The Bath Bristol Railway Races 50k – The Leadup
Using typical runner’s logic, I figured I wasn’t in marathon shape so I decided to move up to the 50k. OK, let me explain myself and tell me if you understand. I love the marathon. I love training for marathons. Everything about it including the running, the nutrition, tracking all my stats. Just everything about it. Mostly, I love the feeling of showing up to the race knowing I’m in top form.
I signed up for this Bath – Bristol Railway marathon ages ago; before I started developing this Achieve Running Club website and I had high hopes. Over the course of the last three months training went out the window. I needed to buckle down and deliver what I now consider an outstanding Runner’s website (check it out if you get the chance).
So when race weekend rolled around and I wasn’t in particularly great shape, and I heard they offered runner’s the option of changing race distance I knew that was my opportunity. I decided to go up to the 50k, where I wouldn’t put myself under any pressure. It was going to be painful, sure, but so would he marathon, so why not.
About the Bath-Bristol Railway Races – 50k Event
The event is very well ogranised, and not too many races would allow runner’s to change to a different distance on the morning, so that was a positive. However, it wasn’t until after I got home and checked the results that I realised that if you change distances, you don’t get an official time. I wasn’t bothered with my time, so that was fine, but I think that should have been made clear ahead of time.
The Bath-Bristol Railway Races – 50k Course
The aid stations were amazing. For a small event (about 2000 participants across all distances), this was outstanding. One of the best parts of running an ultra is taking on nutrition on the course is a little less difficult. I enjoyed something at every aid station whether it was water, electrolytes, flat coke, gu, fruit, or any of a wide selection of chocolate bars. The volunteers were also super positive and supportive. They really made the difference.
The course itself was just OK. It is on a public footpath along the railway which meant for the most part it was flat and fairly straight. However, being open to the public there were a lot of cyclists going at speed, families out for walks and quite a bit of foot traffic to navigate. The other pedestrians were manageable, but the cyclists meant that if you wanted to go around the pedestrians, you needed to watch behind to avoid getting knocked down.
The other thing that slowed down the runners on the course was the railway and road crossings. I believe there were three road crossings where we had to wait at lights while traffic went passed. I didn’t get caught at the railway crossings, but many people did. Overall, it was enjoyable and I’m really pleased to have it done.
However, one and done for me. Unlike many races I’ve competed in over the years, this one is a once off. Would I recommend it? If you weren’t concerned about a time then sure, it was fun, but definitely not one to go for a PB. Huge congratulations to all the runners who took part and a big thank you to the organisers who put so much effort into putting together an enjoyable run for all of us.
