Cleeve Cloud Cuckoo Land 5 - race report
10:04am, 29th May 2025 | Cleeve Cloud Cuckoo | 3 Comments
Blog by Sorequads
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I think this might have been the first race I ever ran, way back in maybe 2009 at a guess. And it remains a firm favourite on the calendar. On the hill just above us, with plenty of local running friends in attendance, it is sociable, logistically very easy and in a stunning setting.
1.7M warm up in my trail shoes. Decided they’d had it and wouldn’t last the race! Could feel every stone underfoot and the various rips in the uppers had got to ridiculous state. Decided on an old school pair of adios adizero 5s instead, with 800M on the clock. Lightweight and agile, I reckoned they would be fine on the very dry trails.
Lined up perhaps a little too close to the front. One reason it is such a tough race is the uphill start means you are redlining right from the gun. Overtaken by a few and settled into about 16th over the first mile alongside the front side of Cleeve Hill.
Turning left, you head up and over the hill before the most technical part of the race - a steep descent on loose stone. I followed a CLC runner who seemed a good descender, but I don’t think it would have mattered which line I’d chosen. Starting to lose my footing on the scree-like surface, I am convinced I would have stacked it had we had any longer before the surer footing. Mind you, I seem to think that every year I do this.
Reach the washpool, the lowest point of the course on the Winchcombe side of the hill. And so it begins: the long and very steep climb. Really questioning myself during this and took a few walk breaks where I decided there was almost nothing in it vs running. Overtaken by the Second Lady, a Cheltenham Harrier, and saw a couple of mates half way up getting photos - not when I’m walking, lads! Surprised to see this mile come in at under nine minute, but I guess it does include some of the previous descent.
As we reach the top, and with two miles to go, another Harrier pulls up: Simon, with whom I have had some epic battles at this race over the year. We trade place during the only flatish mile of the course. Lovely grass underfoot and a maybe 20-second point at which it stops being so eye-bleedingly hard a race that you can look out towards the Malverns, Bannau Brycheiniog and more.
Onto the final climb, a sharp ascent to the trig point. Plenty of support up here but it really is one of those races when you are so relentlessly knackered and/or shitting yourself on the down that you can never quite muster a smile.
Knowing the Harrier has a good finish on him, I try to push on this up and then really let rip on the final half mile descent. 5:11 pace if GPS is to be believed!
15th, 39:46 for the 5.5M with 800ft ascent. Pleased enough with this. Not enough to trouble the prizegiving, but solid vs those at my level. And managed to finish fast which is never a bad thing.
Excellently organised by Cheltenham Harriers (the same guys who run my daughter’s athletics - where would we be without stalwarts like them). Race-themed water bottle at the end - filled! Ideal for the warm down. And a help yourself to a massive selection of unused race t shirts from years gone by.
Lovely couple of pints in the golf club garden during prizegiving - about a sociable as I get these days. As a midweek evening summer race, and for £8, it really is as good as it gets in my book.
1.7M warm up in my trail shoes. Decided they’d had it and wouldn’t last the race! Could feel every stone underfoot and the various rips in the uppers had got to ridiculous state. Decided on an old school pair of adios adizero 5s instead, with 800M on the clock. Lightweight and agile, I reckoned they would be fine on the very dry trails.
Lined up perhaps a little too close to the front. One reason it is such a tough race is the uphill start means you are redlining right from the gun. Overtaken by a few and settled into about 16th over the first mile alongside the front side of Cleeve Hill.
Turning left, you head up and over the hill before the most technical part of the race - a steep descent on loose stone. I followed a CLC runner who seemed a good descender, but I don’t think it would have mattered which line I’d chosen. Starting to lose my footing on the scree-like surface, I am convinced I would have stacked it had we had any longer before the surer footing. Mind you, I seem to think that every year I do this.
Reach the washpool, the lowest point of the course on the Winchcombe side of the hill. And so it begins: the long and very steep climb. Really questioning myself during this and took a few walk breaks where I decided there was almost nothing in it vs running. Overtaken by the Second Lady, a Cheltenham Harrier, and saw a couple of mates half way up getting photos - not when I’m walking, lads! Surprised to see this mile come in at under nine minute, but I guess it does include some of the previous descent.
As we reach the top, and with two miles to go, another Harrier pulls up: Simon, with whom I have had some epic battles at this race over the year. We trade place during the only flatish mile of the course. Lovely grass underfoot and a maybe 20-second point at which it stops being so eye-bleedingly hard a race that you can look out towards the Malverns, Bannau Brycheiniog and more.
Onto the final climb, a sharp ascent to the trig point. Plenty of support up here but it really is one of those races when you are so relentlessly knackered and/or shitting yourself on the down that you can never quite muster a smile.
Knowing the Harrier has a good finish on him, I try to push on this up and then really let rip on the final half mile descent. 5:11 pace if GPS is to be believed!
15th, 39:46 for the 5.5M with 800ft ascent. Pleased enough with this. Not enough to trouble the prizegiving, but solid vs those at my level. And managed to finish fast which is never a bad thing.
Excellently organised by Cheltenham Harriers (the same guys who run my daughter’s athletics - where would we be without stalwarts like them). Race-themed water bottle at the end - filled! Ideal for the warm down. And a help yourself to a massive selection of unused race t shirts from years gone by.
Lovely couple of pints in the golf club garden during prizegiving - about a sociable as I get these days. As a midweek evening summer race, and for £8, it really is as good as it gets in my book.
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