Clanfield Cross Country "5k"

Today I ran my first cross-country since I was an 11 year old,  and boy was it an eye opener! No shortcuts, no fag-smoking bullies, no running in your underwear, and no hot tea and buns at the end (I didn't get these at school either but I was hoping for them today. In the end Lesley and Marie had to go off to get some teas for everyone).

Organised by Woodstock Harrier's running club, the event was held at Clanfield in Oxfordshire around a few farmer's fields.  Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your perverse point of view), the weather had been 'rather inclement' over the past few days, and all night last night, so the ground was very wet and muddy.  I bought myself some new Mizuno Wave Ascend 3 since they're designed for trail running and are more grippy than my normal running shoes.

It was a relay-style race, and I was in a mixed team of 4 from Eynsham Road Runners (I'm finally an official member), with Jane, Linda and Anthony.  I was out first and so didn't really know what to expect.   The ground at the start was pretty muddy and claggy, so I was expecting it to be hard going, but I wasn't expecting 6-inch deep water around most of the course!  The rain held off for most of the way, but the wind really kicked in at the end and that was a real killer. 

It was good fun though, overall. As ever, it's always fun once you've finished.  I was happy with my 27:30 for the 3 mile course (it was meant to be 5k but they apparently cut it short because of the weather - no idea what they cut out though as they obviously didn't avoid any 'wet bits').  I'll definitely do more cross country (as Graham pointed out, I have 6 or so months to come up with an excuse before the season really takes off again!), but maybe next time I'll wear warmer clothes.