We set off on the undulating route, and I was rather depressed to find how long it took for my watch to register the first mile, surely with all this huffing and puffing and effort, I’d done more than one mile? Time, and mileage ticked along, and I gladly accepted a beaker of water at the start of the second lap, even with a gentle breeze on the uppermost parts of the course, it was still a hot evening to be hauling my bones around the fields. More fields and undulations later and I was heading towards the finish line and the all-important cider token. As this was the last race in the series, the evening also included the awards ceremony, and we tucked into burgers and cider whilst the stats were sorted.
The XC series is very welcoming, but there is no denying that the categories are hotly contended, so for a small club, it was fantastic to see Captain Simon Blyth win his category (MV55) and for Mark Schafer to come 3rd in his (MV40). But mentions must also go to Sharon Collins, Mick Collins and Taylor Jones who turned up to all the races and qualified for the overall results. We also had enough runners of the correct varieties to qualify for a team at this race and came a creditable 16th out of 23 teams. As the sun sank towards the horizon, we headed home, thoughts already turning to the mud of the winter season.