The Shipton Star

I'm sat typing this blog with tears streaming down my face....not because I'm sad, but because 'something' out there has irritated my eyes sooooo much that they won't stop running!!

I'm telling you this because a) I want some sympathy and b) I need to apologise for the awful spelling etc, because I can't see what I am typing.

SS and I have spent 26 miles plodding along Salisbury Plain (yes, MILITARY Salisbury Plain), and whether it's pollen, dust, or just plain old bullets, there is 'something' out there which has got us....she has sniffed and snuffled all day, I've just cried.....

We entered the 'Shipton Star', a marathon based around the village of Shipton Bellinger in the heart of Salisbury Plain. It didn't bode too well when we couldn't find the start at 7.45am this morning though.....

The website instructions told us that the start was from the village hall, in Shipton, and the organisor, a man who I shall call Fred, as his name was Fred, told us it was on the High Street. So we drove up the High Street, and down, and down the High Street and up, and there was no village hall. So I phoned Fred....who was VERY grumpy and he told me it was definately on the high street and that I "couldn't possibly miss it'.....

So SS and I drove up the High Street again.....and down the High Street....and by way of a change we parked the car and WALKED up the High Street, and guess what?? Yep, no village hall! So we asked a local...... and the village hall was up the High Street, turn left  onto Bulford Road, and then a sharp right...poor Fred, not only was he VERY grumpy, he was also geographically challenged!!

I was going to tell him too, until we got to the village hall, parked and actually met him, he was very tall,  and very scary looking.....

Anyways, SS and I checked in, got our first route map and headed off....

You had a choice of route for this marathon - you could either do eight smaller loops, each returning to the central checkpoint, or 4 longer routes, of roughly 10-11km each, so we opted for those - less time with Fred!
The terrain was very varied, chalk tracks, gravel tracks, long grass, shooting ranges, wooded copses, forests, steep ascents, scary slippery descents-at one point 18%, boggy clay puddles, but it was fantastic, the sun shone all day, and even though we could hear the tanks and the soldiers on the shooting ranges - we survived to tell the tale.

Mind you, the last bullet was a little close.....so we were  the first ones back!

We have certificates, badges, and even a few empty cartridges to prove our near misses, what a great day out!