woods. And I loved having a clear view of the end
from about 500m so I could up my pace to a crowd pleasing glamorous sprint
(others may not recognise it as a print though – these things are all so
subjective….). Fab brownies amongst the
cakes.
Results - check out Claire D's 32 - a full 10 places ahead of the last CC6 and her season best! As a team, we're in 11th place with 2 left to go - so please do come & try out Dennywood - I can promise you it starts in the prettiest car park in the Forest....
All good – bring on the next one.
Claire D Position 32
Sarah N 37
Dawn 43
Donna 52
Gin 62
Louise 64
