Bad weather has hit the North East Harrier League 2019 cross country season.
Cancelled
Not that this tends to deter most runners, we can’t cry off. But the rain meant there was cancellation of both Druridge Bay and the Lambton Estate fixtures.
You see, the runners expect to compete no matter what the conditions. But flood hit fields result in nowhere to park.
That has meant that the meet at Aykley Heads in Durham was only the second race of the season.
It’s Going to be Tough
In the run up to the event various people told me it’s the hardest of the seven courses. Firstly, hilly routes don’t bother me. And secondly, I train on them regularly, consequently I wasn’t worried.
How wrong could I have been?!
I expected it was going to be muddy. It had rained most of the Autumn.
The Venue
As Louise and I arrived at Aykley Heads I searched for the bright red Elswick Harriers tent. I had a good look around I noticed the start/finish line on the playing fields.
The juniors’ races were just about over, with only the senior women and senior men to go. The bit I could see looked a bit wet, the area round all the club tents seemed more muddy.
The Course
It’s approximately two miles arond the full course, with the juniors doing one lap. Senior women do two, and senior men comple three full circuits.
After the senior women got underway I went off for a bit of a warm up.
I realised there had been nine races before the one I was about to run in.
One of the guys told me that there’s a bit where we would all run down a hill. In short, he expected it would be quite boggy at the bottom by the time we got there. And over a thousand feet funning it first would definitely result in it being churned up.
A Bit of History
Like most children in the UK I had to run cross country at school. Getting cold and wet was never my idea of fun. However, I was good at running, therefore got round the course quickly. Most importantly, I tended to get back in the top three.
My school cross country career was cut short when I developed asthma when I was 12 – but that’s another story.
Cross Country – The Race
This was my first cross country as an adult. Indeed, my first race running against competitors solely from other clubs. I’ve run in plenty of “open to all” races such as half marathons, Parkruns, and the like. But the runners vary from people just seeing if they can complete the distance or doing it as a one off for charity, to serious, competitive road runners.
The difference here is that all the entrants were from running clubs so even the least able runners train regularly. Consequently, I was up against much tougher competition than usual.
Starting Line
There were a lot of senior men – over 500 – all crowded in to the start.
I didn’t know how I’d do so I decided to hedge my bets and placed myself in the middle of the pack. And as I did so the call came to advance to the line.
Almost before I knew it we were off, a mad scramble to gain position before the first turn.
And then reality began to dawn on me as I approached a patch of sodden ground with runners ahead up to their ankles in mud. They were struggling through what looked like a scene from a Great War film, the mud was all encompassing, and we hadn’t even reached the first corner.
NEHL Cross Country – Official results
I may not have performed as well as I would have liked, but for a first attempt I was happy with where I came. 308th in a time of 56:59 puts me in the middle. Average with plenty to improve on in the next races of the season.
See the official results here: Aykley Heads Senior men 23rd Nov 2019