Slaying The Dragon

Race Report by Dave Carnell

Sunday the 8th February saw the first running of the ‘Slay the Dragon’ race at Hinton St George in Somerset. Given the prevailing weather conditions this could have been called ‘Prancing on Ice’, but sensibly the organisers reduced the roundly 10K race to a more modest circa 5 miler, in order to avoid actually running on the worst bits.

After a jolly 1 mile walk (mostly downhill – real shame we couldn’t run this bit!) to the revised start point, the mixed field of over 70 runner types and foolish villagers lured into participating in the collective madness, all set off across a meadow covered in virgin snow.

The route then took us down muddy footpaths, alongside small streams, along quiet country lanes, across more snowy farm land and then temptingly close to the Dinnington Docks PH (rumoured to be well worth a visit). Temptation resisted, the final test and distinct sting in the tail was the steep ascent up the scarp face of the hill behind Hinton, the top of which led us to the improvised finish at the western end of the village.

All that remained was to then jog back the ½ mile or so to the village hall (a gentle down hill that would otherwise have provided good sport for the sprinter types), where the start and finish had originally been planned to be and where now a generous supply of cakes and warm refreshments awaited the returning competitors.

Despite the appalling weather beforehand and the treacherously icy conditions on the lanes leading to the village, this was a well attended event taking a scenic and varied route – one to recommend for the future.