A Perfect Day for Canadian National X-Country

A Perfect Day for Canadian National X-Country

Wet, wet and wetter,  and extremely muddy!!!  All part of the fun of running in a cross country race 🙂 Being from the UK we did a lot of cross country at school and it was often wet, muddy and cold so I was actually looking forward to it.  The course was at Jericho Beach, starting in the fields by the ocean, around the lake, through the trees and back out onto the fields for the final section.

I’d never ran in spikes before but was assured it was completely necessary on this course, especially on a day like today so it gave me a chance to try out my New Balance WRX507CP Spikes.  They are a lovely white and pink shoe (I confess when I got them, I did think they looked very pretty, as well, of course being an excellent performance spike).  They were a lovely brown colour within about 1 minute of being out on the course but certainly helped me perform on the extremely muddy, often slippery surfaces.

It was exciting to be competing in a national event and there was a definite buzz on the start line.  Male and Female Masters were running together – an 8k race consisting of 4 x 2k loops. Always difficult not to get carried away and sprint off at the start of these races, but I quickly got into my own pace. Certainly different to running an 8k road race, especially in these muddy conditions.  One of the things I like about cross country is that the time isn’t really too relevant – it’s just about where you place so it’s all about passing the runner in front or not letting the person chasing you get past too.

It was pretty cold and wet but I really did enjoy the race.  I got a boost at about half way to hear my club mate, Catherine Watkins was leading the women’s race.  I will confess the 4th loop was a little tough but having friends and my coach, John out cheering me on really helped.  Thanks to Barry, Heather, Anne-Marie and John for being out there supporting us on such a yucky day!

I never did manage to catch the woman in front of me but did have enough energy left to keep my place in a sprint finish with the great Cindy Rhodes.  Certainly a fun way to finish the race. I was delighted to discover that Catherine had won the race too! Way to go Catherine!