The Hampshire Cross-Country Champs were back at Fairthorne Manor again this year. With some heavy rain over the preceding few days, it was a return to the conditions of two years ago: mud and more mud. It could have been worse though as the route of the course steadily evolved over the day as the tapes were adjusted to avoid some of the stickiest spots.
As is customary, the ladies race went first and the children and I flitted from one part of the course to another to catch sight of Christine as many times as we could. I then left them to meet her at the finish whilst I stripped off more layers than felt advisable and had a quick warm up trying to find the toilets (they had been right behind me!). I started fairly steadily but, for a change, after the first two laps I was still overtaking people and wasn’t experiencing any heaviness in my legs or nausea. I finished in a fairly respectable 56th place, fourth V40 and, together with my Eastleigh teammates, we bagged third place in the veteran team competition.
(Photos are Copyright hammy8241)