Saturday 23rd February - The National

136th

Race Report:

Myself and seven other intrepid Epsom & Ewell Harriers met at seven thirty to enjoy a three hour mini bus ride up to Alton Towers on Saturday morning for a quick race around a field! I was a little concerned as to how my legs would be after three hours sitting down, but I needn't have worried. With eight athletes all getting well hydrated the stops were plentiful! Which gave me time to stretch my legs and stop them from stiffening up.

The National is a great occasion. Club runners of all shapes, sizes and ages from all over the country meeting to participate in the biggest club cross country race of the season. I'm not sure what the families that had gone to Alton Towers to enjoy the rollercoaster's made of eight thousand runners, but I bet they cursed their luck when it came to sitting in massive queues to get out of the car parks!

For me the race was frustrating to say the least. With four weeks of mediocre/rubbish training behind me I knew It would be a big test. And the challenging course with its undulations and one killer near vertical hill, that was run up three blooming times, soon found my fitness wanting. Due to my lack of fitness I had wanted to come in the top one hundred. If i'd been fit I wanted the top fifty at least. But I found the going hard, my legs felt like jelly after every climb, and to make matters even better for me my lower back really stiffened up and became quite painful, and altered how I was able to run, at least it made my forget the pain in my foot!

I finished a tired 136, not that good really. But considering only two years ago I was finishing in the top 300 in just the southern championships, I know progress is being made.
One of these days I'll run well, to the best of my abilities, with no illness or injury to contend with, and I'll give a true representation of where I am, and how much I've improved. I hope it's soon, like in three weeks at the inter counties, the race I've been looking forward to all season long. Fingers crossed.