In my search to fill a gap I came across the ‘Mendip Marauder’ which is a 50 mile event along the Mendip Way from Frome to ‘Weston’ (Weston-Super-Mare) organised by the excellent Albion Running. I signed up and planned a weekend getaway to Weston… The organisers arranged for transport from the finish to the start which made the logistics very easy. I’d stay overnight on Friday, get the bus to the start and run back to Weston.
At 6am on the Saturday I was sitting comfortably at the front of the bus with a modest number of other runners. We had about an hours journey and the time passed by quite quickly as I tried to sleep a bit more whilst occasionally chatting with the runners around me as we talked about the races and events we’d done and, joked with the driver, who was getting frustrated at the sensor on the bus that was telling him he was ‘over the white line’ on the country roads (no way he wouldn’t be over the line in a bus!). One of the runners was a chap called Dan whom, unbeknown to us both at the time, I’d spend the whole day with.
When we arrived, we alighted the bus on quiet side street in Frome where Dave, the race director, was waiting for us. From the bonnet of his Corsa (I think) he preceded to register the runners and hand out race numbers. It made me chuckle as it couldn’t get more lowkey than that. It was super efficient though (who needs a table when a car bonnet will do the job) and he greeted each one of us with humour, telling runners their number was their finishing position (unfortunately for the number 49 runner!). After this we hung around for about an hour until the race briefing. Here Dave continued to entertain and had the 49 runners and few spectators in stitches as he told jokes of the calibre you’d find in a wedding speech. As he said, there wasn’t much to say about the race, and he just kept on cracking jokes for ten minutes (do you know the one about what ‘Love’ in tennis means?) before concluding with “I’ll leave you in silence now until we start”. About a minute later he’d counted us down and set us off on our adventure along the Mendip Way.
We began with a jog up a slight hill and along some fields as made our way onto the East Mendip Way and out of Frome. After the fields the pack of runners started separating as we ran in single file alongside a river which felt enchanted. Really dark, atmospheric woodlands weaved along an old river with stone formations. I loved it, I love that initial feeling of freedom in a race when I run somewhere new to me.
Somewhere along here in the first few kms I caught up with Dan (remember him from the bus…) and we started chatting again. Dan is a local to Weston and this was his second time running the race. Besides being excellent company throughout, he doubled up and played the dutiful tour guide for me for 11 hours. Throughout the day Dan would tell me where we were, where we were going, what we could see, pointed out landmarks in the distance and gave me insights and history for the many points of interest we passed along the Mendip Way. It was brilliant! It was amazing to find out and hear all this information as I otherwise would have had my head down looking at the trails and not really absorbed where I was and the scenery around me! Thanks Dan.
For the first 20 miles or so of the race we followed the follow the East Mendip Way. The trails took us through fields (including a huge corn field) and forests, ascended up onto the Mendip hills and gave us spectacular views of the surrounding area. Like that first few kms, it all felt very old and ancient. It was also super peaceful with hardly anyone about other than the occasional dog walker. The trails where ours for the day! After what felt like no time at all we’d passed through the first aid station (outside the Poacher’s Pocket pub in Shepton Mallet) where we were supported by fabulous volunteers and made our way around the market town. The race markings started to get a bit ‘iffy’ here and we followed one off in the wrong direction. the direction we were heading did not align with the GPX route so we back tracked to the marking we’d followed. Through a hedge I could see another marking in the other direction. I went and adjusted the rogue marking and it had clearly been moved, it was loosely tied on a tree branch and you could see that the tape had previously been tied in a knot (probably on something else). Back on track we followed the route towards Wells.
Wells, despite being small, is a city. As Dan pointed out to me, historically settlements needed to have a Cathedral to gain city status (although this is no longer a requirement). And Wells has a cathedral. We ran down into the city, alongside and around the Bishops Palace and Gardens into the city centre. Here there was a market on and the streets were bustling with activity as we passed through the city walls to the Cathedral. It was, as most Cathedrals are, spectacular with Morris Dancers outside doing their thing. I made a mental note to come back here one day and explore the city. Outside the Cathedral we stopped for a quick photo and then carried on to the next aid station where we had the full service from the volunteers as we were the only runners there. We stuffed our faces before making the short climb back to the trails.
A few kms later we were running by the Wookey Hole which is a series of caves and adventure activities. Dan told me all about them and the legend of the Witch of the Wookey Hole, whom as legend goes was blamed for any and everything that went wrong in the area. The whole area was full of interesting places and next up we ran through Ebbor Gorge and woods with fascinating rock features as we began to climb back up to the Mendip hills and the West Mendip Way. The West Mendip Way is more ‘lumpy’ than the East Mendip Way and the route now had us running up and down along the hills.
After a nice long descent we passed a few runners and made our way to Draycott, Cheddar, the 3rd of the 5 Aid stations along the route. Like the two before this was expertly staffed and incredibly well stocked with a huge range of sweet and savoury options. The volunteers were all fantastic, full of energy and enthusiasm and even tolerated my terrible jokes and humour. We rested a little longer here to make sure we’d eaten plenty and I spent a few minutes taping up some patches on my feet that were feeling a little sore. After I gorged myself on many jam sandwiches and prawn cocktail crisps I set back out and could see Dan ahead of me on one of the biggest climbs of the day.
From here the route took as along the hills just outside of Cheddar and we passed through Cheddar Gorge and near the famous rock formations. Naturally here it started to get a but busier as we encountered more tourists and walkers out on the trails as we made our way up and down on the Mendip hills. Now the weather was cooler and the sky a little grey and overcast, but up on top of the hills the breeze was very welcomed as it cooled us down in the muggy temperatures. The trails here were beautiful and there were plenty of view points that Dan pointed out to me including Glastonbury Tor way off in the distance and Cheddar Reservoir below us. We were still chatting the whole way about our lives and all things. We had a good ol’ grump about life, challenges and people. We aligned on many things especially people’s inconsiderate and entitled nature. Those ‘bastard people’ we kept saying and chuckling to ourselves. Throughout I was amazed at how calm and happy Dan was. He has such a cool head on his shoulders and positive outlook to dealing with challenges that life throws at you.
We dropped off the hills at Shipham and were greeted with the penultimate aid station, where I had the special service of having jam sandwiches tailor made for my liking! The next section was the shortest of the route as we made our way to Webbington. Like much of the course before it though it was very scenic and had plenty of ‘ye olde style’ boundary walls and stiles to climb over. I swear as we progressed these became higher and higher and increasingly more difficult to clamber over (nothing to do with my agility I’m sure!) At the last aid station we were greeted with photographs and the most systematic and organised aid station you could find. Leaving the aid station we made our way across the M5 motorway and started the climb up to Badger Hill, the last of the big climbs on the route. Up top Dan made sure I took a moment to admire the view of Weston and the sea (finish line!) in the distance, but to also turn back and look and appreciate the ‘ridge’ of the Mendip hills we’d run along. He was right, it was great to take a moment and let it all sink in. Even in the cloudy evening, it was a beautiful view back over Somerset.
We continued our journey over the last few km of the Mendip hills from Badger Hill the route was mostly downhill as the track slowly became gravel paths which became tarmac road and eventually the sand as we arrived at Uphill beach and the very modest finish ‘line’ (sign). A small crowd clapped us in and Dave handed us our medals and congratulated us. He offered us both a lift back to the car park where we’d taken the bus from in the morning. We declined though as, with my expert tour guide, I now knew it was quicker to walk the few kms back along the beach to the hotel.
The Mendip Way is absolutely beautiful with incredible views, varied terrain and lovely villages and towns along the way (and many excellent pubs according to Dan!). I really, really enjoyed this run and thought that Dave and Albion Running were bloody fantastic and put on an incredibly well supported event. I’ve got my eye on some of their other events in Somerset now!
Run With Dai 