Active Training World 8k XC Race, 10 Apr 2021

It’s been a long time since I did a cross country race - in fact the last time was at school when we did them in rugby kit! After missing the 2019/20 season I was keen to give it a try, but the race I entered in Nov 2020 got postponed twice, so finally we go to do it last weekend after the latest lockdown. Conditions were definitely not XC-typical, with very dry conditions, and with my run form nothing like it was in December for a number of reasons, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I had in mind to try and keep to something near my 10k pace overall and see how it went.

After a warmup on the roads and checking out the ground around the start, I decided to wear trail shoes rather than spikes (which I had bought especially for this race!) as the ground was firm/hard and the grass dry. The were a large number of entrants but all seeded into a rolling start, so when we started we had already been running for a bit to keep up with the rest of the field as it flooded through the start and straight up a rather draggy hill. After that I managed to settle into a decent effort, concentrating on watching my footing and trying not to turn an ankle over. The course had lots of challenges with a few muddy sections, log jumps, streams to jump, steep climbs and descents etc, all of which I managed to negotiate successfully apart from nearly face-planting into a stream while trying to cross it! There was also a very fast gravel path section (really glad not to have spikes on for this!) and then a last drag up from the lake to the top of the field, and a final turn for a downhill sprint finish with a couple more log jumps.

A very enjoyable experience and I will definitely try this again next winter in some ‘proper’ conditions. It was also nice to meet Frankie, who did the race as well, for a catch-up afterwards.

Tim Phillips