Mother Ludlam's Cave

I'm lucky enough to live in the Surrey hills near Farnham, close to the North Downs Way and many other great trails. One of my favourite places to run is along the Greensands Way running south towards Tilbury. Along the way are various landmarks including old World War II pillboxes where Canadian troops were stationed in order to protect the Hogs back in case of invasion. However, the reason this route is so special to me is Mother Ludlam's Cave. This is a great picture which I took on one of my runs along this trail.

The cave is now home to several species of bat and has an ancient spring running through it. There are also many local legends attributed to it including the one below:

"As recorded in 1937 the legend is that one day the devil, in disguise, had visited Mother Ludlam and asked to borrow the cauldron she used for mixing her potions. Recognising the Devil from his hoof-prints in the sand, she refused, so the Devil stole the cauldron, with the witch in pursuit. Making great leaps, the Devil created a series of hills where he touched the ground, these now being the sandstone hills near Churt known as the Devil's Jumps. The Devil dropped the cauldron - or kettle - on the last of these hills, "Kettle Bury", or "Kettlebury Hill". Mother Ludlam recovered the cauldron and placed it in Frensham Church, where it would be safe from the Devil."

Everyone has their favourite local running routes and this is certainly one of mine. One of the many gems to find when you throw the road running shoes away and hit the trails.

Gary

Comrades 2013

The Biggest road ultra in the world has come and gone again with over 19,000 runners taking part on the 87km course from Durban to Pietermaritzburg. This year's race saw the runners taking on the Big Five of Cowies Hill, Fields Hill, Botha’s Hill, Inchanga and Polly Shorts.

This year saw South Africa's Claude Moshiywa take the win in 5.32:09. Moshiywa took the lead from his countryman Johannesburg Kakana after the four hour mark and led until the end to become the first South African to win the Comrades 'up' race since 1992. The Swedish runner Jonas Buud finished second to make 2013 his fourth second place finish. Mpesela Ntlosoeu took the final place on the podium.

The ladies race saw the Russian twins Elena and Olesya Nurgalieva take the top two places in 6.27:09 and 6.28:07 respectively.

The pair have dominated the race over the past ten years with Elena winning seven times and Olesya taking the title twice.