The race started with a stretch along the pebble beach in to the full force of the wind during which I was glad of all these layers. It was only when the climbed the first really steep hill at Branscombe Mouth that I felt warm enough to pack my waterproof away in to a bumbag.
It was shortly after I realised that we had skipped straight from the 8 mile marker to the 10 and word was going around about the landslide, that someone counted me in 49th place. These two facts combined were enough to persuade me to up the pace a little on the road stretch. As we then wound up and down the muddy footpaths I started to pick off other runners.
The fabled bog wasn’t nearly as man-eating as I had been led to believe but perhaps I have different expectations given my orienteering background. Still, as we rejoined the coast at Branscombe again for another steep climb my legs were starting to tire. Perhaps not as much as others though as, come the steps up out of Beer I was still overtaking.
The run in to the finish was on the pebble beach once more which sapped any remaining strength. Still, the final results showed me in a respectable 28th place with a time of 2:27:52.
Overall the Grizzly was tamer than I’d expected even given the extra mud but it was still good fun and I look forward to running it again. Would also highly recommend the Highfield B&B in Axminster that we stayed in on the Saturday night.