An silly name for an un funny race, this race is censored on south london harrier site because of the name.

Oxted in surrey , a posh part of the county , residents were bemused as mikes vintage rover coughed and spluttered into the school car park , no one had ever seen a car that old ,still being driven , all other cars there were range rover goldfinch , on a 63 or personal plate , this set the scene as Mike barked orders to Neil and me as we put up the clock gantry for the 5th running of the Titsey Trail.

I said before that I would never run it again and was true to my word , as my pace could hardly be described as running. I’ve had an Achilles injury for too long which has prevented any training apart from a slow jog round  my golf course, not actually my own golf course, just the one I live near, the course is all off road, along side one hole of a different golf course, then through a cows field where one cow didn’t look impressed and moved slowly towards the runners. This improved my pace and I was into the narrow path of mud and more mud, single file restricted pace ,so I was able to hold back over 100 runners. When the course widens , we were into a 3k hill , total nightmare , it’s almost enough to make u quit and many walked or stopped for a rest. Not me, I carried on at 12 minutes a mile pace , eager to maintain my local elite status. After 4k we reached the summit , there wasn’t any snow but give it a couple of weeks. The next part is a wide loop similar to Banstead parkrun course and mostly flat to 6k. The last 4 k is all downhill or flat , I ran 4.06 between 7and 8 k as it is one long straight hill, the last 2k is back through the cows field , now safely over the other side of the course and then past the golfers again , I bet they just love their round spoilt by noisy runners. The titsey trail , whilst only 10k , it’s enough to test everyone , on the way up , you wonder why you are running , after 6 and all downhill to the finish, you get the answer, running is fun, even with a 100 in front of you, there are always some behind .