Horspath Cross Country Report, by Graham Bridges
Back in the day (4 words in and already sounding like a Creasey),
the Horspath Cross Country used to include the full glory of Shotover
Hill. You’d leap over/into a muddy ditch, trudge up the hill, then
stagger down it at breakneck speed, trying not to trip over the steps
and tree roots, then wade through a mile or so of mud before doing it
all again. This year, partly because of the dry weather, partly because
of something else (health and safety?), Horspath XC seemed positively
benign, though not without a few cheeky climbs.When we
arrived, there was already a healthy crowd outside our (well, Witney’s
second) tent, including our 2 juniors, Charlie and Chloe, who announced
that she had overtaken loads on the run-in because her legs are built
for sprinting. Maybe she could make some sort of motivational speech
before the men’s race in future. As more of the team arrived, there
seemed to be quite a few who claimed to be recovering from injuries, or
from Christmas in some cases (who shall remain nameless). Possibly as a
result of this, the order of the men’s team was a bit of a random
affair. The likes of Tom, Dafydd and Mark T took a strangely long time
to overtake me, and I went by such notables as Dave and Pete, which is a
rare privilege these days. Making the A team used to be a badge of
honour for me. These days it’s maybe not such a healthy sign, and the
ERR men finished 7th in Division 1 on the day.
We then
watched the ladies race, which appeared to be dominated by the bright
young things of Newbury and Abingdon. Indeed the winner was so far ahead
she seemed to be in a different race – maybe that’s why she didn’t show
in the final results. Not too far behind was Hannah, in sadly her last
appearance in an Eynsham vest for a while, who finished 12th, just ahead
of Liz. A few places further back was Laura, who continued her
excellent recent form, and just pipped Kate on the line. This meant we
had 4 ladies, including 3 veterans, inside the first 22 finishers, so
possibly in contention for a team medal.The main thing to
take away from the day was the number of ERRs who took part (37 in
total, plus Karen who marshalled), and the number of those who stayed
behind for tea/coffee and cakes. It seemed that everyone enjoyed the
experience, hopefully including the running part, so let’s hope for a
similar turn-out at Adderbury.
Roll of Honour:
Ladies
Bronze LV35: Liz McAllister
Silver LV45: Kate Allred
Silver LV55: Katherine Bates
Gold Veteran Ladies team: (Liz McAllister, Laura Leach, Kate Allred)
Men
Bronze Senior Men’s team: (Mark Baker, Tom Baker, Mark Tyrrell, Nick Leach)
Silver MV40: Dan Lewis
Bronze Veteran Men’s team (Dan Lewis, Dafydd Warburton, Graham Bridges, Dave Ferrier)
