A race at the birthplace of JK Rowling which totals an odd distance of 5.6k starting at one of the local primary schools. The course is over public paths and country lanes and is open to the public for the duration.
About the race
When: – 24 June 2017 @ 11.00am
Where: – St Mary’s School, Church Road, Yate, Bristol, BS37 5BG
Cost: – £7.00
Organisers website: – www.stmarysrun.co.uk
Yate was developed from a village into a town from the 1960s and is mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086. The name was derived from an old English word ‘giete’ meaning a gateway into a forest area. Right next to Race HQ, St Mary’s Church, dates from Norman times.
Race Aces
Nice country routes in places
A great race if you’re on a budget but still want a medal and a race atmosphere
Lots of goodies including sweets, medal and an air freshener
Race Unlaces
Strange distance! 5.6k isn’t a race distance that I can compare to any of my 5k race times
While the route is fairly scenic in parts, it’s an out and back course so there’s not many spectators around
It’s open to the public which means there’s plenty of opportunities for pedestrians to interrupt your running flow and it’s narrow in places where there are footpaths so you may get stuck behind some slower runners at times
My Race Stats:
Time: 34:16 | Mile splits: 10:09, 9:24, 10:17, 4:15
Position: 100/165
Total runners: 165 | Fastest Male: 19:38 | Fastest Female: 27:01 | Slowest: 51:55
Distances from Major Cities
London: 2hr 18min ~ 110 miles | Birmingham: 1hr 39min ~ 90 miles | Bristol: 32min ~ 12 miles | Cardiff: 1hr 2min ~ 45 miles | Exeter: 1hr 42min ~ 90 miles
Next event: 8 June 2019
Overall star rating:
Conclusion
It’s obviously a cheaper race and you definitely get what you pay for but that doesn’t make it a bad race. It’s not chip timed but timed manually and race HQ was a bit underwhelming crossing the finish line due to the nature of the smaller number of runners.
The route was not too bad but you can find yourself stuck behind slower runners especially at the beginning due to narrow footpaths. This is probably the smallest race I’ve ever done, and for someone that wants to get into racing but may be a bit nervous, this is a brilliant introduction to races. It was a well organised event and there was a lot of encouraging local spirit with local businesses supporting the race.
Would I run it again? I probably would but I am a bit more partial to the bigger races.
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
Thanks for writing about this as I’ve never ran a small race and often wonder about them.
Author
I think some of the smaller races can be really fun, as long as you don’t care too much about the medal (I usually do haha). I’d highly recommend giving on a try – they’re usually much cheaper to enter too!
Yes I’m going to have to go looking and see what I can find around me.