Roding Valley Half Marathon 28 February 2010 Fiona Tideswell reports: I thought this race was a more sensible option as part of my marathon preparation, but the weather was filthy and there were too many hills for my liking, and a a two-lap course meant we had to run it twice! Being an urban race didn't make for a scenic run, though the large houses in Chigwell were impressive. We started with 600m on the track, and then left the relatively sheltered confines of the complex via a mid-calf deep flood (unlike the Newport CC we didn't have to go through this twice though!). Wet feet and heavy trainers...should I have marshalled at Newport instead? Anyway, after a 1 mile lap we then climbed a hill or two on wet pavements, and then turned into the wind for the long downhill stretch before another climb back to the start where we went off again. Crowd support was better than rural races, and marshalls supported all runners (not just those from their club). The showers at the finish were piping hot, and the goody bag included a most welcome Mars bar. I would recommend this race as a pre-VLM half, though it would have been a very different event in dry, bright and still conditions.