National Masters XC Championships

Took part in this race for the first time. This year it was held in Kilmarnock on a course I knew nothing about, so I took both spikes and trail shoes. It was dry and a few degrees above zero when I left Glasgow, but on my way down the M77 the temperature dropped and it started to rain. The school was easy enough to find, so after sitting in the car for a few minutes to stay dry for as long as possible, I headed inside to get changed. Although registration hadn't closed, for some reason my race number had been separated from the other Garscube numbers and taken up to the course, so I headed up to get it back. After twenty minutes of hanging around, I was on my way back down the school with my number, soaked and hardly able to feel my fingers. It had been cold enough that I went for a long-sleeved top under my vest. Got back to the course and changed into my spikes just in time to line up for the start, and after a minor bit of jostling from the off I settled into a realistic place in the field.

The first short lap took in some fields where the going was heavy on the soaked ground, as well as a couple of muddy paths through woods. In one clearing I thought I should probably be further up the field so I put on a bit of a sprint to make up a few places. The second lap was longer and took us down a steep hill, where I saw somebody up ahead slip so I knew the footing would be tricky, and I did indeed fall on the wet grass, picking myself up only to fall again a few seconds later and slide a long way down the hill. Somebody asked if I was OK as they passed, but I was straight back up, feeling like I might have scraped my thigh but otherwise unharmed. After a long straight and a hairpin turn, we headed back up the same hill where I seemed to find it easier than most and went past four or five people. On the final lap I lost a couple of places squelching round the fields but started the downhill quite gingerly and managed to avoid falling. On the flat at the bottom it occurred to me that I still had quite a lot in the tank but no way of speeding up. Going back uphill I made up another few places, passing runners who had been maybe 50m ahead at the foot of the hill. Slipped on a twisty path through a wood and landed on my knee, but I held on to my position, finishing 26th in 32:07, first for Garscube and 16th M40. I couldn't stop my watch, probably due to water incursion, and it gave up the ghost entirely later on. Didn't go for a warm-down in those conditions, apart from a walk-jog back to the school, and it didn't look like anybody else did either. Average pace for the supposed 8K would be 6:28/mile.