Siggers and Roddy revel in the Coombe Abbey mud

The tough multi-terrain course of approximately 8.3 miles utilises a mixture of woodland trails, maintained grass, open field, a short stretch of asphalt and some sections of undergrowth.

The event appears to attract tough weather conditions: dense fog in 2010; sub-zero temperatures and snow in 2011.

The 2012 edition saw glorious blue skies and a cold wind, which belied the days of heavy rain and strong winds which left much of the region flooded.

This left the course, in the words of Kenilworth Runners’ Paddy Roddy, ridiculously boggy.

Parts of the course were waterlogged and one of the bomb craters flooded beyond use.

The race was won by Kenilworth Runners’ Andrew Siggers who made light work of the adverse conditions to come home in 45:48 - 29 seconds clear of the second-placed finisher.

Under-20 runner Roddy ran excellently to clock 47:09 and claim third place.

Spa Striders’ Richard Shephard was sixth in 48:14, with six of his club-mates also coming in under 60 minutes.

Trevor Wilkinson finished in 52:05 (1st M45), with Mike Ellis (53:56), Rich Merrill (55:35), Daniel Stannard (58:07), Jenny Spillane (58:15. 3rd senior lady) and Carolyn Wilkinson (58:57, 1st F35) all breaking the hour-mark.

The benefits of training with Sue Harrison are beginning to bear fruit for Leamington C&AC’s Zara Blower who knocked a massive two-and-a-half minutes off her 2011 time.

Blower ran one of her best races to finish 37th of the 255 finishers and second in the ladies’ race.

The ladies’ race was won by Myshola Kirkham of Coventry Godiva Harriers in 54:56.

There was a slight controversy in that a marshalling error meant the lead two runners ran slightly less distance than the other competitors, but this did not affect the overall results.

Selected others (Leamington C&AC unless stated): 21, Brian Miller (54:30); 68, Simon Radcliffe (Spa Striders, 1:01:16); 75, Gary Morgan (Kenilworth Runners, 1:01:55); 79: Russ Burrows (1:02:04); 121, Dawn Clark (Spa Striders, 1:06:12); 126, Caroline Whitehouse (Spa Striders, 1:06:40); 129, Fiona Ferguson (Spa Striders, 1:07:12); 160, Julie Heaton (Spa Striders, 1:11:56) 165: Carol Blower (1:12:56); 169, Sarah Monahan (Kenilworth Runners (1:13:08) 184, Dave Blower (1:15:11).