Cross Country Runners Do It In The Woods

The sun shone brightly for our early morning start out to Ruthin this morning. The four of us were tucked snugly into our tiny tin can of a car with our spikes at the ready for what was the final race of a very long cross country season for us all. The British Masters XC Champs at Ruthin was held in a really beautiful setting; the lush flat course was set to lovely mountain scenery in the impressive grounds of Ruthin school. Despite a heavy training week and tired legs I felt a bit fresher than anticipated though M's very blue (and possibly broken) toe was a bit of a worry - it's a long story but involved a pair of very baggy trousers, a flight of stairs and a flamboyant mouse rescue from a hungry cat (don't ask). My race was the first of the programme, and started at a blistering pace set by Tara Krzywicki of Charnwood. I struggled to decide whether to go with her but the pace just seemed too fast for the 6k course so I opted for a steady start with the hope that she'd suffer burnout halfway. This tactic was a bit ill conceived as she established a great lead and was pretty much unreachable as the race progressed. I managed to maintain second place pretty comfortably taking the Silver individual medal. Am left feeling pretty happy with my run after the heavy training week and was also v. chuffed with my first ladies team turn out for Bingley (following transfer ban expiry in March). Club mates Sue B and Andrea D also came in strong to secure us a ladies team Gold in addition to my Silver. The medals are pretty hefty and mark a nice and jangly end to the season. Well done to Kevin O on his superb return to the XC scene after a bit of a long break and also to my darling M who hobbled bravely around the course despite his purple toe.Thanks to all those team mates who offered support and shouts of encouragement around the course. Particular thanks to Tricky Ricky who came to support club mates without racing himself and made good use of himself as club photographer and coat handler. Best wishes to him in the Hull 20 tomorrow. Feels great to be back home and know I've an easy off road training run tomorrow. No hard sessions left with the ease down to Wilmslow HM next weekend. Feelin' a bit wrecked after the early start and long day out today - looking forward to some hard-earned kip. Night, night.

View more XC race pics here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/36582880@N03/sets/72157615749647688/detail/