Jurassic Coast races

Purbeck and the Dorset coast, and some of the steepest short climbs in English trail racing. The path over Bat’s Head and Swyre Head goes down to sea level and back up repeatedly, and the sections around Lulworth are close to stair-climbing. Distances here are modest; the ascent per kilometre is not.

The ground is chalk and clay. Dry, it is quick and grippy. Wet, the clay on the steeper descents becomes genuinely slick, and this is a coast where a slip matters because of what is beside the path.

Races run from five kilometres to well past a hundred, based around Corfe Castle, Lulworth, Swanage and Portland, with a couple going through the night. Most are marked, so navigation is not usually the challenge — the climbing and the exposure are. There is little shelter on the clifftop and the wind comes straight off the Channel, so what feels mild in the car park rarely feels mild on the top.