Route Recce
Race director Matthew Hearne guides you on an ultra around the Suffolk/essex border
The Stour Valley
Park 50K
‘I GREW UP IN THIS AREA, so I have run here all my life,’ says Matthew Hearne, ‘and always thought the path would make a fantastic course for a race. Last year we reached our capacity of 150 but have increased it to 200. In our debut race, we had more women than men. It’s mostly rural, through lovely quiet villages, until you reach some of the areas Constable painted, which are now tourist hotspots.’ The 2019 race is on Aug 10. svp100.co.uk
19KM
You pass through the tiny village of Bures. In the Middle Ages, a dragon was said to roam the area, although this was later thought to be an escaped crocodile that had been given to King Richard l as a gift during the Crusades.
28KM
You’re entering Dedham Vale, which is known as ‘Constable Country’, as the artist John Constable was inspired by the landscape. The medal design features the Black Shuck, a black devil dog that is said to have roamed East Anglia since 1577.
30KM
It’s a long slog for a kilometre up Gravel Hill, which takes you into Stoke-byNayland, a pretty village with timberframed houses and quaint cottages.
42KM 1KM
From the start, you head north, running beside the River Stour on the border between Suffolk and Essex. Here you’ll recross the River Stour where it merges with the River Box, just outside the Suffolk village of Stratford St Mary.
5KM
At this point you join the Stour Valley Path, which is 96km in total and will be your unobtrusive guide for the rest of the race.
16KM
Runners pass by a feed station outside a community-run pub, the 700-year-old Lamarsh Lion. It reopened recently after civicminded locals bought £50 shares to ensure its survival.
47KM
Look out for Willy Lott’s Cottage at Flatford, which you may recognise from Constable’s masterpiece The Hay Wain.
FINISH
The footpath ends outside Manningtree which, with 700 inhabitants over 50 acres (20 hectares), is claimed to be the smallest town in England.
This three-day jamboree (two with races) has a distance for everyone, with the 5K and 10K taking place on the Saturday, and a Sunday-morning start for the half, full marathon and 32-mile ultra. There’s an option for a wild swim too, as well as a bouncy castle and forest school activities for the kids, plus talks and yoga classes. Yelverton, Devon, August 2- 4, something-wild.co.uk