It was a beautiful day in the Forest. Daren Smith, James Dobbing, Alan Robertson & myself (Jules Boon) met up at 5 Acres for our day trip to Bath. As we came down the hill into Chepstow the sky was black & the rain began to fall. Daren & I looked at each other with a feeling of deja vu as the spectre of Pontypool loomed before us. Fortunately it was just a passing shower & we crossed the Severn Bridge in glorious sunshine again. Alan helped navigate us to the University where we met up with Scott Berry & then Richard Pegler. A quick coffee, registration, team photos & then we were off fighting our way through, elbows flailing everywhere to the sound of 400 men charging downhill.
James took the FoDAC lead early on and managed to hold on till the end finishing 183rd. I was second in 221st; hot on my heels was Daren (229th), then Rich (261st), Scott (305th) & new grandad Alan (330th). Conditions were good: cool & firm underfoot. We all said what a good course it was though we were surprised by how much climbing they’d managed to squeeze out of one field. Thanks to Vanessa Pegler-Marfell for being top FoDAC cheerleader & photographer. Well done guys great effort. Looking forward to doing it all again in Feb at Brecon when hopefully some more of you champions will join us in the Dursley Dozen warm-up race.