The second RR10 of the season approached following a rather rainy few weeks. Janesmoor Pond is known amongst RR10 runners for the long inviting downhill stretch at the start of the race and of course for the mud. I had told myself that I wouldn’t bother with RR10’s this year but having discussed this at home and ‘negotiated’ the childcare I set off. Last year I attended most of the races but Janesmoor Pond was one I missed. I think I now know why.
It was incredibly chilly stood on the edge of the moor in the New Forest and conditions looked iffy. The weather could have turned at any moment. Ladies Captain Kelly had a police escort during her team talk as well which made a change, she must have been very excitable at Netley!
It was incredibly chilly stood on the edge of the moor in the New Forest and conditions looked iffy. The weather could have turned at any moment. Ladies Captain Kelly had a police escort during her team talk as well which made a change, she must have been very excitable at Netley!
Me in the mud no idea who was chasing One thing I love about RR10’s is the organisers make it very clear that runners must listen to every word of the talk prior to setting off but no one can ever hear them. I actually think that if someone could hear the talk it may be disconcerting, the silence amongst the runners is deathly but you still have no idea what the Race Director is saying.
I had been warned of mud by fellow Hedge End runners, not least Cliff whose first words to me were ‘what are you doing here, you don’t do cross country?’ Cliff is right, I struggle with Parkrun so what lay ahead of me at Janesmoor ran fear through my veins. Richard Allen who was recovering from the NDVM had kindly said he would run with me and as we set off down the misleading compacted gravel hill I felt a little more confident. I am notoriously dreadful at pacing myself. I always go off at the speed of light and fail by 800m but thanks to Rich I started sensibly. We chatted our way down the hill and continued around the course, catching up with other team mates on the way, even overtaking some.
I had been warned of mud by fellow Hedge End runners, not least Cliff whose first words to me were ‘what are you doing here, you don’t do cross country?’ Cliff is right, I struggle with Parkrun so what lay ahead of me at Janesmoor ran fear through my veins. Richard Allen who was recovering from the NDVM had kindly said he would run with me and as we set off down the misleading compacted gravel hill I felt a little more confident. I am notoriously dreadful at pacing myself. I always go off at the speed of light and fail by 800m but thanks to Rich I started sensibly. We chatted our way down the hill and continued around the course, catching up with other team mates on the way, even overtaking some.
They still stink The muddy parts of the course were like nothing I have ever had to negotiate before. There are a few comparisons but the one that I feel is most accurate is dancing in four inch heels after a shed load of drink, it is like Bambi on ice. People were losing their shoes in the mud, pulling them out putting them back on and continuing. Thankfully my shoes stayed on. Rich negotiated the mud perfectly, he was wearing trail shoes and just took the bull by the horns. I think if I had been running alone I would have had a real sense of humour failure but because Rich stayed with me and expertly negotiated the mud I continued, giggling and squelching away. I don’t own trail shoes for the obvious reason that I rarely run trail so my road shoes took a hammering.
PB’s can’t be set at the RR10’s because of the points system but I am not one for running without a watch so I always have to check my times. I run to the KM rather than Mile and my maths is worse than my four year old daughters so I really had no idea how far we had run at any stage in the race. That said, we knew we were approaching the end of the race when the marshals kindly informed us there was no more mud. We could see the beautiful downward slope from the start which we now had to climb for the finish. Ahead of us were a small group of Hedge End runners, Sheryl James and Michael Head were there. Richard decided he had to catch Michael and stormed up the hill. He achieved his target of beating Mike because unlucky Mike took a wrong turn at the finish funnel much to everyone’s amusement. I shut down but seeing Sheryl inspired me to run to the line with her, she kindly shouted at me to go ahead so I sprinted for the line just ahead finishing in 84th place.
I’m not a cake fan (controversial I know), I will always fear cross country but I hold a huge amount of affection for the RR10’s, the amount I laugh on the way round contributes more to my core training than any other exercise I do!
PB’s can’t be set at the RR10’s because of the points system but I am not one for running without a watch so I always have to check my times. I run to the KM rather than Mile and my maths is worse than my four year old daughters so I really had no idea how far we had run at any stage in the race. That said, we knew we were approaching the end of the race when the marshals kindly informed us there was no more mud. We could see the beautiful downward slope from the start which we now had to climb for the finish. Ahead of us were a small group of Hedge End runners, Sheryl James and Michael Head were there. Richard decided he had to catch Michael and stormed up the hill. He achieved his target of beating Mike because unlucky Mike took a wrong turn at the finish funnel much to everyone’s amusement. I shut down but seeing Sheryl inspired me to run to the line with her, she kindly shouted at me to go ahead so I sprinted for the line just ahead finishing in 84th place.
I’m not a cake fan (controversial I know), I will always fear cross country but I hold a huge amount of affection for the RR10’s, the amount I laugh on the way round contributes more to my core training than any other exercise I do!
Next one is Wilverley, bring mosquito spray, they ate me alive there last year!
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