Suffolk races

About as flat as trail racing gets in Britain, which makes it fast rather than easy. Heath, pine forest and a crumbling coast: Thetford Forest tracks are firm and quick, the shingle and sand near Dunwich are neither, and the difference between the two within one race is the thing to prepare for.

Ascent is measured in tens of metres. The challenge here is holding a pace you can actually sustain when nothing in the terrain forces you to slow down, and coping with the coastal wind, which on an exposed heath has nothing to break it.

Races run from five kilometres to around fifty, based around Dunwich, Woodbridge and High Lodge. All are marked and none need navigation. Forest tracks stay usable year-round; the coastal sections are more weather-dependent and the soft going near the shore costs more than the profile suggests.