Andrew McEwan Reports on his Half Marathon in Devon

I have just got back from Beesands in south Devon today where I did the Endurancelife coastal half marathon. A fantastic event with stunning coastal scenary and a mixture of hilly rural paths. I finished 24th out of about 300 in 1 hour 56 minutes. The organisers promoted the event as the toughest marathon and half marathon in the country and (correctly) said it is more like a mountain marathon. The race information said to expect times of 30 mins and an hour slower than road half and full marathons respectively and my time certainly bore this out.
Organisation was good - the event was timed with chips which had to be inserted into a recording device at key points on the course and you got a print out of your times at the end.
The start was a bit of a scrum as after about 200m we all had to go through a narrow gate one at a time. I had started at the back and had to wait a frustrating 2-3 minutes before I could get going and even then I was trapped on a single file track for a mile or so before being able to start passing people. This event wasnt really about times and positions though - more about personal challenge.Anyone who had an ambition to get a good finishing time and position would want to make sure they got well to the front before the start.
The first half of the race followed the Devon coast path and was very steeply undulating and alternately stony and very slippy and muddy underfoot. I felt inadequately equipped in road shoes and most people were wearing off road or cross training shoes. I skated my way round fairly successfully though and only fell over once.
The second half of the race was faster with a couple of short stretches of road and mainly muddy (slippy) tracks. There were a couple more beastly hills - long and steep - and a couple of hairraising descents. The final descent into Beesands and short sprint to the finish line arrived very suddenly as there were no mile markers.
Once over the line we were given a medal, long sleeved t shirt and a meal consisting of chilli and rice which was very welcome.
All in all a real fun and challenging event for anyone looking to get off road although it is a long trip to get there (almost as far as Plymouth).

Andrew McEwen