The eagerly awaited first cross-country fixture of 2019!
I dug out my NEHL (North Eastern Harrier League) bib from its safe place in my office and pinned it to my vest.
I had a bit of a warm up from my parking spot on the John Reid road across to the Striders’ tent and just in time for the start of the senior and vet women’s race.
After a few minutes (I was on tent guard duty), I saw Olympian Laura Weightman with a significant lead pass by followed by our valiant ladies in hot pursuit. I continued my warm-up whilst cheering the ladies en route.
Feeling a little nervous (not an insignificant number of km this week) I toed the line and discussed the possibility of a ‘within 50yds’ finish with Lindsay. And bang – we were off!
The first lap felt slow – not sure if it was an insignificant warm-up or the cold day (4 degrees). I saw Lindsay ahead of me – increasing to more than the 50 yards mooted. I felt like I got to work on lap 2 – it hurt a bit but my watch suggested my pace had dipped by a second or two in places. Then lap 3. Feeling ‘in it’, I felt good having not been lapped by the fast lads (TBH runner just nipped past me as I rounded onto the lap line and I caught Lindsay on the first hill. Pushing on, I thought I’d play that game of pick someone off on front and pass them – it worked on a couple of hills and recoveries and on the final flat I picked up more. A blue shirted club runner who I’d buzzed on the field before the finish straight exacted his revenge yards from the line with an impressive sprint finish. And done – a minute or so quicker than last year – not bad.
I cheered on the rest of the team before demolishing some baked chocolate goods and then having helped take the tent down headed for the hills, keen for a shower and a mug of tea (with a beer to follow).
A valiant performance by the Striders although numbers were down – need to boost this for the next fixture.
Photo credit to Nina Mason.
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