The plan was to run the Delamere Half Marathon on Sunday. However, earlier in the week, unsurprisingly, given the snow and ice conditions, an email arrived informing us of the change:

“We have been on a site visit today and due to the ongoing snow and ice in the Delamere area the Forestry team have closed the Whitefield Car Park and the additional parking area at the Visitor Centre. The weather forecast indicates that the snow and ice will not have thawed by Sunday, so these car parking areas will not be reopened for the event.

*We have taken the decision to postpone the event. Whilst it is unfortunate and disappointing that we cannot go ahead with the race this weekend, your safety and your enjoyment must always come first.*”

Undeterred after dropping my daughter off at work on Saturday morning, I decided to go for a run anyway. While contemplating my route, I realised I had downloaded the Delamere Half Marathon route onto my watch. So, I decided to run it slowly to explore the route and forest in the snow. Note: I reversed the route because I didn’t want to run up Old Pale at the very end!

The route was generally well-maintained, with a pleasant layer of softer snow enabling you to run almost the entire distance, except for a few sections where water had frozen on the hills, necessitating cautious navigation. The majority of the route lay along the forest’s edge, with an impressive 5 miles of it being on tracks I had never encountered before. As I approached the end of my run, the more popular routes through the forest became more compacted snow, making them slightly more challenging to navigate.

Overall, I achieved my second-fastest half-marathon time (2 hours and 26 minutes), which I was delighted with, especially considering the challenging ground conditions. Despite the aching legs (and ankles - this was a first), I headed to the Farmers’ Arms, a local pub in Delamere, to treat myself to a well-deserved brunch!