Gruesome Twosome Virtual Half-Marathon

By Tom Aitchson

What better way to kick start the New Year than running round the Lincolnshire Wolds in freezing temperatures at 9:30 in the morning along with my teammate Nigel Denton and the Andes (Mr Steel and Mr Dickerson)?

It’s called a 'twosome' but what’s better than two heads that don't know the way round? Three heads, and Andy Dickerson with the route cleverly planned out on the Ordnance Survey Map app on his phone. We started out in the small village of Swallow and from there on everything was an adventure - the snow started almost instantly and lasted for an incredible 10 minutes. Lucky this was as bad as it got, as the conditions were perfect for this time of year. No rain, a slight breeze, and the temperature made most of ground frozen but not rock solid, the only real exception being from where horses had travelled with one section still confusing me. How on Earth do you get a horse up that narrow path?

It was very eerily quiet and we didn’t see a single soul for the first half of the race and even then in total we must of only seen a half dozen walkers, 3 horses and a hare. We had a good pace going throughout only stopping so that Andy could check the map making sure that we never went astray which never happened thanks to his great planning and a coffee break/wardrobe change for Andy Steel. The route itself is pretty challenging (hence the name I guess) with enough elevation to keep you on your toes.

It’s a shame for obvious reasons that the main race couldn’t go ahead but this is definitely something that if you wanted to push yourself you need to do it twice - to scout the area first. I will most certainly be looking to sign up for it when the time comes. Also the beanie hat is worth the fee alone!