The Salisbury 10 Mile road race is the City of Salisbury Athletics & Running Club's flagship event and this April runners were lucky enough to miss the rain, wind and snow and were instead treated to perfect sunny race conditions.

A popular event with Alton Runners, twenty club members made the journey to Salisbury and took their place along the start line. Despite a few hills, the race was well-received and kept runners in good spirits, as member Jane Scrase describes, “the weather was perfect, with sunshine all the way and beautiful views. I did surprisingly well and was able to keep running even up the steepest slope!”

The route follows a scenic path north of Salisbury following the banks of the River Avon through the gently undulating Woodford Valley with views of the cathedral spire on the return leg. It is this scenery most appreciated by runners, as Philip Scrase comments, “This is one of best races in the Hampshire Road Race League, with lovely countryside, nice villages and in the last two miles you can see the Cathedral spire. Although I am past the age of running PB's, I was very happy with my time.”

Clare Read was equally stoical about her race time, “Although my time gets slower as the years pass, I wasn't disappointed and just about made my target time of 1hour 30mins. But times don't matter as this is such a pretty run, the sun was shining and we all had terrific company. It's good to be able to just keep running!”

Not past the age of personal bests is Rachel Walsh, who was the first club female to cross the finish line, “The run was beautiful! Surrounded by fields as we ran in the sunshine, we even saw some deer running up the field. I got my 10 mile personal best time, so was very pleased and also got a lovely T-shirt too! I would definitely do this again”

Another runner to recommend the race is Ian Urquhart “It really was the ideal conditions for running and as ever we were lucky enough to have great scenic views on the route. This is the 4th year I've done this race and it is still one of my favourite courses. It’s an undulating course and you know when you get to the Alpacas that you've got to the top of the last hill, ready for a gentle slope down towards the finish line! I would certainly recommend it”

Some runners race to challenge themselves, some for the social aspect, some for the views and some to break personal records… but if we’re honest, most run for cake. By all accounts therefore, Abbie Tarrant had a very successful race, ticking all the boxes along the way, “It was an absolutely beautiful course, running through some stunning Wiltshire countryside. It wasn’t anywhere near as hilly as I was expecting, which was a nice surprise and I got an unintentional PB by over ten minutes, which I was really pleased with. This was made even better by finishing with champagne and chocolate cake!”

www.altonrunners.co.uk