Mark’s Run Report by Rhea Douglas
I enjoy running in Wytham Wood.
It is a really lovely place to run and see the views. Since I joined Eynsham Road Runners, I have been really pleased to be able to train on the hills in atmospheric and misty woods on Tuesdays.
However, early on a very cold and windy morning on the 8th of December, I might have had some misgivings prior to the race. I had dressed in just a team vest and some incredibly bright leggings. As we waited to start, I experienced some regret about this.
Once we started, though, I took full opportunity to warm up. the first stretch over the top of the hill was fairly protected from the wind and the cold very quickly disappeared (from my point of view).
The first (and much longer than I expected) downhill was, honestly, a welcome relief and I ran down it with the reckless abandon of someone who knows they need to make up some time to loose on a ginormous hill coming in the short term future. I watched Kate Daniels do some nifty jumping over logs which I was able to replicate without incident (thank goodness).
Then we all came to the (dreaded) Botley Hill. Chantelle passed me on the way up and I could see her and Kate Daniels vying for position ahead of me. There was even a moment of Kate walking at the top when I thought I could maybe catch up to them and Andy Egan. As I reached the top, the wind that we had been protected from suddenly appeared in full force! If you hadn’t caught your breath (and I hadn’t), it was quickly snatched away from you.
Kate then completely disappeared but I still had Andy and (just about) Chantelle in my sights. So, it was over the top and then down the sheep field. I was gaining on Andy but I could only catch sight of Chantelle disappearing each time I rounded corner up the last Hill.
I was doing some fairly heavy breathing at this point and as I reached the top, I passed Andy, for about two seconds before he went into sprint mode and passed me again!
Everyone finished really well and it was lovely to go straight to the pub for a hot drink and a hot breakfast. I would absolutely do it again, but next time, I might wear a long sleeve top under my team vest!
It was a great race and I’m looking forward to more hills in the next Cross Country!
