Hampshire XC championships, 2020

It was in 2017 that I last ran this event - the XC championships at Fairthorne Manor.  The lovely Mrs S and I arrived in good time on a cool and calm afternoon as other races were underway - the cross-countries are distinct in having separate races by age and gender, and rather anachronistically, shorter races for the ladies.  Surely, surely, this has to change.

I had a chat with a few friendly faces beforehand, but I was the only representative of Romsey today.  The course maps always look fearsomely complicated, but our race was effectively three-and-a-bit laps of the full circuit.  We were set off by a starting pistol, which I thought was fabulous.  There was a lot of manoeuvring for position in the early stages in a crowded and competitive start, and I tried not to get too caught up in this.  After a km or so we were off the grass and into a narrow trail in the woods with plenty of roots and tight swerves.  Great fun.  The course was a mix of woodland and grass with some tidy little hills and a few boggy patches, but it wasn't nearly as wet and slippery as it would have been a week or two ago.

Keep upright going downhill through the woods

As I progressed through the second and third legs I was gradually catching a few folk and gaining position.  Amongst this, a fantastic tussle emerged between me and Tom Glancy from Aldershot, Farnham and District - we were never more than 10 seconds apart from each other.  I pulled ahead in the final field, he pulled up level and I gunned it like hell for the finish line to finish two seconds ahead.

Terrified that Tom is about to overtake, as Mrs S looks on

Tom (in green) relative to me (in black)

I finished in 50th place and 2nd M50, and I was very happy with that.  Here are the results and here are my stats.  A smashing start to the new year.