The event sees competitors take on a 2 lap course, finishing directly in front of the stunning stately home. The race starts and finishes in front of the house and heads through the school grounds until a right turn onto a quiet country road. At the end of the first and second lap you run through the beautiful Westonbirt House gardens. The finish straight is a spectacular stretch in the house gardens, culminating in a finish line directly outside the Westonbirt House ~ Race description from official website
About the race
When: – Friday 4 August 2017 @ 19:30
Where: – Westonbirt House, Westonbirt, Nr. Tetbury, Glos, GL8 8QG
Cost: – £24.22 unattached
Organisers website: – www.dbmax.co.uk (there is a great promotional video on here of the race)
Westonbirt House 10k Map ~ Garmin
Westonbirt Race Map and Mile Markers ~ Garmin
Westonbirt 10k Elevation Chart ~ Strava
Race Facts
Westonbirt House is an Elizabethan style, Grade I listed country house which belonged to the Holford family from 1665 until 1926. Since 1928, the house has been occupied by a girls’ boarding school.
There is also an Easter (March) and a Winter (December) race at Westonbirt House.
Race Aces
Race packs are sent via post and it’s a chip timed race
Free parking on site
The race finish line is up the beautiful steps leading to Westonbirt House. When you’re racing to the finish, the spectators cheering you on is amazing and you feel like a rock star.
The medal is also a bottle opener (and why not!) #finishinthebar
Race HQ is absolutely beautiful. You get the chance to look around the gardens which are fantastic and go into Westonbirt House where they had stalls and the bar is open for anyone to enjoy a drink.
Race Unlaces
The race finish line is up the beautiful steps leading to Westonbirt House! Who doesn’t love the final push of a race going up a bunch of steps. It was all I could do not to trip over in front of all of the spectators who line each side of the steps.
Personally, I’m not a massive fan of 2 lap courses. I always feel really defeated seeing the 2km sign quickly followed by the 8km sign and thinking ‘gosh I’ve got a long way before I’m back here again’.
Race is on open roads and at times there was busy traffic down the country lanes. At one point we had a giant bus drive past us
No headphones allowed due to the open road
My Race Stats:
Time: 1:01 | Pace: 10:05 | Mile splits: 9:59, 9:18, 9:57, 10:38, 10:19, 10:16, 1:20
Position: 410/597 | Gender position: 196/352
Total runners: 597 | Fastest Male: 34:35 | Fastest Female: 39:10 | Slowest Finisher: 1:37
Watch my YouTube running vlog below
Organisers’ Social Media Information
Instagram: dbmax_timing | Twitter: @dbmaxevents
Official hashtags: #finishinthebar #dbmaxselfie
Distances from Major Cities
London: 1hr 45 | Birmingham: 1hr 30 | Bristol: 35 min| Cardiff: 1hr | Exeter: 1hr 45
Next event: 30 March 2018
Overall star rating:
Conclusion
Overall I thought this was a really charming race. Westonbirt House and the surrounding gardens are just stunning and race HQ is a delightful place to be, especially on a hot sunny day as it was on the day that I raced; my spectator enjoyed the atmosphere and the House and gardens. The race medal was attractive, well made and it looked great with my collection of medals (even if I couldn’t open a bottle with the bottle opener on it!). The only downsides for me were that it was a 2 lap race, of which I don’t enjoy so much, and while the country lanes were quite scenic there was also traffic on the roads. People would shout ‘car’ when there was a car coming and that was your cue to run tight against the embankment, which isn’t ideal if you’re trying to overtake another runner.
Would I run it again? Possibly. I saw the Winter medal and it looked splendid so I’d be tempted to run that one and also the Easter one to add to my collection but race-wise, I’m glad I did it, but I don’t think I’d run it again based solely on the route itself.
Please note that the above opinions on the race are my own and based upon my own running skill level (I would consider myself to be an average runner) and while I’ve made every effort to ensure anything contained within this post is accurate, please check the race organiser’s website for full information.
If there’s any more information about the race that you’d like to add or ask, please leave a comment below
* I’d also like to thank my spectator who came with me to this race. I know you love it really but thanks for always trying to get the best video of me finishing, even if sometimes it is accidentally of the ground xxxxxx
