I would like to say what an enlightening experience running in the recent Dymock half-marathon was.

I travelled from Walsall to participate in this event. I regularly run and tend to race in big city events. However, here I found myself shipped to the start on the back of a pick-up, the start being a layby. I thought around Gloucester was relatively flat but, after 13 miles of running round Dymock, I thought I was going to sprout horns and a beard and finish looking like a mountain goat.

When I got to the end, there was no finish sign and I even went to continue running into Dymock Cricket Club. The shower was freezing cold but my wife and I relaxed with a pint outside the pavilion afterwards, a far cry from the urban sprawl of the West Midlands.

The people of Dymock and the cricket club were all very friendly, as was the pub in Ledbury where we had a spot of lunch afterwards. We both thoroughly enjoyed the experience and I would just like to thank the organisers for a terrific day out.

Dave Baggott, Consort Drive, Darlaston.