An unexpected call up for the West of Scotland Inter Counties team left me with a decision to make. On one hand, I had been so sickened by the Inter District experience in January, I decided to do no more cross country this winter and indeed stopped training for it. On the other, my Inter Counties record was patchy. My debut in 2011 had been my best performance to date, 63rd place and a good placing among the Scottish contingent earning me a Scotland call up for the Home Countries Cross Country. In 2012, running shortly after injuring my tendon, brought 89th place and 6th Scot. In 2013, I caught a virus in the week of the race, was very ill on race day and really shouldn't have started. I withdrew from the race in the early stages. I didn't travel at all in 2014.
In the end, the desire to deal with unfinished business outweighed my resistance to cross country so I accepted the place. The timescales meant I couldn't take a day off to travel so I booked a flight to Birmingham for the Friday night and travelled straight after work. The perk of working near the airport these days! I'm grateful to one of my new bosses for a lift from the office for my flight, saving me a taxi fare. A delayed, choppy FlyBe flight and £23 taxi ride later deposited me at the Village Hotel, Solihull at 10.30pm where, after a short time relaxing, it wasn't long before my head hit a very comfortable, welcoming pillow.
After being fairly relaxed about things from breakfast onwards, I became more apprehensive as the race approached. The Cofton Park course included an added extra, unbearably hilly looking section in addition to the bit I was more familiar with. Order of the day for the senior men was 1 lap of the former and 3 of the latter for an approximate distance of 7.5 miles (more like 7 in the end but that was plenty). Conditions were in my favour though, mild, sunny and a relatively firm course apart from a few isolated muddy patches. I lined up in pen 28 with Lachlan Oates ahead of me and Cambuslang clubmate Kyle McLellan acknowledging my recent form by insisting I lined up in front of him. We were 3 short to count in the team competition, making this the 4th consecutive year the West has not had a complete senior men team. West of Scotland runners, what are you afraid of? Selection for this race is an honour not to be taken lightly. Get yourselves involved!
After my wardrobe malfunction in Edinburgh, I wore thicker socks to ensure my footwear remained in place. The initial straight took us downhill to a tight turn leading into a steep uphill section. I aimed to keep away from any heel clippers, starting fairly quickly to get to the corner unimpeded. That achieved, I had a brief panic when I felt my timing chip slide down my ankle, making me think it had come off. Crisis averted when I (unintentionally) stumbled, causing my legs to collide. In doing so, I felt the plastic part of the chip. Phew! The initial section took us uphill, down again then up the same hill a different way before another descent into the 3 smaller laps. My hill training really helped me stay well placed and I realised I occupied a healthy position. Whether I could sustain it was another matter.
Getting the toughest part out the way first proved a good psychological boost. However I was at my absoloute limit and, but for the superb atmosphere being generated by the large number of spectators, may have struggled to keep going. There was nothing pretty about my running. My usual heel flick was at its worst, I was stumbling, leaning forward, breathless, you name it. Nevertheless, I continued to maintain and even improve position. Thanks to so many hill reps with my old, trusted friend the High Point, I held my own on what proved to be an undulating, strength sapping course. The hills helped me stay in touch with and overtake runners. I also adopted a tactic of running as tight into the corners as I could to cover the shortest possible distance. I found it to be working.
The finish took in one final ascent, a sharp left, descent then a right turn into a long finishing straight. As I prepared to climb the hill, I could hear Central AC's Andrew Butchart, probably about 800m clear of me, being referred to by the announcers as vying for the win (he got it in the end to qualify for the World Cross Country). For my part, after the hill I'd blown a gasket but held on at the expense of dropping only one place in the closing metres to claim 51st place out of 283 finishers in 37:05. In terms of Scots, I claimed 3rd and when I considered one of those ahead was the race winner and the notable scalps I had taken, it had turned out to be an excellent run. The other was Max McNeill, recovering from a rare off colour outing at our club 10k to finish 42nd.
The finish took in one final ascent, a sharp left, descent then a right turn into a long finishing straight. As I prepared to climb the hill, I could hear Central AC's Andrew Butchart, probably about 800m clear of me, being referred to by the announcers as vying for the win (he got it in the end to qualify for the World Cross Country). For my part, after the hill I'd blown a gasket but held on at the expense of dropping only one place in the closing metres to claim 51st place out of 283 finishers in 37:05. In terms of Scots, I claimed 3rd and when I considered one of those ahead was the race winner and the notable scalps I had taken, it had turned out to be an excellent run. The other was Max McNeill, recovering from a rare off colour outing at our club 10k to finish 42nd.
Overall, I considered attending this race a gamble. There wasn't any monetary gain in it for me. In fact, between the flight, taxis etc, I forked out the best part of £130 to attend a race which had huge potential to go wrong. The sport is worth such sacrifices at times. In 2013, I endured a long journey home after my illness induced DNF. It didn't feel half as long this time. This particular piece of unfinished business had been finished.
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