I wasn’t entirely sure whether I was going to make this year’s Hampshire Cross Country Champs. Illness had been circulating around the house over Christmas, and I woke in the middle of the night with my nose streaming. Remarkably, it had cleared by the morning. It was pretty perfect racing conditions: cold enough that the ground remained firm, but not so cold that it lacked a bit of give. Duncan even warmed up our shared spikes for me in the U17 race!
It’s four and a bit laps of the grounds of Fairthorne Manor for the senior race. I took it fairly cautiously over the first two. The plan was to pick up the pace in the third, but I was wary of peaking too soon. It was only on the final lap that I began to overtake other runners. I should have pushed harder, as I’m no good at sprint finishes (the picture above, sadly, shows me being overtaken on the run-in).
I was the first Eastleigh runner home, and my time and position were both better than last year. With a significant birthday later in 2026, I’m somewhat motivated to be just a second behind third place in what would be my new age category (though not the runner who overtook me!).