16^th September 2018

The Purbeck 16 is part of the Purbeck Outdoor Festival (link : https://thepurbeckrunningfestival.co.uk/the-purbeck-16/) and run alongside the Purbeck Marathon. Its run as part of a weekend of activities centred in Swanage on the Isle of Purbeck that includes a Nordic Walking and Mountain Biking race held on the Saturday. The running races are held under UKA rules for cross country.

I’ve spent many happy holidays in the Isle of Purbeck and wanted to challenge myself to this stunning course, having already run parts of it over various years.

The race itself is held at 10:00 on Sunday with the marathon runners going off 30 minutes earlier to prevent congestion. The field of runners was around 200 for the marathon and 250 for ‘the 16’ and the early part of the course is too narrow for a much larger field.

The start and finish are around half a mile apart but both in the town centre and there is a bag drop on the start which they transport over to the finish line later. Number collection is on the day or from 16:00 the previous day. No race-specific parking but plenty of pay-and-display spaces at the start.

Kicking off from the downs above Swanage the course goes down the clifftops of the Jurassic Coast. There are no race specific facilities at the start but the organisers have arranged the beach toilets to be opened early and a couple of the beachfront cafes also open early to catch the passing trade. A short walk from the registration tent to the top of the downs for the mandatory safety briefing – a warning that they are quite strict on this – although chip timed, no late start is allowed for – miss the safety briefing and you are DNS’d.

It’s a pretty unique briefing; key messages were;

• The sheep and cows are friendly. The bulls less so.
• It’s a mixture of National Trust land and military firing ranges (for the marathoners), litter dropping is punishable by death and straying from the marked path on the ranges flirts with a DNF of explosive proportions.
• When crossing the local steam railway, marshals will instruct you to stop – ignoring them is an immediate DQ, irrespective of whether you are the lead runner or last runner.
• Every year there are diversions for various reasons. Obey the signs, not your map or memory from previous years.
• The Purbeck 16 is 17.1 miles and the Purbeck Marathon is 27 miles.

What they perhaps failed to mention was that the initial couple of miles also were pretty close to the edge of the world famous Jurrasic Coast cliff face, and this necessitates the split start. Much of this section is thankfully fenced and there is very little danger, but tripping could be a scary moment, as I subsequently experienced.

Before going into more detail I have to say this is simply the most stunning, most picturesque race I’ve every done. The scenery flows from cliff tops to chocolate box countryside, moorland and beach; in amongst the effort and strain, you can lift your eyes and be stunned all the time by the scenery.

The Race

A short haul uphill from the downs gets you to the up and down section of the Jurrasic Coast clifftops – a series of switchback paths of various quality; some wide gravel paths, and others just a collection of parallel sheep tracks. Overtaking is difficult in many sections and speed necessarily slows to take account of the rocky terrain, roots, stiles and gates. Patience is required here and some quick feet rather than long strides.

The course profile at this point is a series of short sharp downhills punctuated by easier uphills, but this is quite challenging stuff for a flatlander.

The views are magic, sweeping views of the Channel and big cliff faces, red faced runners and tourists out for a quiet morning stroll. The fields are grazed by cattle who were completely unperturbed and the bulls completely docile, despite the dire warnings.

There is one particularly savage uphill section towards Worth Matravers followed by a gentle and increasingly less gentle downhill road section past the famous Square and Compass pub, full of merry drinkers.

(The Square and Compass is a legendary local pub serving both Cider, Dorset Pasties and Dorset Apple Cake through a hole-in-the-wall bar .. and nothing else. Its only a question of what kind of Cider you want; thoroughly recommended).

The less-gentle downhill section descends into a mad steep gravelly path which levels out just before Kingston where the Marathon course splits off toward the deserted village of Tynham. The ’16 mile’ route continues through farmland roads and public footpaths to the village of Corfe Castle with fine views of the eponymous castle.

The railway crossing was clear for me and I was able to cross without the hoped for mandatory stoppage. A small section of field-edge running brought me to the base of Nine Barrow Downs, the last third of the course. This is a serious prospect for tired legs – a four mile continuous uphill section of the Purbeck Hills, its chalk paths and downland underfoot (welcome relief from the previous 2 miles of road) but has plenty of opportunity for a stumble on the protruding flints and crumbly chalk.

As I reached the top of the Nine Barrows a spectacular view of the Isle of Wight and Swanage became visible. At this point I was passed by the lead Marathon runner who eventually finished with a time of 3:00:20, who didn’t seemed to have even broken a sweat. Because of the small field there were often periods where there was no other runner visible but on the downland you can expect to see a strung out line of runners toiling up to Godington Hill. Other sections of the course can be a bit lonely – so it pays to know your own pace rather than depend on picking up on someone else’s speed.

The descent from Godington to the base of the Devils Trencher is another mad chalk-and-flints path which takes fast feet and a reasonable degree of balance to be done at pace; if in doubt, or tired, just slow down a bit here. A slightly poorly signposted section underneath Ballard Down is narrow twisty and extremely rutted – its possibly the only part of the course I could complain about in terms of marshalling and signage, especially with no-one to follow.

The final two miles onto the beach front at Swanage were on gently descending roads, until the finish in the Sand Pit playing field overlooking the beach. Support from holiday makers was good in this section, as it had been throughout.

The Finish

The finish was well organised with plenty of water, homemade cakes, and a goodie bag, medal and T-Shirt, music and toilets. I think given the size of the field this was an impressively organised race and if the goodie bag wasn’t as generous as the race entry fee would suggest, I can’t find any complaint.

Good Points

• You won’t find a more scenic route, and in sunshine its absolutely spectacular
• Well marshalled for the most part, with enthusiastic support from locals and holiday makers
• Well positioned St Johns ambulances en-route for treating bumps and scrapes
• A nice local feel with solid professional organisation and well thought out (cafes opening early etc).

Bad Points

• In the rain it will be slippery and difficult as only chalk can be
• Occasional problems with waymarking (apparently down to cattle chewing the signs)
• In some sections the steepness and bad ground can be quite hazardous – you do need to pay close attention to avoid (what would be) a painful fall.
• Absolutely no good at all if you want a measured 16 mile race. The total distance and course details vary from year to year; you have to accept that as a part of the charm.

My Race

Strenuous from the start, it was a very challenging run. I eventually clocked 2:35:34 at 30^th place but it was as much as I could do to keep running in the last couple of miles. I found it a serious endurance challenge … but the scenery, and those pasties …