For a while now I'd wanted to do another XC race - I used to do a few when we lived in the Peak, and really loved the burn of a the fast tough short race. So when I realised I was available for this race, and could also combine it with Christmas shopping in Keswick, the plan was made. As I've done very few short races in the last months, I wasn't expecting too much. I had also drunk a little too much wine at my works Christmas do the night before. Therefore I woke up feeling slightly fragile.
The race itself was painful - as it should be. I'd woken my legs up enough to run really well for 1 and a half laps but the second one and a half laps were best forgotten. As I'd gone off reasonably fast, I'd settled into 4th overall, and 3rd senior lady, but as the pace started to hurt, Catherine who runs for Keswick started closing on me, and unlike fell races where you really have to make an effort to see where the competition is behind you, I could see at every turn in the course that she was slowly winding me in. I dug deep on the last lap saving something for the final few hundred metres and managed to hold her off.
As this was the county championship race it was a real shame to not see more people running. It wasn't the best of fields. I can understand that with the call of the fells so close, XC doesn't have the pull to get all fell runners to race, but its a great laugh and anything that can make you feel that sick in such a short distance has to be good!
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