This is my 12th
cross-country season with the club. The race which traditionally signifies its start, is the
County Road Relays in this case the Surrey incarnation. I have a love-hate
relationship with this course which runs adjacent to the Wimbledon tennis
courts. I’ve made just about every mistake you could wish to on the five
previous occasions I’ve run here. There’s the old chestnut of sprinting up the
hill too quickly which is approximately 1K into the 5km course. And then there’s the running too quickly down
the hill faux pas, which is on the other side of the incline. I go to great lengths
to warn any newcomers not follow in my footsteps.
Encouragingly however last year I, rather out of the blue, ran a course best of 18 minutes and 19 seconds on a 5K
course which is probably 300m short. Hope indeed then, going into this time
round.
Training in the build-up has been
modest to say the least. Strava reveals very few weeks in excess of 20 miles a week this year.
This ranks me just above a recreational jogger. Realistically I’ll have to try
and sort this out if I’m ever going to improve this season, or at the very
least do some quality interval sessions.
Today I was in the club’s B team.
The weather was cloudy, the temperature was mild, it was essentially perfect
running conditions.
After the remarkably
straightforward task of sorting the teams out (everyone arrived on time and no
drop outs….a team manager’s dream) I found myself in the packed changeover zone
on the 2nd leg. After 12 and a half minutes the first athletes
charged onto the track for their final 300m spurt. Seeing these guys sprinting
up close (having already done 4.4km) was a timely reminder as to just how good
these guys are. If I quit my job and trained twice day six days a week, I’d bet
that I still wouldn’t be able to get anywhere near them.
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| Pottering around pre-race |
Pleasingly, third home was our A
team runner Ben Savill, who is undoubtedly the most improved athlete I’ve ever had the
pleasure of knowing. In 2010 I remember pacing Ben, then a teenager, through a scintillating 3,000m in ten minutes and 42 seconds. I trot this anecdote out
every time I see him, and will continue to do so until the end of time. Just a
few years later through his sheer hard work he is winning County medals. Quite
incredible. On a side note, he is in the latest Strava advert.
My team’s first leg runner, Dan, would be in at a very solid 17:12, again a time well out of reach for myself.
Within moments of tagging a women’s team flew past me. Good start.
From the outset I felt sluggish.
A lack of training immediately took its toll. The female runners soon
disappeared into the distance up the initial incline. Once at the top I was a
goner…I was 1.5 kilometres into the 5km race.
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| Setting off... |
It’s a horrendous feeling when
you know there’s no gas in the tank so early in the race - every wobbly stride
becomes a struggle. Every breath an absolute pain.
The downhill brought some
rest-bite but it’s when you are back in the park that is the real killer of
this course. I was a sitting duck and two teams shot past with ease. I was
clinging on for dear life, before a few familiar marshals raised the spirits
temporarily.
Mike Fleet, ever the legend,
screamed some encouragement from his marshaling point. I wish I could work out
what he said, everything was a blur.
Entering into the stadium with
300m to go I was in no man’s land. I was too adrift from challenging anyone in front
of me but with no-one (mercifully) closing in on me.
One of our supporters shouted
some encouragement from the stand. But it was no use. Everything had gone and
when I crossed the line I was in a dire state. I managed to drag myself to the
nearby railings where I sat for 10 minutes while concerned teammates kindly
tried to cheer me up. That’s the great thing about this sport -the friendships
and camaraderie are absolutely unrivaled.
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| On death's door. |
Once recovered it was great to
take in some of the other racing. Often I miss all of the action when it’s just
a straight race because I'm so far back in the field. It was particularly nice to see Rob on my team do well. Having
known him since he was a young athlete, it is great to see such progress.
The teams got stuck in. The A
team were 7th and mine was 16th out of 22. When I first
started doing this race nine (!!!) years ago some of us had to do double legs
just get a team home. Now we had two teams and a masters and half a women’s team. Again, progress!
On a personal level a time of 18 minutes and 48 isn’t much too write
home about. Half a minute down on last year’s effort and behind most my local ‘rivals’ if it is possible to have such things at my level.
It’s also in the mid table mediocrity of my previous attempts on this course.
2015:18:19
2011:19:05
2010:18:41
2008:18:34
2007:20:47
But the disappointment will soon subside. If anything it’s a wake up call to
pull my finger out and do some actual running. And some yoga. And some core.
So you know….everything.
And it starts tomorrow with a long run…
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| Some of our B team. The camera takes off a foot don't you know... |
Pics from Linda and Richard
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