Run through vineyards
Event date: 11.09.16
Location: DENBIES WINE ESTATE
Distance: 21 km
Route: mainly hilly, cross country
Sundays means a long run for my Marathon training. When I realised that actually in my trainings plan another Half Marathon would fit in perfectly, I signed up for the Bacchus Half. My colleague Angela was running it with her sister and husband. I thought it would be fun to run together.
Pic: Sisters Angela, Cathryn and me.
Pic : There were Doctors, Policemen, Bananas in Pyjamas and Sabine the Cat!
Fancy dress everywhere! 90% were in a fancy dresses and I felt this going to be so much fun! I dressed up as I was raising money for a charity Princess Alice Hospice. I managed to raise around 200,- for a good cause.
It was a hot and sunny day and I was excited about running through this lovely country side. Once I started running I realised how challenging the vineyards and fields were. My friends were racing and it was hard to keep up as so many people were running and the paths were narrow.
Every 2 miles there was a water station and wine tasting! That’s what this race was famous for! Already at the start line I saw runners with a wine glass in their hand. And at the water/wine stops I understood why. There were just enjoying a day out and the wine on the way.
The first stop we passed as there were too many runners. The second we all stopped and had a taste of wine. It was a medium dry withe wine. Running in the heat I did carry a water bottle with me the whole time. A sip of wine didn’t effect me at all. The next wine stop had a rose which I really enjoyed. Chasing Angela and friends up the hill was challenging. I thought we would take it more easy especially with bit more wine :-).
The hills were brutal. It was up hill, further up and another hill! Ok on top of the hill I got it! This beautiful view was amazing and I decided I slow down a bit and enjoy the rest of the race. On the same time my legs were tired as I really pushed it. Quick break.
The top water station had also lots of food and a live band was playing.
Pic: A fun medical first aid station!
Last wine top before the finish where I spent 5min chatting and enjoying a medium body red wine. We all had a few shots and felt our super power coming back for the remaining 2 miles. Cheers!
Mainly down hill and trough the woods until I reached the finish line.
Well done! They were such strong runners finishing their first ever Half in 1:19 min!
So lovely to meet Cathryn Dresser (GBBO). Could have eaten lots of her lovely cakes post run.
A yummy roast and another glass of wine was waiting for us!
THIS WAS THE TOUGHEST HALF I HAVE EVER DONE!
Those hills and I didn’t train any hills really. I pushed it and it was such a hot day. Funnily my ankles were ok and I thought I might be a bit soar the next few days. But I felt exhausted the whole week.
I can recommend to run this Half trough the vineyards but take it more as a fun run.
Dress up and enjoy the wine.
