Julie Rasmussen travelled up solo for the inaugural running of the Wickham 20. Set in the beautiful Meon Valley, just North of the village of Wickham in Hampshire, famous for its horse fair.
With 3 distances on offer Julie opted for the 3 lap, 20 mile option as part of her preparations for the London Marathon. She lined up nervously at the start.
The 10k loops were on closed country roads taking Julie from Wickham out in to the undulating countryside into Mislingford before heading toward Swanmore. A South turn took Julie on a little lap around Shirrell Heath before returning her to Wickham to repeat the circuit.
“I really enjoyed the first 2 laps” she tells me afterwards “It’s a lovely course, but it was hilly”
Julie kept going into her 3rd and final lap, the hills starting to take their toll a little bit.
“I really wanted to practise my marathon pacing, but it was just too hilly”
She dug deep and persevered to complete the final lap bringing her over the finishline line in 3.28.52 giving her a fantastic 2nd place in her age category and 29th female overall.
