Cambridgeshire XC Championships, 8 Jan 2023

This was a new course for me having only moved to Cambridgeshire a year ago – a simple 2 lap course on grass without too much mud (disappointing!). Even more disappointing was that the women’s and men’s races were still not equal distance and I was short-changed 4km with a 6km course, which actually turned out to be 5.5km. Nonetheless, I donned my Cambridge Tri Club vest and headed to the start line.

My tactic for XC races is always hard on the downhill and hold on the uphill and today I did just that and ran a well-measured race. I held it steady on the first uphill drag from the start line in a decent position, but began to pick off my competitors on the first downhill. I managed to gain 5 or so places over the course of the race. The last 500m was into a brutal headwind and try as I might, I was spent and just couldn’t catch the woman in front. A good way to finish a race! It was only a small field of 53 and I had no idea how I would fare, but managed to bring home 6th place and to my surprise I was handed a letter at the finish informing me that I’d qualified to represent Cambridgeshire at the UK Inter Counties XC champs in March! That’s a new one for me and I’m sure I’ll be way far back in the field, but sounds like a great experience.

Emily Young