West Sussex Fun Run League - Littlehampton 8k

THE WEST SUSSEX Fun Run League (WSFRL) is made up of 18 running clubs from all over Sussex.   Each club holds one annual event per year which gives you 12 months, 18 runs and 85 miles of running!   These are open to all runners regardless of whether you are a member of a running club.   Many of the races are run over the stunning South Downs and cost just £3 to enter with the emphasis on the fun run element.

You won't get a T-Shirt or a medal on these runs,  but you get a well organised event for the love of running that gives you the opportunity to run Sussex taking in some of the beautiful countryside and oldest towns and villages in the county.   You may not get some flash goodies but you will get a rather nice race bib!

Wednesday saw Arunners host the 5th WSFRL event of the season at Littlehampton with a 8k/5 miles run along the beach.    I found this one very different from the usual road or cross country run, a beach run on sand!

 It started with a lap of the local park, up onto the footpath along the beach and then down onto the beach just below the shingle line on the solid sand.   The most difficult bits were the soft sand down to the beach and parts where you had to run on shingle.   But it's all good for leg muscles and ankles, so no complaints from me.

With the sun, the wind coming off the sea, soft footing on the sand and sea water it was a challenging five miles.   But I wasn't alone as there were another five members of the Beetroot Army with me.   This was my first go at assembling the team. I turned up early and went through the registration and getting the race numbers issued.   Then pulled the team together to hand out the numbers.  Luckily I remembered to get a team photo before we set off.

I was warned about the water so turned up with a towel and fresh pair of socks and trainers.   After that we went for a debrief and had seaside fish and chips which were amazing after all the sun, running and fresh sea air.

I have to say thank you to Arunners for a well organised, very different run.   I will certainly be looking out for this next year.

To finish the blog off my report and photo was used in The Mid Sussex Times (The Middy).    With a beatiful by line of, "Beach run report and photo by Mike Parish".