Last Tuesday was the first Trail Challenge of 2008, organised by SLOW, in Bushy Park, one of London’s Royal Parks. I volunteered to be course planner, to get some planning and organisational experience ahead of a couple of races I will hopefully be putting on later this year. This meant I didn’t get to run, as I was out putting out controls and guarding them. However, it was a good opportunity to take some photographs on what was another warm and pleasant summer’s evening.
As is traditional for the Bushy Park race, the route included an (optional) water splash, which I was surprised to see most (~70%) of competitors taking – as it was early in the race, and not that shallow!
The first control was also quite a spectator friendly one – beside the Duck Pond. The local residents (i.e. the aforementioned ducks) weren’t too happy with the crowd of runners suddenly appearing, and noisily reclaimed their spot once the racers had moved on. The park was, as usual, brimming with wildlife, with several large herds of deer providing an unmarked obstacle. I also spotted a few regal swans and a large heron.
More details about the race – you can also see the routes I planned from here.