By: Karen Clark.

Race Date: 9th June, 2024.

Venue: Sherwood Pines, Nottinghamshire.

This event, organised by Rasselbock is a looped course running for 6 hours.

The idea is to dress in bright colours. (The Striders’ vest is bright!).

I booked onto this event as I hadn’t run at Sherwood Pines before and I wanted to get a feel for running in the grounds, before the inaugural marathon that I had booked onto in July.

The event starts at 9:00am, at the event village, which was set up next to Go Ape and in close proximity to onsite facilities.

After a safety briefing the event was underway, with many runners choosing to wear bold and bright outfits and/or run with face paint. I started out in a brightly coloured tutu and decorative coloured bracelets and necklace. I sounded like a cricket running through the woodland and the tutu was too itchy. All my accessories were discarded at the end of lap 1. I favoured the Striders’ kit, which was recognised by a lot of spectators out on the course and members of the public out for a day trip to Sherwood Pines.

The course is a 5.79k loop, which takes in grassy paths, woodland and trail paths. Runners or walkers can complete as many laps as they want within the time-frame. Marshals were out on the course at key points, cheering-on the runners and walkers.

After each lap there is the option to continue straight into another lap or stop for a break in the event village. This was a tranquil place to relax and chat to fellow participants, whilst stopping to refuel. There were tables, benches to sit and chill, plenty of drinks and real food snacks, including cake, pretzels, crisps and fruit on offer. The only request from Rasselbock is take your own reusable cup, to save the planet.

Rasselbock team-up with Fearless for this event. There is an opportunity for retail therapy during / or at the end of the day to engage and purchase some brightly-coloured running gear.

Once runners/walkers have completed the number of laps they wish to do, in my case 6 laps, (34.72K) they ring the bell, to mark the end of their journey.

Participants were given a brightly-coloured gift bag, which contained a cupcake and a tea bag. Runners/walkers were invited to choose 3 items from the finishers table from a selection of drinks, crisps and chocolate.

Participants are given a bar code, allowing them to park on site all day for £5.00.

The race was won by Emma Peace (of no identified club) in 04:44:36 and Adam Davison (of no identified club) in 04:54:05, both runners had completed 9 laps (52.08 km)

Strider’s Result: