The final cross country proved a day of contrasts. The furthest distance to travel, for the shortest distance to run. As we drove up the M1 it got darker and damper - but the moment the race started the sun came out and it felt quite warm. The mood was gloomy too, before the race, but by the end of the day things had brightened considerably. I'd better explain.
Actually, it doesn't take much explaining. As we gathered in the sports hall before the race it was clear that we were going to struggle to field a complete men's team. Which set us grumbling about how useless all the absent squirrels were, of course. But we got ourselves to the start as normal.
I had a strange start to the race. The start line was at an angle to the course, so that the first corner was far closer to the right hand side of the start line than anywhere else. Naturally, I stood there. But nobody else did. So when the race started and I darted for the corner, I found I was almost alone. It took about a quarter of a mile before the fast boys overtook me, which was a very odd experience! But even then it was clear that other clubs were a bit light on runners too. Probably the best way to illustrate that is the fact that I came 7th. Yes, I felt like I'd had a good run, but normally I'd be about 20th.
The sandwiches and cakes afterwards were very good - in fact, they rivalled our own efforts, which is saying something. And it was just as well that it was sunny and warm outside, because we had a long time to wait before the results were ready (something about the software not being able to cope with the fact that we had a cancelled race). And this is where the mood changed. On the day it turned out that the men came 2nd (quality over quantity) and the ladies 3rd. And that was enough to confirm NHRR as 3rd overall, and the men as 3rd too, which was better than expected.
So there. A happy ending.
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