Following the official Wimbledon Common Half Marathon route, this picturesque course takes place in the stunning grounds of Wimbledon Common. The mixed terrain course, over a variety of dirt tracks, grass, and well-used pathways, is apparently "hilly in parts". Two laps of the course are required to reach the half marathon total distance. 

Actual Distance:  14.33 miles 

Total Duration:  1hr 53mins 47secs

Half Marathon Time:  1hr 44mins 41 secs

Blister Count:  +0 = 3  (blister strategy appears to be working)

I LOVE trail running! And I love hills. But this was the day I fell out of love (for a while anyway), with my usually ever-trustworthy Garmin Forerunner 255 watch...

Finding my way along the 13.1 mile routes had until now, been a bit of a breeze. With routes uploaded to my watch, I received regularly updates on which direction to be heading, when to turn off and when each turn was coming up. With half marathons #2 and #3 being organised events, this service was provided by the lovely course marshalls, making it virtually impossible to get lost.

So... as I geared up for #4, I did so with confidence of being able to successfully navigate this course. However... Garmin Navigation and trail running are not compatible! It can cope with runs that start at Point A and finish at Point B. But laps, loops, parallel tracks, paths crossing other parts of the route, it can definitely not handle! 

Still, the weather was much more favourable and fortunately the Common was not particularly busy, as the number of times I got re-routed, had to double-back on myself or stop to get my bearings, were probably outnumbered by the volume of expletives uttered whilst I clocked up additional and not exactly welcome extra mileage. What started out as a trail run resembled more of a fell run at certain points.

But... once I got the route figured out, what a route and what a gorgeous place to run. Dirt tracks, paths and fields - all more than sufficiently wide, well-maintained and surrounded by beautiful scenery. The quads are definitely starting to feel it, but other than that, the body seems to be holding up well.

A slower run, thanks in no small part to navigation issues, and a tough one as trail runs so often are. But another one in the bag and a route I would highly recommended (albeit, with a hard copy map).