What a beautiful day for a race, and a great race!
Sunny and warm for January but very, very muddy. This is my third cross-country race, and already I’m learning more about mud than I really wanted to know. This time the mud was soft and sticky, almost like clay and it makes it so much harder to pick your feet out of the mud, let alone have something to push against. I think running 5 miles XC is like 8 miles on the road. At least that is how I felt!
The race itself was hard, but I was successful in my modest aims not to walk any of it (after the disaster of Alexandra Palace in December) and not to be the last Serpie. I find it always takes me the first lap to settle down and that I’m much happier when I know where I’m going and what to expect. I should really try and arrive earlier so I can walk around the course in advance – I think that would help me quite a bit. Another aim was to try not to go off like a rocket for the first 500m with the pack and then fade; I think I improved at pacing, but still a little way to go.
My result: 317th, finishing in 47:54.