The Uphill to Wells Relay is a 30 mile trail race following the West Mendip Way. It can be run as a five stage relay or as a single stage event.
Event Details
The Uphill to Wells Relay is an event organised every September by Mendip Hills Hash House Harriers. It's a single-day event covering 30 miles of off-road terrain. It is split into 5 stages (approx 6 miles each) and is typically completed as a relay team. There is also the option to run the entire distance as a pair (rather than solo), which is what I did this year.
The Route
The 30 mile route follows the West Mendip Way, starting on the beach at Uphill and finishing outside Wells Cathedral. Expect to cover gravel paths, rocky trails, muddy fields and sections of road. It's definitely a race for trail shoes!
This is a hilly course, with elevation of 4600ft/1400m. There are a couple of particularly big climbs - up to Crooks Peak and out of Cheddar Gorge.
The route is self-navigation. There is a map and instructions on the race website, but I've also put a GPX file below. It's definitely worth cross-referencing this with the website and making sure there have been no changes.
Training
I've taken part in this event for a few years, but always as part of a relay team. This was my first time completing the entire route. Ideally my training would have included lots of back-to-back long runs, route recces and hill work...
...Unfortunately, training didn't go entirely to plan. I only managed a handful of longer runs, the furthest being 19 miles. However, my weekly mileage was decent (average 40miles/week) with plenty of elevation most weeks. I also do weekly interval sessions which definitely helped from a fitness perspective.
A great way to train for this event is to actually recce some of the route. Not only does it prepare you for the terrain you'll be covering, but the event is self-navigation so it helps to be familiar with the route in advance.
Race Day
The race has multiple start times, with the idea being that everyone finishes at roughly the same time. Runners completing the whole route are generally encouraged to start in the first wave, at 10.30am.
The first leg (Uphill to Loxton) is definitely the easiest so we had a pretty fast start. There's a lot of tarmac compared to the rest of the route and no super steep climbs. Whilst this was a good chance to get faster miles in, I was a bit apprehensive about having another 30 miles to run so I was definitely having to slow myself down.
The second leg (Loxton to Shipham) is similarly speedy, other than the big climb up to Crooks Peak. I used this as my first opportunity to take on food and water. It seemed more sensible to power walk the ascent rather than to run it. Early in the race I used Veloforte gels and energy cubes for ease. I carried my own hydration vest and nutrition as although there are marshals and water at the end of each leg, there aren't proper 'aid stations' to rely on.
The third leg (Shipham to Cheddar) was the most enjoyable! For me, this section has the best trails. The trails in this section are technical so it's not necessarily fast, but if you have the confidence to run quickly over rocks and roots its a good opportunity to gain some time on other teams. The views are also pretty great as you run along the top of Cheddar Gorge.
I found the fourth leg (Cheddar to Priddy) the hardest, both mentally and physically. The climb out of Cheddar is steep and very, very long. I power walked most of this, and it felt like I was losing lots of time because of all the walking. Realistically I would have struggled to run uphill for that distance, but this is maybe where some extra hill training would have benefited me.
The fifth and final leg is nice as it is mainly downhill and I was very familiar with this part of the route. The one thing to remember is that there are two 'selfie spots' where you need to take a photo to prove you've taken the correct route - definitely not photos I want to share on the internet!! The last mile is particularly fast, racing towards the cathedral and across the finish line.
Official Time: 4:37:34
Position: 1st - course record!
(Running with Lester James)
Overall:
Pro's:
This is a friendly, local race with all proceeds going to charity.
It's a great value event - it cost just £15.00 for both myself and Lester to enter.
The route is excellent. I'm probably bias as I love the Mendip Hills, but it's a varied route and the climbs are rewarded with exceptional views.
You can enjoy the event as a relay team, and could opt to run just a leg or two.
This event has great prizes - the winners of each category receive a big hamper full of locally sources foods.
Con's:
This is a self-navigation race so ideally you need a good watch to upload the GPX file onto, or you need to recce the route.That being said, the route mostly follows the West Mendip Way so you can look out for blue arrows on stiles and footpath signs.
If you want to take on the entire route, you need to run as a pair as solo entries are not accepted.
The aid stations provide water refills but do not provide any nutrition, so you will need to carry your own supplies.
If you're thinking of signing up to this race and have any questions, feel free to send me a message. I'll be running Trail Escape from Bristol to Bath in two weeks!
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