A reccie worth doing if you havent tried it before: Instead of ascending immediately from the gate as most of the field do in the race - try going a little further along the track, another 200m if memory serves me right (havent got a map to hand) until you see the remains of the mine buildings on your right and then dead reckon the top. The bracken is a lot shorter and it is less rough - and because you arent following a lot of runners the trod hasnt turned into mud.