RR10 2015 - Wilverley

I think this may be my favourite RR10 course.  It starts with a full km of wide open space, with 400 runners charging for position before we dive in to the woods, which very quickly gets technical with roots, muddy patches and overhanging branches.  In a couple of places there are full-on fallen tree trunks which need to be jumped or clambered over.  Add in some hills, and it's all quite thrilling.

Wednesday evening was beautiful, with light wind and clear skies.  I was quite grateful to escape to the shade of the forest after the first km of sun in my eyes.  I managed to gradually gain position as we went around.  One guy ahead of me lost his shoe in the mud, which I'm slightly ashamed to say makes me quite gleeful rather than sympathetic.  The course comprised of two overlapping loops, and the sun, visible through the trees, meant that I had a reasonable idea of where we were, which was a bonus.

I was chasing Chris Chambers from Eastleigh, who moved from 10m to 50m ahead of me as the race progressed.  Late in the day it dawned on me that I was following James Clarke of Hardley and OS... this was after I had briefly overtaken him but then been taken again.  This was a revelation, as James is much faster than me.... let's see what happens in the rest of the series.  In the end I finished just one place behind James, in 23rd place - up on last time, and very satisfactory.

The previous Saturday I ran the Southampton parkrun as part of the OS Runners championships.  After some confusion with the timings, I ended up with 18:10, a new course PB which was enough to nudge me into first OS age-graded result, slightly ahead of Mick Anglim.

RR10 2015 - Stoney Cross

This was my first RR10 of the season and a keenly anticipated return after a full year away... this time last year marked the end of 2014 running year for me.  I arrived a bit later than intended and had to park far away from the start - there was a very healthy turnout (around 400) on a drab, cool, windy evening.

Remembering the quagmire from last year, I was wearing trail shoes and felt a bit smug at all the runners with road shoes and all the terrible floundering they would soon be enjoying.  But the course had changed; after the familiar long downhill on the gravel track we took a different route, all on gravel.  Up and down, left and right, losing all sense of direction in dense forest.  It was hard work, and I wished I'd consulted a map beforehand so I knew what was going on.  And then quote a relief to be going up, up, uphill again marking the final mile.  It was the 500m of flat before the finish line at the top of the hill that I'd forgotten about which was really hard work.  

I flopped over the line in 28th place. Not a bad start, but I'd like to be heading up the rankings a little through the season.  What's great about the RR10 is its sheer competitiveness.  There are no easy medals here, just lots and lots of really strong runners who give you a proper challenge.