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G3 Snow and Rock 10k
Date: 4th March 2006
Race Type: 10k Cross Country Run
Runners: Steve & Keith
Location: Guildford, Surrey
http://www.allabouttriathlon.co.uk/


Another cold bright start, very cold, in fact, -4 in the car park. Chaos ensued as the marshals attempted to control the parking, most people choosing to ignore the instructions they were given. Eventually the obligatory 3mm rule between cars was obeyed (bloody good job most runners are skinny bastards).

The start line was soon buzzing with nervous anticipation, this was the last in this year’s series of G3 races and Toby the race organizer spent a few minutes before the start thanking all those involved for their support.

The first kilometre proved difficult going, the ground was frozen solid and being a bridleway was very uneven. The 300 or so runners were soon spread out, the majority of them (including Steve) were in front of me, but undeterred I carried on.


The first big hill was the sandy run up to St Martha’s church, as well as being steep the ground is very soft and so running is a real challenge. With lungs at bursting point, the next section was downhill and recovery was swift, except for the runner in front of me who went arse over tit down the hill. Luckily, the only thing that was damaged was pride and he was soon up and running again.

The next couple of km was a loop back towards the church, although the climb this time was less severe. A gentle downhill section was followed by a short but difficult piece of single track (overhanging branches being the main hazard - Steve stacked it here!). A bugger of a climb followed which was short but very steep. The next few km were generally downhill and allowed breath to be caught and legs to be stretched.

The sun was doing its work and what had been frozen ground was now slippery wet mud. This taxing off camber section saw runners falling all over the place (they could all be identified by a muddy right leg).

The final km was back along the frozen bridleway, with less runners it was easier to place feet and avoid the deep ruts.

The finish line and a cold bottle of “For Goodness Shakes” beckoned, 00.57.46 for me was 5 minutes slower than Steve, but still inside an hour for 10km cross country. Not bad for an old bastard!

Keith




Keith gets his breath back