This was my first ever cross country race as I don't think you can count running up Tiger's Alley and round the school field as cross country which is the last time I did anything that resembled cross country aged 14.
So, as you can guess from the picture above, the event was the Eridge 10 hosted by the Tunbridge Wells Harriers. This event is held in high regard amongst the running fraternity and regularly gets top marks on the Runners World forums.
As my last race resulted in a very rushed prep, we (Me , Mich & Max) arrived with over an hour to go before the 10:30am start. So I was able to collect my number and t-shirt with ease and even go to the toilet without having to queue. As you can see Mich and Max were enjoying the morning sunshine
I met up with the rest of the PWR's and the general conscensus was that it was going to be tough and there were some killer climbs and you would have to be sadistic to find this run fun.
600+ runners set off in the blazing sun and the first bit was downhill, but what goes down must come up. The race itself is round the Eridge Estate and a lot of the route is on land that isn't usually open to the general public. There are numerous features that are signposted as your run round, nice views such as 'Lake Serene' and 'Lake Magical' some small challenges such as 'The leap of death' and 'Watership Up' and some in your face, come on then if you think you are tough enough features such as 'Cheeky's Bog' and 'Deeply Steep'
At about 2.5 miles, Cheeky's Bog appeared, as I arrived there was a bit of a queue as people were in single file trying to skirt round the edge of the bog. Hippos are known for their love of mud, so I thought bugger it and went through it, well I not quite through it. As I stepped into the bog, I promptly dissapeared up to my knees. Fortuntaley, I managed to extract myself with shoes still attached, unlike a poor fella at a later bog who was knee deep and had his arms in the mud up to his armpits trying to retrieve his missing shoe!
It was quite novel to see a snake like single file of runners in the distance going over the undulations rather than the mass of bodies I am used to seeing in road races.
In all there was over 1100 feet of ascending in the 10 miles. At one point I was trying to run uphill, but every couple of steps was walking a bit. In the end I worked out is was actually quicker to power walk up the hill rather than shuffling like Quasimodo.
I completed the 10 miles in 1:44:31. I was told that this course was not PB material, but as I have never done a 10 mile cross-country this was a PB :-)
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/220687957
Oh, and the holy grail at the end was a free pint of real ale from the Larkins brewery. As a CAMRA member this is about as good as it gets! So I joined Mich & Max and the already finished PWR's in the sun with pint in hand to cheer home the rest of the PWR's
And do you know what, I think I must have sadistic tendencies as I quite enjoyed this run
TJH
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