Middlesex Masters XC Champs 9th March 2013
The eerie calm and serenity that engulfs Mad Bess woods was broken as a cavalcade of veteran athletes and marshals grouped for the Middlesex Masters XC champs.
20 minutes before the start the silence was still golden as it looked as though the comforts of home had been a greater draw than that of a season ending race. However, through the gloom, people squelched their way through the mud in hast of the impending start.
A line of athletes streamed out of the field into the claggy woods for a twisty undulating 5 mile 3 lap tour of all that could be thrown at them. The combined male and female race was strung out from the off with athletes battling to find a good racing line through the slippery terrain. The numerous marshals really added to the race with lots of vociferous encouragement; especially as the course took its toll on the weary runners. Alan Wray of Harrow AC had taken the lead early on and held out for a close victory over Steve Norris of TVH. Dave Newman V50 was our first to savour the finish for HAC. For the women it was very tight at the end. Grace Wu of Serpentine just edged out Fiona Kennedy of ESM. Donna Nash V45 took the honour of our first female finisher in 74th place.
Our best team result was bronze in the 3 to score 50+ men’s category.
Big thanks to everyone that turned up to organise the race, marshal and feed the athletes.
Malcolm French “I wanted to say, both personally and on behalf of Middlesex CAA, a big “thank you” to everyone from HAC who was involved in hosting the Masters Cross Country Championships and did such a terrific job. I thought the competition was very successful and I’ve had plenty of very positive feedback from the runners.”
Results here.
