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.