Tag Archive: Cross Country

The Dark Mud Rises – National XC Champs 2020

February 24, 2020, by
Splashing through the clart

Clarty. There’s no better word to describe the conditions at Saturday’s Saucony National Cross Country Championships. It was right clarty. Back to back winter storms had seen fit to empty the heavens, leaving the course a mess of mud and sludge. Or, as I like to think of it, perfect cross country conditions. This year’s championships were at Wollaton Hall in Nottingham, used as Wayne Manor in The Dark Knight Rises. An Elizabethan Country House surrounded by 500 acres of park land, it made a fantastic venue for racing. A good friend from the club had told me that I had to experience the nationals, and he was spot on. The atmosphere is great with thousands of runners coming from across the country. Tents spring up in club colours, with flags fluttering outside to show their crests. There are ten races across the day, ranging from under thirteens to seniors.... View Article

Alnwick, not Elysium (North East Cross Country Championships 2019)

December 18, 2019, by
I think the face says it all

I always said no to Cross Country. Marathon training was my usual excuse. Saturday is long run day, but really it was the memory of how crap it was at school running along the grassy cliff tops in the cold. This season though, I ran out of excuses. I’m not marathon training yet and my enjoyment of the fells made me think cross country might be worth a try. My first two outings have been in the Harrier League, and it turns out this cross country running lark is popular. Wrekenton proved to be a pretty dry and pleasant affair and then, as if to show how grim things can get, Aykley Heads was a mud bath of epic proportions. We’re talking like the fields of Agincourt kind of muddy. There are probably people still out there, crying for help under a foot or two of sludge. Aykley Heads was... View Article