Fountains Abbey 10k, 1st February 2026
Cate Walker reports from North Yorkshire:
“It is always a bit of a gamble signing up for events in winter, but this was one that definitely paid off. A beautiful location around the architecturally impressive abbey, patches of blue sky that increased as the race went on, the sight of some deer (wild deer at a Wild Deer event, how fun!), a very friendly set of marshals, and enough challenge underfoot to keep it interesting.
It felt in some ways like a run of two halves, due to both the course itself and the way the runners gradually spread out over it. The first half out on the wider fields of the estate was like cross country – muddy, hilly, congested, challenging. The second half, which circuited the Abbey itself was in many ways more rewarding, with a mix of paved and unpaved tracks, still quite a lot of undulation, but views of the Abbey to take the edge off the slow-burn inclines. During a relatively flat curve around the Abbey, I actually felt some warmth from the sun, for what felt like the first time since we went to London last weekend!
I’d had a very slow start with all the congestion, so I felt like I spent the first third overtaking and finding my place in the pack. I managed to keep running (very slowly) up all but one of the hills and stayed on my feet whilst a couple of runners succumbed to mud. When it wasn’t too muddy, I stopped to take some photos (the course was too pretty not to!)
I wasn’t really going for a fast time, but realised towards the end that I was in with a chance of getting in under an hour, so I sped up and had two seconds to spare on my watch as I crossed the line. Later I saw my chip time was exactly one hour, which was quite satisfying.
I did this event with my friend Susanna who is much more of a trail runner than me, and I think it’s helped to push me a little more into the world of trail running. If all trail runs were like this, I don’t think I’d ever run a fast course on an out-of-town industrial park again, but I guess both types of run have their charms and benefits.
I would definitely recommend this race, and am even keener than I was to do the parkrun at Fountains Abbey – it is just as pretty as people had suggested!”
