When in Somerset, who not do the Bath Two Tunnels Half Marathon? That was Geoff Newton’s train of thought anyway when he lined up for the big event

These days I race to train, and needing to get some miles in, entered the August Bath Two Half Marathon, given that I was going to be in Somerset that weekend. The two tunnels are the 408m long Devonshire Tunnel and the 1672m long Combe Down Tunnel which were originally part of the Somerset and Dorset Railway, sadly axed by Beeching in the 1960’s. Sections of the line including the tunnels now form part of a cycleway with a tarmac surface and subdued lighting.
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The half marathon starts at the Brickfields Park on the outskirts of Bath, almost immediately joining the cycleway and passing through the tunnels; very pleasant on a hot day. It then drops off the track down a long flight of steps onto country lanes, passing through Monkton Combe, finally dropping onto the busy Kennet and Avon Canal by the Dundas Aqueduct.
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It was a nice scenic route for Geoff to enjoy

The towpath is followed all the way into Bath, 5 miles of mostly flat gravel path. Once in Bath, the gravel is replaced by tarmac and there follows a lot of changing from one bank of the canal to the other via bridges with stone steps up and down eventually joining the River Avon. An out and back diversion by the upstream river Avon follows. At the River / Canal junction the course follows the downstream riverbank with some zebra crossings to negotiate. With the end not far away, there is a pelican crossing of a busy road which adds an element of luck into the proceedings! A mostly uphill slog through residential roads follows and a final climb up into the park and the finish.
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Geoff ran well to finish as 1st M70 in 2:02:34

So, the course is very interesting and scenic. Its difficult to know where you stand overall during the race. The Half Marathon was started in four waves of about 150 runners per wave. There are however always enough people to run against. There were other races on the same day at 5km, 10km and Marathon distances, sharing parts of the course with us. All this done without the aid of timing chips! Not to mention a 4 X 5km relay and some kiddies races in the park, so age group prizes not awarded on the day and full results were available after 36 hours.
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The atmospheric tunnels gave the race rather a unique feel

The complexities of the route in the city centre and the many flights of narrow steps slows what would otherwise be a fairly fast course. I finished 236 of 657 finishers and 1st M70 in 2:02:34. The race was won in 1:19:03 by unattached Callum Moore. Multiple races at the same venue tends to spread the cream very thin. There are lots of young unattached runners in the races with fewer vets than usual. I did not see anyone else from Bournemouth AC although there were a group of runners from Poole AC running in one of the other races.
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Geoff Newton