DRIVING to Gloucestershire on a cold and misty Sunday morning in October, the hazy view couldn't disguise the beauty of the Cotwolds.

We drove through delightful chocolate box villages, along twisting and turning roads dipping down steep valley roads before making a gradual climb out of these charming places.

And as we drove closer to our destination in Stroud for the town's half marathon I figured we were in for a tough 13-miler, littered with some devilish climbs and spectacular views. How wrong I was!

The Stroud Half is now in its 26th year, so is something of an established race. It's a heck of a walk from the parking spot by the railway station to Marling School, and once there the organisation was a little chaotic. There were huge queues for registration, longer queues for the toilets, and though the race was catering for an estimated field of about 2,000 runners, it had more a school fair feel to it.

I just about managed to fight my way for a space in the small school changing rooms, strapped on the computer timing chip to my shoe, handed my gear to a lady manning the baggage tent and join the rest of the throng on Cainscross Road for the start.

Word was that what lay ahead was far from hilly, so not to worry. And those predictions were proved right. The race headed out of Stroud towards Stonehouse and along pleasant country lanes past Standish Church before crossing the M5 just short of the six-mile mark.

Nothing wrong with the course so far, plain but unspectacular. We then joined the main carriageway of the A38, turned back towards Stroud through Westend to join the A419, took a loop through an industrial estate and then a three-mile run to the finish at the school.

It was an okay half marathon, but so uninspiring and given the location so disappointing. It would have been wonderful had the race been routed across more attractive parts of the Cotswolds. A week earlier, Swindon had shown off its finest colours with a fanastic event which took in the town but much of the beautiful Wiltshire countryside. One of the winners said afterwards that for some runners they would be put off by an event like Swindon because of the many tough climbs. "Too many runners enter races to chase personal bests, which is a shame," said the runner. Much could be said of the Stroud race.

It attracted a quality field up front, won by the Poole-based Zimbabwean Williard Chinhanhu in 1hr 6min, but surely races are not just about provide fast and comfortable courses.

Of course, there are safety issues and with police costs an important element, organisers are restricted about where they locate races, but surely it is more difficult to close off the lane of a busy dual carriageway than a back road in the rural Cotwolds.

I was happy with my run, nonetheless. I am running very consistently as this was my third consecutive half marathon run in 1hr 37min. This one was 1hr 37min 4sec.