This years National Cross Country Championships took place at the usual venue of Callendar Park just outside Falkirk. Unusually the championships were on a Sunday and also this year, the course was changed to remove the hill at the back of the lake, with an extra loop near the end of the course.
The conditions were simply the worst I’ve ever run for a cross country race. The heavy sleet/rain, cold and wind meant that by the time the senior mens race took to the course, large parts of it were simply a mud bath and nearly unrunnable. This is the first race where I got mud up my nose and coufldn’t read my Garmin because it was so dirty. This year there was also no showers in the school afterwards. So after the race and despite the cold, I jumped in the lake to try to wash off some of the mud.
Anyway, back to the races: The senior women’s race (8 km, 2 laps of the course) was won by Madeline Murray from Edinburgh AC in a time of 28.54. The senior mens race (12 km, 3 laps) was won by Andrew Butchart from Central AC in a time of 38.06. I was the only Maryhill Harrier running and finished in 426th place in a time of 55.31.
