Hello and welcome to the latest blog. Tomorrow I will talk about our wildlife in a separate blog, but for today my keyboard is devoted to telling readers everything they may want to know about our upcoming Race for Wildlife; what it is like, what to expect, and most importantly- how it helps our wildlife!Almost every year in early autumn we hold our Race for Wildlife- I say 'almost' because for two years we have had to cancel the event due to the threat of COVID-19 and the risk it posed to anyone taking part in the event or helping out- with 100+ runners here, it just wasn't safe or practical to host in 2020 or 2021. But, we are back, and on Sunday 16 October, the race will return!What will the routes be like?On the day, we ask runners to get here in plenty of time to park up, drop your bags off in our secure baggage area, and be prepared at the start line for 11am. Two routes are on offer- a 5km and 10km circuit- and you don't have to choose which you'd like to run before the day- just when you get here! Below are the two routes, but they both start at the same point at the same time- on the track just south of East Wood. From here, once our Site Manager has started the race, you will travel west along the hard track, with the expanse of New Fen reedbed to your right and the lofty poplar trees of Trial Wood on your right. Then, you will pass our largest wooded area- West Wood and grazing marsh (possibly with lapwing and redshank loafing about!) off to your right. Some of our graziers' beautiful rare breed cattle will be visible from here, but don't worry- they cannot access any part of the run routes on the day of the event, so you won't meet them up close! After around 2km you'll climb a short rise onto the riverbank footpath. It is here that you will meet one of our many marshals, directing you left if you are running the 10k route, or right if you are doing the 5k. 10k runners will drift along the riverbank footpath, following the river to the wild and wonderful Botany Bay, an area teeming with wildlife and a popular haunt for our cranes. Once you are in Botany Bay, you'll diverge from the river and head down the gentle bank again through Shepherd's Fen and New Fen South- both areas not usually open to the public. Down here it is wild and beautiful and you may bump into cranes, marsh harriers and bitterns if you are lucky! Slowly returning to civilisation (a little!) you'll come back to the start line (via the southern side of Trial Wood this time), past where you began, through a rough (but mown) meadow, past the Photography Station and through the wooded and peaceful Brandon Fen, where you will rejoin the 5k route and cross the finish line near the Visitor Centre together.Travelling back in time to our trusty riverbank marshal at Joist Fen, the 5k route heads right at this point instead, still enjoying expansive views across the farmland of Cowles' Drove to the north, and open reedbeds to the south. You'll move along here for around 2k until you reach the Washland Viewpoint, when you'll descend from the riverbank and drift through Brandon Fen, a lush, wooded route that gently curves towards the finish line near the Visitor Centre. Whether you've run the 5k or the 10k route, we'll be waiting with our stopwatches to give you a warm welcome and an accurate time, and a short walk away at the Visitor Centre there'll be a generous spread of homemade cakes, tea and coffee for everyone to enjoy. Caption: Our 5k (top) and 10k (bottom) routes for this years' Race for Wildlife.How do I found out my finish time?Once everyone has crossed the finish line, I will go indoors and start writing up the finish times into a blog just like this one, which gets published later in the afternoon (as soon as possible!) and sent around via e-mail to all race participants. Generally these results are out between 3pm-4pm. Everyone who crosses the finish line receives a medal from us, as a thank-you for supporting us by attending the race. The top three female and male finishers will receive a handmade medal too, beautifully crafted by our warden Emma. Although we are sometimes asked by runners for their time as soon as they have finished, there are often clusters of finishers crossing the line at once and we can't really divulge this information whilst the Race is still ongoing- as we need to look back through our stopwatches to find it, which means taking our eye off the ball (or the Race, I should say!).What does it cost?Tickets for the Race are £15 for adults and £7.50 for Under 16's. This price includes everything; parking, baggage storage, and a medal and refreshments at the end of the Race. All profits from ticket sales go directly into supporting conservation work at Lakenheath Fen and this is the crucial bit- that by attending, you are helping the wildlife here by helping to fund it's protection. We carry out habitat improvement, surveys and monitoring of particular species and also maintain facilities which help visitors to get closer to nature, such as pond-dipping and bug-hunting days, and guided walks. Profits from ticket sales help us to keep making those connections, which all add up to building a world where people and more connected to wildlife, know more about it and hopefully care more about it too.Can I sponsor myself for the Race?If you would like to raise even more money to help the RSPB, we do offer sponsorship forms for you to take away to fill in with family and friends- please e-mail us using lakenheath@rspb.org.uk or telephone us on 01842 863400 if you would like to know more about sponsorship. Alternatively, pop in to pick up a sponsorship form, or we can post one to you.What terrain do the routes cover?Both our 5k and 10k routes cover mixed terrain- for the first 2km or so the track is firm, with compacted limestone or smooth hardcore underneath, but when you reach the riverbank it will be slightly uneven, but firm, grass. If you do the 10k route it will stay this way until you reach Brandon Fen, where the track firms up once more. As mentioned earlier, at no point will you meet any livestock- you may see them in the distance but they won't have access to the race routes on the day of the event! We have had an exceptionally dry summer so it is likely to be fairly dry underfoot on Race Day, but we will see when the time comes- I don't want to speak too soon and curse us with rain...What facilities do you have on Race Day?Our toilets at the Visitor Centre will be open from 9am to 4pm on the day, and as well as ladies' and gents' units, we have a fully accessible cubicle, with a pull-cord emergency system and a pull-down baby-changing mat. Drinking water is available 24/7 from an outside tap on the Centre wall, and the Visitor Centre will be open where we stock a variety of cold drinks too, including from local supplier Breckland Orchard. Not to mention our delicious, Norfolk-made Ronaldo's ice-creams. We even have a vegan raspberry sorbet! All our ice-creams and sorbets, excluding 'chocolate fudge brownie' are gluten-free. Secure baggage storage is located in the Visitor Centre and will be manned by one of our lovely volunteers at all times.We will also have a small army of volunteers spread across the reserve- marshalling at every possible junction, to keep you on the right track. They will be there to greet you with smiling faces and high-vis vests! At the riverbank at Joist Fen, we will have a water station manned by two more volunteers, to keep you hydrated and as comfortable as possible on your journey!How do I book?Places must be booked online using the link: https://events.rspb.org.uk/events/7838 . Once booking closes, we will print a list ready to check you in on the day at the Visitor Centre; then you can warm up by jogging or walking down to the start line about 500m away- again- marshals will show you where this is!I'm a slow runner, does it matter?One of the most important things about our event is that it is inclusive of everyone- whether you jog slower than most, whether you race along and usually finish in the top 5 of any event, whether you are younger, older, or any other difference, our Race for Wildlife is made for everyone and all are welcome and will receive as much support as everyone else. Our team of volunteers and staff are a real mixed bag too, but we all come together to put on a grand event and we want to see everyone made to feel welcome. We are all custodians of our wildlife, no matter how fast we can run, and your ticket profits matter just the same to our nature reserve. Please feel free to bring any family or friends along for support- there are always a real mixture of people here waiting to congratulate their loved ones across the finish line- children (even excitable ones!) are very welcome.To give you an idea of what the Race looks like, here's a couple of photos from events in previous years: Photo caption: Before, and just after, the start of the Race!If you have any more questions, please give us a call on 01842 863400 (answered 9am to 5pm daily) or an e-mail at lakenheath@rspb.org.uk, or pop in and see us.With best wishes,Heidi Jones (Visitor Experience Officer, RSPB Lakenheath Fen).