Ladies XC at Richmond Park Saturday 3 December
Richmond Park 3 December
Clara is in SIN running a marathon and we're supposed to be in Richmond Park for
our 2nd XC which means that it is the last of the two shorter runs (5-6K).
Next year's fixtures will be in the order of 7-8K in length.
Well most of the team are at the start talking to Barry who has kindly brought
along the BA Banner......Liz and I (we have the numbers) are stuck in very slow
traffic going the long way round Richmond Park.... and .... we meet up with
some others practising road rage whilst we're trying to get into the car
park........... we wait and wait and wait to get into the car park. I seem to
remember that we got into the Park some 25 minutes before we managed to get to
the start line. Deby who cycled had no such problems and got a good warm up
just getting to the race. Well we got a good warm up just jogging to the start!
Very nice to have our own club banner and it makes it much easier to spot 'our
camp' when in a hurry. Thank you to the Committee for getting it. With less
than 5 minutes to fish out the numbers, say hello and get ready, we're at the
start line just in time, phew! Mark Taylor has kindly gone to find another of
our team who is still stuck in the massive queue to get into the car park.
Thanks Barry for handing in the declaration.
Well now that the race has started, I can tell that its turned into a lovely
sunny winter's day, the ground is dryish and the route varied as it follows a
short loop and then sweeps by the lake for the second loop. There is a gentle
hill with first the descent then the climb, ugh! Liz and Deby have jetted off
at the front of the pack whilst Marion and I make our way round the course and
appreciate support from Barry, Ann and John Coffey, John and Mark Taylor and
Tom. We even get encouragement from friends from our rival clubs who cheer us
on knowing that we're not a threat to their club!
The field is large and strong, there must be about 250+ runners in this race and
practically all of them are infront of me. The end is in sight though and so
is the coffee, hot chocolate and a few chocolate biscuits! Liz and Deby (with
Debs on her return to running and xc) had been back sometime. Well done Team.
I don't have the results, but allowing for parking problems etc we did our
best........... and THANKS to our supporters, it was great having you there.
LADIES and Club members- our 2 further Surrey League fixtures are:
XC 14 Jan Coulsdon at noon, which I remember as a very picturesque
route along the top of a ridge and then running through some woods.
11 February at Esher also at noon - this is mostly wooded, but if its
like the last time we were at Esher, the start is rather fun as it goes around
the green by the duck pond before diving into the woods.
Clara, hope your SIN Marathon went well, looking forward to hearing about it and
to having you back running with us and taking care of the numbers!
Helen
|