Scottish Masters Cross Country Championships, Hawick

On Saturday Teviotdale Harriers were given the honour of hosting the Scottish Masters National Cross Country Championship to celebrate their 125th anniversary. At the prize giving we were reminded that the club were given a similar honour to celebrate their 100th anniversary 25 years ago when they hosted the full Scottish National Cross Country Championships. Those of us present at that event in 1989 will remember it as being a day of horrendous weather, heavy snow and deep mud but very much a proper cross country course of the type that we all secretly love (it was also my birthday and Steve Ovett was in it!) and indeed still talk about 25 years later. Yesterday was a different venue in Hawick but otherwise the event was dominated by the weather just as it was 25 years ago. It perhaps says it all that many people, including at least one very experienced runner, were being treated by the paramedics for exposure and hypothermia BEFORE the race started!

Registration was in a nice, modern, warm sports and leisure centre down in Hawick which was easy to find but the moment I parked the car, the strong, freezing winds were joined by driving rain and sleet. Typical! Davie Herbertson and Chas Steven duly arrived and race numbers were distributed, after which we all headed for the course at our own pace. The course was 1km away, all steeply up hill through the residential outskirts of Hawick to an open hillside overlooking the town. This run up to the course was actually very welcome as the last thing you wanted to do on this day was arrive at the course cold. A selection of club tents and other encampments were scattered around the banks at the edge of the sloping grassy field containing the Start/Finish line. The general impression was one of "lets get this over with" rather than the usual hilarity. It was actually better not to have the tent with us as this was not a day for faffing about.

I wanted to do a full lap of the course to see what was coming up and to generate some heat. I was fully clad in waterproofs, hat and gloves but was already sodden through and cold. The course climbed through a few grassy fields before crossing onto an open moorland hill side. It was at this point that I recognised a familiar, well wrapped up figure standing beside the course; Jimmy Moore who I was delighted to see. Jimmy had planned a weekend trip to relatives in Hawick to coincide with the cross-country and was looking very well indeed. Jimmy's main concern was if we were all warm enough (we weren't!) and my main concern was how Jimmy was going to stay warm standing out there on the hillside! I need not have worried as Jimmy had his car parked a few yards away on a farm track. After a few minutes banter with Jimmy, I continued up onto the hill and into the teeth of the wind and stinging rain. The route over the top of the hill was directly into the freezing rain and forward progress was almost non-existent at least at warm-up effort. The course dropped down onto a few zig-zag sections which took us out of the wind slightly before entering another large, grassy field. However the sting in the tail was the exit from this field which included two successive 20 foot banks and ditches to climb before the final descent to the start finish area. The race would be over two laps of 4km each. It was a proper cross-country and on a different day a great course and one that a few years ago would have suited me well with plenty of climbs and no significant mud to speak of but the strength isn't there nowadays and I don't handle cold well. Unfortunately a very upset stomach started towards the end of the warm-up lap so I had to jog all the way back to the sports centre 1km away for relief. This was actually a blessing because I brought my car back up and abandoned it somewhere near the course rather than running all the way back up meaning I could make a quick exit to warmth after (or possibly during) the race. I arrived back at the course 10 minutes before the race started.

Getting stripped down to vest, t-shirt and shorts was a problem as the waterproof gear and tracksters were sodden and sticking everywhere and the fingers already completely numb and useless. A momentary period of warmth ensued as the pack gathered on the start line but within a minute the gun went and we were off. The uphill first half of the lap got the heart going but unfortunately destroyed the legs and I struggled from start to finish. A shout from Jimmy momentarily spurred me on but the only pace I developed thereafter was in the second half of the first lap when I became so frustrated at all the considerably older runners streaming past me (we all wear our age category number on our backs in these championships) that I put in a crazy spurt to blast past a line of runners who had recently passed me. It did not last long though. The legs and forward progress almost came to an end a short distance into the second lap when we started to climb again. On the bright side I did start to get some feeling back in most of my fingers at this point but my toes and thighs were completely numb. In fact I had to look down to check that my legs were not bleeding after brushing against a fence because I could not feel anything. I also heard a shout from Jimmy and gave him a wave but was disappointed to see that he was now in his car and had driven down to the edge of the finish area. So that potential hillside escape route into Jimmy's car was now gone!

As always, the second lap seemed shorter than the first lap even though it was slower. Its not like me to be un-competitive but I didn't get involved in any sprint finishes over the last few hundred metres and just let people stream past me as I jogged in. I was that disheartened at my lack of performance. I didn't see Davie Herbertson finish but he tells me it was just as out of control as his downhill finish at the Devil's Burdens the week before. I passed Chas in the opposite direction somewhere on the course and Chas was in good enough form at that point to shout his support to me. Even the race winner, Kerry Liam Wilson, required medical attention at the end and could not talk for shaking. Times? Alan Derrick 37:04 (73rd), David Herbertson 40:28 (116th), Chas Steven 52:22 (159th).

We had agreed to meet up back at the sports centre and not to wait on each other at the finish. I was shaking uncontrollably, so grabbed my stuff and with Davie we headed the short distance down to where my car was parked. Somehow I drove the car down to the sports centre despite the shaking. The next challenge was getting the shoes off with useless fingers as the staff at the leisure centre did not want muddy footwear in their shiny new sports centre. At this point I felt very close to passing out. I have never felt like that in my life before. Men's changing was down in the very warm, spacious communal changing area for the swimming pool. We were advised to use lockers but working that out was too complicated for frozen fingers and brains so everything was abandoned on the spot before heading through poolside to what were disappointingly luke warm showers facing the swimming pool. However the best thing was that once the mud was off, we were allowed to step into the kiddies swimming pool (the pool was closed to the public) which was wonderfully warm and lie there for a few minutes. Some unfortunate older runners were carted in by the medics and dumped straight into this pool, mud and all, to try to get some heat into their bodies. Reasonably priced soup, coffees and cakes in the leisure centre cafe further helped the recovery from the state of suspended animation we had entered during the race. Medals were awarded to the age group champions and teams and we all headed off for the long drives home.

The organising club, Teviotdale Harriers, are to be congratulated on their efforts setting up a fantastic course and for the many marshalls young and old who stood out there in atrocious conditions for several hours directing us enthusiastically. I hope that no one competing or helping suffered lasting damage to health. A huge thanks to Jimmy Moore for coming out to support us; it was wonderful to see the founding force behind Calderglen Harriers still out there in his eighties supporting his club. All three Harriers made stupendous efforts during the race and will have gained considerable mental and physical strength (eventually, when the scars have healed) from completing this and have tales to tell for years to come. If I am still running in 25 years from now, remind me to be busy as history shows that the race will be in Hawick and the weather will be horrendous!
Alan

(There were plenty of official looking photographers around the course, so perhaps we will eventually get links to photos showing how bad it was). Some photos here and here.