Hants cross-country championships 2017

A dull, overcast January afternoon; a perfect day for a blast around Fairthorne Manor at the XC Champs.  I hadn't done proper cross-country stuff for ages... not since I joined Romsey RR in 2013.  These events are utterly competitive.  Everyone is a club runner, and the standard is really high.  I got into position at the start line suitably back from the high-octane front of the pack, most of whom were teenage whippets, straining at the leash.

Off we went.  The terrain is not particularly fierce here, but we'd had rain the day before and it was very soft going, with a lot of churn on the grass which absorbed an awful lot of your energy.  Two minutes in, and I took a ridiculous tumble on a trivial tuft.  My first reaction was fear that I was going to be trampled by the hordes.  Amazing how such a minor incident can unsettle... it took me a few minutes to get back into rhythm.

The course was all twisty turns, like a doodle or Gestalt image, up and down the mud and grass, and through some technical woods with treacherous roots, stumps and overhangs.  All good fun.  I felt OK and overtook several on the way.  Then back to the finish and I put on what I thought was a respectable sprint... only to be thoroughly trounced by Nialls Davies from Portsmouth in the dying seconds.  He rushed past and there was no time (or capability) to respond.

He's behind you! I'm just about to be pipped to the post

Too late... I'm doomed

I finished in 64th position, and 3rd M45.  Sounds OK, until you look more closely and see that I was trounced by a handful of >50s and was 6 seconds behind Graham Ratcliffe, 1st M60.  That's utterly brilliant running, Graham.

A super afternoon out, and an event for the annual calendar.