East District League XC Championships, Livingston 19/01/08
Top marks to Sheena who sportingly volunteered to be the third runner necessary for a women's team. Unfortunately the men's team was decimated by flu, work commitments and a pulled hamstring, leaving us just one man short for the team. This didn't dampen our spirits though and we turned up to Deans in Livingston where they also hold the excellent Dechmont 10k. The course was to be less muddy than last year's, instead there would be more grassy hills.
Sarah’s Report
I arrived in Livingston with Peter, Richard and Frank not long before the ladies race. I just had time to stand in the queue for the only 2 female toilets which the HBT girl in front of me just about pulled the handle off desperately trying to flush in vain.
There was no time to reccy the course, what a shame, I can never see the sense in pre-running the race 20 minutes before the gun, I don’t have that much energy. Instead I had a quick warm up with Sheena.
At the start line I could see why people think runners are crazy, standing around in the freezing cold wearing only little vests and small shorts though 200m into the race I was the crazy one roasting hot in my three layers. I thought you were meant to learn from experience, I think I just get worse.
I started the race dancing round puddles trying to keep my already filthy fell shoes clean, makes no sense, I know. This didn’t last long as tiredness crept in.
I enjoyed the undulating course, trying to catch people on each rise. The support from fellow team mates and random supporters on the sidelines was great, always a good encouragement.
Report Sarah Laing
Coming up the hill towards the end of lap 1
How to cross the line in style
Note: far left Ivor starts the race not even on the coursePeter's Report
Watching the womens' race the hillrunners were definitely at an advantage, the course never flat for long before swooping down into the adjoining field or climbing a long slow drag back up to the higher ground. Amanda tried to deny her recent poor health setting off ahead of Sheena and Sarah and was still ahead at the start of the second lap, however as the hills took their toll it was Sarah who appeared first Porty at the finish line followed closely by Amanda and a cheerful Sheena.
Next its our turn and having run about the fields taking photos of the women I have an idea I may be in trouble here: like Amanda I spent a lot of the early part of the year unwell with flu which left me unable to train - just when you need to start working off the Christmas excesses. The weather was dry but chilly and I wore gloves and an extra vest. Lots of familiar faces at the start line and most of them taking off at a great rate. Then the first corner and we head back past the start/finish. My lungs are already aching from the cold air and I notice Leo ahead by a short distance as we turn left up a long hill.
Tom Scott may be wearing long socks but he left me behind by miles.
The course was so well laid out - as ever by Martin Hyman - that I didn't pay a lot of attention to it. There was a really nice piney section through the woods before it dropped down a field or two before returning back towards the start/finish. I thought I may be able to catch Leo since we had been quite evenly matched at Bert's session on Wednesday but over the course of the first lap the gap between us expanded until he was about 80 to 100 yrds ahead and gaining.
Leo on that hill while in the background Ivor goes past me for the first time.As I struggled up the long hill towards the end of the first lap I saw Leo at the top and he was walking. That'll be the flu catching up with him. I really hoped he wouldn't drop out as we only had 3 vets and needed all to cross the line. HBT Ivor had just gone past me but as I could also see Amanda was taking photos I made an effort to reclaim the place at least for the photo.
Well that was pretty short lived. We both went past Leo on the downhill that followed and I was so out of breath I didn't even have the wherewithal to say anything encouraging to Leo. I felt okay as I noted the first lap going past in just over 17 minutes but soon Ivor and Jon (both HBTs) went past and disappeared into the distance. Tom Scott (last encountered at the Falkland Trail Race) exacted a considerable revenge - I saw him completing one of the out and backs just as I was starting it, and suspect he was in the showers before I had crossed the line.
During the second lap (just over 18 mins) I began to flag. A moments inattention going downhill and I caught the bottom of my shoe on some turf. I had one further step to realise I was going down and without thinking about it dropped my shoulder into a neat roll with a bit of a less dignified slither about the grass getting up on my feet again. The older guy wearing 31and red shorts in the photo with Ivor took the opportunity to go past. Its a dog eat dog world. I believe Richard went down a couple of times and judging from some of the mud-splattered head-to-toes he wasn't the only one.
Leo rallied somewhere in the long second lap and would probably have overtaken me towards the finish if it were not for an uncouth piece of running by J Christy (made up name?) overtaking me with the finish in sight. He then ran right across my line while slowing down and I had to touch his back not to trip over his feet. Weighing up the situation I thought it best to finish ahead of him which meant a rather unpleasant sprint to the line. Leo was right behind and within a few moments Scott and Frank finished as well. After a short gap Richard also made the line, with one of his signature sprints.
Just one sandwich short of a picnic.I have come to really like the cross country. Not sure why, its really tough and there's always a hundred guys faster. Maybe because its short and you know the pain will stop soon. And it brightens up the grey winter weekends with a bit of full-on racing, often in fairly pleasant surroundings, on soft ground.
Many thanks to Martin Hyman for his great work and all who help out, and to Alex Jackson for his organising, time keeping and results, which will be posted here
Report Peter
Photos pb, Amanda and SarahFrank’s Report
What can I say about Livingston? On arriving there in Richard’s car with Sarah and Peter, Richard asked, “Was this place built in the 60’s? – need I say more? The course itself however was another matter, a very pleasant undulating jaunt across open fields and some woodland. The obligatory pre-race queue for the loo went pretty well and I even managed to finish with a few sheets to spare for the other 5 or so runners after me.
After a quick warm up with Leo while cheering on Sarah, Amanda and Sheena in the women’s race, I made my final preparations for the men’s race. As we were shivering in the cold Scott asked me why we do this - my mind drew a blank. As I made my way to the start with a minute to go, Sarah advised me to ditch my long sleeve running top I had under my vest to prevent over-heating. There then ensued a mad rush to pull my top off, seconds from the start. After a titanic struggle with the zip Sarah managed to pull it off, nearly taking my head with it.
I rushed to the start whilst quickly trying to set up my Garmin GPS watch to run with a “virtual partner”, why I did this when there were 200 other runners to run with I’m not sure. Then suddenly the gun went off before I could find my teammates.
I enjoyed the race, I had lots of close fought battles with a few Central and HBT runners. The course was pretty muddy, which added to the fun, there’s nothing like a satisfying “splosh” as your foot lands in a pool of mud. I was pleasantly surprised to catch a sight of Scott and Leo not far ahead of me towards the end. At the end Peter, Leo, Scott and myself finished within seconds of each other. We then had the pleasure of watching Richard sprint like his life depended on it for the finish in his first race as a Vet ( I think someone needs to check his birth certificate, I’m still not convinced).
The 60’s, a decade that brought us the Beatles, the first man on the moon and Livingston, home of a most enjoyable East District XC race.
Report Frank Gioia
