Mendip Marauder

Like the Cotswolds' slightly more streetwise, alternative cousin, the Mendip Way features the spectacular Ebbor and Cheddar Gorges, the brutal climb up Wavering Down through King's Wood, incredible views over the Somerset Levels and to the circular Cheddar Reservoir, and then England's smallest city, Wells, with its magnificent cathedral. Thanks to the ongoing work of the Mendip Hills Fund, this area has become better signposted but we do provide additional marking to help you stay on the right track. Starting at the Market Town of Frome (for the whole of the Mendip Way) or from Wells (for the West Mendip Way only) you will run through a real smorgasbord of Somerset scenery. If you like hills then you will find plenty to enjoy here, but either way you will be amply rewarded for climbing the hills with views to breathe life into tired legs and then a downhill cruise to help get your strength back. Some particularly scenic parts of the course are Cranmore Tower (the highest point on the whole route), the amazing panoramic views from Wavering Down, the quarries and forests of Black Rock Nature Reserve, Ebbor Gorge and the lush pine forests of Rowberrow, but this route is absolutely jam packed with stunning locations. There are many wonderfully scenic short runs but all in a sequence one after the other to create a kind of montage of trail running wonderment. Once you've run in the Mendip Hills you'll only have one question - "When can I come back?" You will finish at the huge sandy expanses of the beach at Uphill, just outside Weston-Super-Mare; there will be a coach to take you from there to the race start in the morning. Here you can relax on the sand and enthuse about the Mendip Way with your fellow finishers until you're ready to move on. With over 5,000 ft. of ascent for the 50 miler, and over 4,000 for the 30 miler, this is certainly not a flat route and will provide a challenge, but with rolling hillside, pretty woodland, quarries, atmospheric villages and a whole lot more you will often be too busy enjoying the views to think too hard about how tired you are. This is quite a similar race to Ham & Lyme; if you enjoy one you are likely to enjoy the other.