David Currie

Yesterday was the Hampshire Cross-Country Champs, handily taking place at nearby Fleming Park. Christine had been let off marshalling duties so we didn’t have to be there until after midday. I took the children to the playground whilst Christine prepared, returning in time to cheer her in to the home straight. She finished a respectable 31st and 4th W35. I was a bit concerned as to quite how many laps of the old golf course my 12km race might entail but it was sufficiently convoluted that we only had to go round the three times. Although muddy, none of the course was under standing water as it has been on previous visits!

After a fairly fast first lap I concluded that I wasn’t going to finish at that pace and slowed for the second. Perhaps because of this (or could it even be the semi-regular training that I’ve managed for the past month?!) I actually felt fairly good on the last lap. I even managed a bit of overtaking in the final mile although was gutted to lose out on yet another sprint for the line (to the sideburns in the accompanying picture!). I came 41st in the results which equated to 33rd in the senior men (unlike the women, the men have to wait to 40 for the next category) in a time of 45:48 which, although some six minutes slower than the winner, I was pretty pleased with. To put it in perspective, my 10k time was 39:09 over an undulating and muddy course. Perhaps I’ll even try my hand at a 10k on the road this year…

It was not the best preparation for this year’s Clarendon Way Half Marathon- Emma was up twice in the night and threw up in the car just as Christine dropped me off at the start. My throat was also a bit rough (probably having burnt it on the previous night’s dinner though rather than illness!). Then I bought a gel, only to leave it in my bag that was going on the bus to the finish. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to settle in to second place in the first half of the race. I thought the pace was a bit fast but eventually calculated that it wasn’t going to see me back in much under my guesstimated target time of 90 minutes. As we approached the half way stage at Farley Mount, I started to wonder whether I might actually come first as the young lad I was running with needed a bit of a push up the hill. As on previous descents , he pegged it off down the other side but I reeled him yet again and we wound through the woods and finally broke him in the next muddy ascent. I felt surprisingly good at this point, not least for being out in front, and pushed it a bit harder, particularly on the climbs which seemed all too numerous in the closing stages. At 1:27:36 or thereabouts it wasn’t my fastest Clarendon Half but the other times all date back to when it was run over the Salisbury end which is definitely flatter. I’m not too worried about the time though – it was just nice to finally win a race. Mind, I shan’t be too disappointed if I have to stay at home tomorrow and look after Emma as my legs aren’t looking forward to the cycle in to work!

The cross-country season started this weekend. Christine cried off with a cold so I made the short trip to Farley Mount on my own. The course had changed this year with a shorter loop meaning 4 laps (and hence 4 chances to head up the hill) to make up a course just under 10k. My legs felt sluggish warming up so I started slowly. After the first lap I was somewhere around 60th and hoped to work my up through the field. Unfortunately, the field had different ideas and despite swapping places numerous times I eventually finished… 61st. Nothing like a Hants XC race to put you in your place. Still, there have been races in the past where I’ve barely been in the top 100 so it could have been worse!