Saturday 10th March was the UK Inter Counties Cross Country at Cofton Park in Birmingham. The bare stats are I finished 89th from 278 finishers in 38:24. The distance was billed as 12km. I believe it is slightly shorter but is at least 7 miles. English Cross Country champion Keith Gerrard won the race with a time of 34:57. Here are the results for the Scottish contingent. Club and county represented (East or West of Scotland) are given in brackets.
30th: Murray Strain (Hunters Bog Trotters/East), 36:55
54th: Alex Hendry (Central/East), 37:41
57th: Sean Fontana (VP City of Glasgow/West), 37:44
79th: Michael Deason (Shettleston Harriers/West), 38:10
84th: Chris Devenney (Kilbarchan/West), 38:18
89th: Stuart Gibson (Ronhill Cambuslang/West), 38:24
90th: Andrew Crichton (Edinburgh AC/East), 38:25
91st: Thomas Fay (Shettleston Harriers/West), 38:26
106th: Lewis Millar (Central/East), 38:49
107th: Michael Wright (Central/East), 38:50
111th: Mickey Breen (Corstorphine/East), 38:57
143rd: Scott Green (Central/East), 39:49
The race more or less went to form per the National with Alex Hendry, Sean Fontana and Chris Devenney again getting the better of me (Murray Strain didn't run at Falkirk) but Michael Deason also running strongly, forging ahead in the later stages. On a dry day, underfoot conditions were pretty firm, ideal for someone like me who slips and slithers through mud. Over the 4 lap course, I worked my way through the field for 2 laps before struggling badly thereafter. The missed training kicked in and it took a bit of gritted teeth, brute force and ignorance to maintain the position I'd established.
My initial reaction was disappointment at dropping 26 places from last year and regret that the tendon problem ever manifested itself. On the other hand, another minute would have placed me in the top 50. It's that type of race, no quarter given, no margin for error. I got away with things to an extent at the Scottish National. Previous training carried me through. I'm not sure I would have placed any higher in Birmingham but I definitely think I wouldn't have found the later stages as painful as I did.
I have felt a tad deflated about this winter. When I look back though, I've achieved a fair bit- 7th and team silver in the West Cross Country, 13th and team bronze in the National, 14th and team bronze in the National 4km Cross Country, silver in the West Relay, 12th in the BUPA Edinburgh 10k and a second consecutive UK Inter Counties selection. It's a nagging feeling of not being as good as last winter. Maybe the injury interrupted momentum? Perhaps it shows how good last year was? Possibly both? As recently as 2 years ago, I didn't have a sniff of races like the UK Inter Counties so there is definite progress. I suppose it cannot be a never ending upward curve. At times, a step back is needed to move forward again. I will be blunt, I don't like being 89th in a race but I would have bitten anyone's hand off for it in 2010. So I'm happy and keeping a sense of perspective.
So far I've watched 5 minutes of Sky Sports 1's coverage of the race, spotting myself 3 times after much rewinding and pausing. I'll maybe see how the rest of it panned out now.
UK Inter Counties full results
The race more or less went to form per the National with Alex Hendry, Sean Fontana and Chris Devenney again getting the better of me (Murray Strain didn't run at Falkirk) but Michael Deason also running strongly, forging ahead in the later stages. On a dry day, underfoot conditions were pretty firm, ideal for someone like me who slips and slithers through mud. Over the 4 lap course, I worked my way through the field for 2 laps before struggling badly thereafter. The missed training kicked in and it took a bit of gritted teeth, brute force and ignorance to maintain the position I'd established.
My initial reaction was disappointment at dropping 26 places from last year and regret that the tendon problem ever manifested itself. On the other hand, another minute would have placed me in the top 50. It's that type of race, no quarter given, no margin for error. I got away with things to an extent at the Scottish National. Previous training carried me through. I'm not sure I would have placed any higher in Birmingham but I definitely think I wouldn't have found the later stages as painful as I did.
I have felt a tad deflated about this winter. When I look back though, I've achieved a fair bit- 7th and team silver in the West Cross Country, 13th and team bronze in the National, 14th and team bronze in the National 4km Cross Country, silver in the West Relay, 12th in the BUPA Edinburgh 10k and a second consecutive UK Inter Counties selection. It's a nagging feeling of not being as good as last winter. Maybe the injury interrupted momentum? Perhaps it shows how good last year was? Possibly both? As recently as 2 years ago, I didn't have a sniff of races like the UK Inter Counties so there is definite progress. I suppose it cannot be a never ending upward curve. At times, a step back is needed to move forward again. I will be blunt, I don't like being 89th in a race but I would have bitten anyone's hand off for it in 2010. So I'm happy and keeping a sense of perspective.
So far I've watched 5 minutes of Sky Sports 1's coverage of the race, spotting myself 3 times after much rewinding and pausing. I'll maybe see how the rest of it panned out now.
UK Inter Counties full results
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