| Event name: | Saucony Runners World Trailblazer (Forest of Dean) | BUPA London |
| Distance: | 10km | 10km |
| Number of runners: | 1000 | 10000 |
| Runners per wave: | 100 | 1000 |
| T-shirt: | Black technical | White cotton |
| Fastest times: | 41:50 (Women) 35:30 (Men) |
32:53 (Women) 29:21 (Men) |
| Underfoot: | Rocks, tree roots and forest path | Tarmac |
| Profile: | Undulating | Flat |
| Scenery: | Trees and bluebells | Buildings and landmarks |
| Soundtrack: | Birdsong and rustling leaves | Steel bands and cheering crowds |
| Atmostphere: | Humming | Heaving |
| Proportion of run spent weaving around other runners: | 0% | 95% |
| Number of times cut up by a weaving runner: | 0 | Lost count |
I finished the trailblazer looking forward to the next one. I finished BUPA London thinking never again. Massive events have a lot to recommend them, but they just aren’t my cup of tea.
abradypus 
Ok I’m sold. Will definitely try and make one of the Trailblazer series next year.
Assuming that TR24 doesn’t put us both off 10km trail runs for life, I’ll probably join you!
me too!
I know what you mean – part of the reason I opted not to do it this year. Lovely race, amazing atmosphere and running up the Mall is wonderful, but the crowds are awful. I did have a cold last year which did affect my performance slightly; that said, I’m sure I could have shaved off another minute had I not had to weave around so many people and got stuck behind people. Well done doing it in this heat though and the day after Trailblazer.
One advantage of the perishing heat today was that I wasn’t fussed about time, otherwise the weaving would have been even more stressful.
I hear you.
But… There’s an element that also says, why pay to do a 10k at all and why not just head out into the woods for a run?
Seriously, I know sometimes it’s good to have a ‘race’ to aim for or to motivate you but for most runners (obviously) there’s no chance of placing in top 3 or anything so especially if it’s an off-roader, no roads to close , police etc, what’s the appeal of it instead of just heading out on a self-measured course with a stopwatch.
(slightly tongue in cheek….maybe a future blog post in it… Why run ‘races’ and not just run?)
You can run with people, but at your own pace. You have marshals and signing to stop you getting lost. If you fall over, someone will notice and come to your aid. Mad axe murderers are less likely to attack someone in a pack. There are runners ahead of you that you can pick off. Someone else has done the research and the measuring. You don’t wimp out halfway round. You get bling.
… I think that just about covers it. 🙂
Hehehehehehe – all the reason I run races…I would say for the someone comes to your aid but, but secretly it’s for the bling!
🙂
I love this post