Hercules Wimbledon inter-club 5.5 mile (about 5.8 for me) cross country. Wimbledon common was the location for the latest magical mystery tour of a cross country. A small scale xc involving about six south London clubs on a wet and windy three lap course. A cagey start led to four of us setting the pace, we were told to follow the tape, flags or marshals which seemed fairly straight forward. As usual this wasn’t as easy as it seemed. No one seemed to be aware of another xc on the common whose flags were also on our course, added to the fact that a marshal didn’t bother to get to his position until the last lap, led to an interesting first lap. I was pushing the pace with an Egyptian nemesis when an arrow pointed between two paths, of course one path was unmarked and the other had flags. (Clearly you would follow the flags). In this case it was the unmarked path we had to follow, but luckily the path linked into the original xc route so fortunately I appeared back into 6th place. I managed to gain the lead mid way on the second lap and continued to push the pace with the Egyptian and dropped him on the long hill to end the lap. The last lap was a simpler affair with a clear understanding of the route and a 30 second lead so finished as comfortable as possible on a xc. Wine and a medallion was my reward and a fond memory of what mud is, knowing that was the difference between myself and the Egyptian whose xc races are in hot dry conditions and he doesn’t like the cold and the wet. Of course I played upon the fact that compared to ‘up north’ this is dry and it would have been under ice on a day like today and we would have been treated for frost bite or exposure. I’m trying to keep the Northern myth alive and kicking!
1st Mike Halman 32.40 About 50 runners