On June 13th, the annual 5 Peaks Durham Forest race was held. Durham Forest is an amazing park located near Uxbridge north of Pickering. The race is capped at 450 people and it sold an impressive 4 weeks before the actual race date. Being my first time running this race, I now understand why it sells out and why it is a fan favourite time and time again.
The Durham Forest race offers the standard Sport and the longer Enduro distance. I signed up for the Enduro distance at just over 12 kilometres of fun. The race starts off from the main area and heads up double trail for a bit and then it is off road fun. My personal favourite was the wall of pain. Going straight up with no where to go but up and up the mountain. After you make that epic ascent, you traverse a number of technical sections. The final sections include a sandy section to test you once again.
Overall, the Durham Forest was a fantastic race that the race organizers should be proud of. The 5 Peaks trail series is a fantastic series that has a loyal and dedicated following from the running community.
If you want to test yourself with a new challenge then come out and run a 5 Peaks race. The next one is at Rattlesnake. This is one of the most technically challenging courses that 5 Peaks offers. See you at Rattlesnake on July 11th.
Happy Trails EMAN!
