Sri Chinmoy 2 Mile Race Report by Katherine Bates
Extraneous circumstances beyond my control have played their part in delivering this in a timely fashion. Apologies to all and sundry. I would like to say it’s been worth the wait… hmm, don’t hold your breath.
“Are you looking forward to it?” quipped Kathryn D as we all sauntered across Cutteslowe Park to the start line. “God no “, I replied, “I just want it to be over as quick as possible”. A strange look came across her face and it took me several seconds before the penny dropped. “Ah, you mean the forthcoming nuptials, not the race”. Oops … reply amended. It was a Monday early evening. We’d had some rain. I wasn’t, it was fair to say, in exactly race mode, but there again I rarely am. This time, however, it felt legitimate. My time and mind were in a bit of a whirl with the weekend arrangements.
As we all gathered at the start line it became apparent that it was more of a Witney v Eynsham fest more than anything else. On this occasion possibly Witney won out. This series of races is an unusual one. Always on a Monday with varying distances from 2-4 miles it is organised by a peace movement with no other agenda than a coming together of people to recognise how important this element of humanity is, even more poignant in these increasingly troubled global times. That all being said, most of the pre-race discussions took the form of which footwear to utilise. A tricky one this, half trail and half hard surface, with the added bonus of a downpour moments before meant it was slippery in parts. To squelch or not to squelch that was the question. Whatever. Had to go with the one pair I was wearing and bugger the consequences. At the start of the race some surged, some lurched and some gazed ahead. (Probably only me in that last category) With the field quickly spreading out ahead it was quite easy to establish who the front runners were and also who to beat if you were in true race mode. Once again, not me! A shorter distance meant that many were giving it their all right from the get go. As I age I’m finding that I need a few more miles under my belt before I can optimise that relative ‘speed’ so preferred to save that last leap of faith for the final downhill bit of a few yards before the finish.
And to the best bit … the Jaffa cake awaiting all competitors. Quite why they always supply these I’ll never know, but hey ho … always one to oblige etc. A big ‘Well done’ to all who took part. Our club motto states ‘No matter how slow you go you’re always lapping everyone on the couch’. In my book we are all winners. And yes, to those who know Graham and myself, the weekend went, well, quite splendidly really!
