When Running a Marathon Becomes a Doddle

If you like the idea of getting hot and sweaty with a group of strangers, then the place to be on a Thursday evening is training with the Dorset Doddlers.

The Doddlers is a small and friendly running club, established over 25 years ago.  It was originally formed by a group of runners about to embark on their first London Marathon.  From those humble beginnings the club now has a membership fast approaching 100.

So what happens on a Thursday?  Well, this is the club’s formal training evening.  A rota is produced every three months or so, and the members take it in turns to run the evening.  Three elements are covered: speed, endurance and hill work.

After a short meeting where the club’s entrants in this year’s London Marathon were wished good luck, we were off.

The Doddlers are blessed with being based in a rural market town with open fields on their doorstep.  So, within minutes of leaving the comfort of the club house, we were pounding the footpath towards the now disused railway track that once ran to Blandford Forum.

A mile or so along this path, the local authorities have recently re-built a bridge that spanned the River Stour and this was to be the inaugural run across it!  Over 40 pairs of Lycra clad legs soon sped over the bridge and then off and up the nearby hill to Piddles Wood. 

At this time of year, the wood is ablaze with Bluebells and the hard climb is rewarded by an amazing vista of intense blues and purples.  But there’s not much time to catch your breath, as the path carries on to the nearby hamlet of Broad Oak.  This small collection of houses and a farm or two, is perched high over the Blackmore Vale and the views are stunning.

By this time, the sun was just about setting and as it dropped from view, we had reached the end of our climb.  Now we were turning for home and able to speed down a quiet lane that wound its way around the wood.  It may have been easy to follow the road further, but there was still enough light to pick up the River Stour once more and follow it up-stream to our starting point.

The animated chatter once we reached home tells you all you need to know about running.  Leave aside the health benefits of regular exercise, this group of runners know what it is really all about.  With a mix of abilities, it isn’t always just competing against each other or being the first one back.  Everyone has their own challenge – and just getting out there turns everyone into a winner.  So this year it was Piddles Wood – next year, maybe London?