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Cross country
Peter Collins
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I made the, er, interesting decision to turn up and run for my club in a cross country race this weekend, down near Dorking (I was a dork for doing it!). I was under no illusions beforehand that there'd be mostly far faster runners than me involved, so I was quite pleased to come about 140th out of more than 150. What I wasn't totally prepared for was the absolutely huge amount of mud, made even more deadly by the hills... oh, the hills. And what was touted as 'about 6km' turned out to be almost eight, with one ****** of a marshal (and marshals are usually fantastic, dont' get me wrong), telling me the last but one hill was actually the last. Great fun, though, getting muddy like that.
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Comments
Yeah, get down & get dirty
, much better than roadrunning. It's certainly this ol' dogsbollocks
Most of my training is offroad round riverbanks & marshtrails round Beccles,Suffolk. Mud glorious mud.
I'm gutted at the mo though as can't run due to back prob & have now had to miss the 1st 2 races in Suffolk x/country league
Happy mudrunning to all x/country lovers, proper stuff that is, not that mamby pamby stuff the elite do on a piece of grass track, thass for wimps
My club took part in this race Peter and finished first team! I didn't run, which is why they won I dare say, as my training is not up to that level yet. I understand that conditions were pretty mire what with all the rain we had that morning and the previous afternoon. Didn't help that it was a joint match with the Ladies XC League so you had their race as well as the girls and boys before yours so the course must have been cut up!
Still at least it had stopped raining by the time you were racing, our Ladies team came first in the wet t-shirt competition so I'm told!
Ladies in wet t-shirts
& mud too, waheyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Brilliant day out.
Love courses with lots of mud, streams etc.
Doesn't matter if it rains because by the end you are going to be filthy dirty and in need of a good bath.
I got the 'nearly there' comment form a marshall at the marathon I did last month ...with 8 miles to go
I know it was a marathon, but eight miles is not 'nearly finished'
Love cross country, all the mud & streams & hills, great stuff
Would be nice if the blokes race was last here, but the ladies race is last in our league, so we've gotta get round after 400 blokes and all of the juniors have churned the course up 
Guildford G3s are running out of space so get in there soon if you can. Slithered up Marthas Back Passage on a recce the other day, if this rain keeps up it's gonna be well messy soon.
Check the race reveiws for info. Or www.allabouttriathlons.co.uk
Best race series of the year!
Ladies in wet t-shirts
& mud too, waheyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy
Yeah, where else wld u get fit birds running round the countryside in just a vest and knickers
I got hooked on off road running after participating in my 1st ever XC with my club. I ran Dorking XC too in very strong winds, rain and hail, and it was fantastic! Unfortunately foot problem so pulling out of tomorrow's Richmond XC race
Always called myself a road runner, but most of my next year's races are off road
I did a few cross-countrys earlier this year 'see below' (only been running since mid '07) & enjoyed them immensely, so I've decided that all of the forthcoming years road-mileage, which is predominantly my run to work (3 times a week, 4 miles each way, & an average of 30 minutes per journey) will be used to try to gain some more endurance/speed for XC.
I also have a local decent ('rolling', but a couple of decent-ish off-road hills) XC route that's just under 6 miles, & takes about 42 minutes to do 'on a good day', for training purposes (it gets very wet /muddy though)
It can be extended up to about 10-12 miles, but I haven't done so. Yet
I'll also freely admit that I still don't consider myself a runner, as I only started it as 'cross-training' for my Cyclo-Cross racing
http://www.yorkshirecyclocross.org.uk/
I compete in the runs under my cycling club name/colours http://www.featherstoneroadclub.co.uk/news.php
It keeps getting mentioned to me that I join a local running Club, but I'm told my local one doesn't do much cross-country in the senior/veteran ranks, I guess I ought to contact them & find out.
However, I'm happy running under 'Featherstone RC' colours/name,('rant mode' engaged) BUT this does appear to preclude me from entry into some races, as 'individual'/'private' entries aren't allowed (only Club members)
This seems a bit odd, & hardly a way of attracting 'new blood'?, Cyclo-Cross races (at local/non-championship level) do welcome 'private' riders, they just pay a small premium (£1.00/race) over the club-mans entry fee
Perhaps the XC organisers should do the same ('rant mode' off)
Sorry for going off on a tangent there.
Yours, looking for company on my local runs
See Above Message
Sorry, had to split it, as I got a message saying reply was too long
The events referred to above were;
1. The last four rounds (6 - 9) of the Penistone Footpath Runners & AC organised 'Trunce' series. In round 6, I was 113th/255 @ 37:04
By Round 9, I was 57th/201 @ 32:12 (& placed Vet Male = 29th/238, Overall = 111th/673 at end of season)
http://undeadmonkey.org.uk/trunce/
2. The Bingley Harriers organised 'Bingley Show Trail Race'
23rd/57 @ 20:10
http://www.bingleyharriers.co.uk/html/bingley_show/bshow.htm
3. Perhaps the 'ultimate' cross-country??, & my inaugural half-marathon
County to county, across a tidal bay!!!
http://www.crossbayrun.org.uk/index.htm
I'm still pround of my time
51st/237 @ 1.42:52
4. Sandal Castle 10K Multi-Terrain Race
I suffered on this one, just didn't feel good at all, but finished in 106th/577 @ 46:14
http://www.sandalcastle10k.co.uk/
5. The Bingley Harriers organised 'Cyclists verses Harriers'
I rode this in 2007 & 2008, but decided to try running it this year, and knocked 6 minutes off my time!!!
Although, a MTB isn't easy to carry on the sections that need it,
66th/129 @ 48:12 (54:16 in '08)
http://www.bingleyharriers.co.uk/html/h_v_cyclists/hvc.htm
Slithered up Marthas Back Passage
dustboy whats that all about
Richard - most xc league races will allow you to enter as a guest (as a runner from a non league club member), but you do have to be affiliated to a club. This means that folks from clubs around the country can enter any xc race in a region other than the one their own club competes in. There's a few reasons for the club only rules. Unlike road races, for cross country the clubs pay a flat fee for all of their entrants (apart from regional championships), this covers their members insurance for taking part in the race, and the fee that goes to the hosting club, officials fees etc.
The xc races are harrier league races, which means it's more about clubs competing against each other, and how individual members represent their club. but don't be disheartened - there are open xc races around the country where anyone can enter, and perhaps if they get a taste for running cross country they could join a local club and take part in the main league races.
There is also another option.
A non league club, can organise itself to take part in the league. So, for example in the North Eastern league (I'm just using that cause I'm the ladies secretary), We have several clubs which weren't UKA affiliated - they have had their members sign up so they can take part and count as a team, such as Tyne & Wear Fire Brigade, and PB Fitness. We also have a Tri club amongst the competing clubs,
So, if you were a member of a cyclo-cross club, you could ask the club to apply the the local league to have you registered to take part.
I hope this all makes sense
The xc league races aren't there to exclude people, but you must be UKA affiliated to take part - you could sign yourself up to an online running club, then enter each race as a guest.
Vicki
Thankyou for that in-depth reply, I shall look into it all.
That's one good thing about the 'Trunce' series (even though there's only 9 races in the series, sadly all on Monday evenings), they allow anyone to enter.
You just sign-up/sign-on on the evening, no fancy forms, just a name, emergency contact number & pay your £1.20, then line-up for the start.
As there's probably only a handful of us (out of perhaps 80 - 90 riders) in the Club who run (I've run some 5-milers, & 10K's, with a club-mate), it's probably not worth the Events Secretary signing us up to affiliate?