Ground was firm with a little give in it following a few days of occasional rainfall. Started early morning so was chilly and blustery on the open drove paths for the first few KMs but quickly warmed up and treated to some spells of sunshine in the last hour or so.
Took this at a steady pace all the way round- the route itself is easy to follow and pretty free flowing. I counted only one gate to open on the whole route. Most of it is on wide Drove roads with occasional spells on quiet roads. The hills en-route are not particularly challenging but the gentle rise in the opening 10-15kms brings with it a prolonged but easy decent past halfway. Around 30km mark the path narrows for a few km- I didn't encounter the bramble issues previous runners have had but can see how it could get quite overgrown come late summer. There are some occasional good views along the route but a lot of the paths run between lines of tall trees/hedges so you can't see too much. The paths reminded me a lot of the paths found in Coombe Gibbet race run by Overton Harriers.
Original aim was to run just under 3hrs but felt comfortable with the effort level I settled into (just under 3hr Marathon pace). Took on 2 gels during the run and had 500ml of water mixed with energy drink (carried 1 x 250ml and 1 x 500ml) and energy levels stay consistent all the way through.