WHERE HAS ALL THE GRASS GONE

Well where do I start. With the weather weve had over the last 2 days we knew the West District XC was gone to be tough. Ive seen some tough courses over the years but this one is up there with the toughest. Its impossible to compare courses but it compares well with Inverkip although the mud was deeper then than today but there was no respite today the grass had gone completely to be replaced with a course of mud. First off was our 4 gallant Ladies doing a short lap then 2 full ones. Alison Lessells had tucked in behind Frances Maxwell on the first lap using her as a pacemaker but with Frances having the marathon training in her legs the strength sapping course took its toll on Alison by the end of lap 1 with Frances starting to pull away. A little behind but clearly enjoying herself was Kay Conneff who no matter what you throw at her just enjoys running smiling and waving to the fans all the way. Shortly behind was Ruth Kelly back into xc, unfortunately Ruth has had some hip problems in recent months and this course not being suitable for any strains whatsoever took the wise descision to pull out after the 1st lap. Onto laps 2 and 3 and the Ladies maintained the positions between themselves and worked hard to make places amongst the other athletes with Frances finishing in 53rd place in 34.17. Next in was Alison in 70th place in 35.48. Finishing off our Ladies was Kay in 98th place in 39.07. Well done to all our Ladies.
The last race of the day was the mens to be run over 4 laps but before we even got started there was an equipment failure in the form of Jim Holmes shoe. Jim discovered 10mins before start time the sole was split from the shoe down one whole side. Luckily Richard had some tape which Jim quickly wrapped round and round. I did have a chuckle to myself thinking that's got no chance of lasting 10k on this course and neither it did with Jim finishing with half his foot out the shoe. Onto the race itself and we lined up ready for the off and away we went. By the time we completed the 1st lap I really wasn't sure I wanted to do another 3 laps but carried on anyway as I had Colin Banks and John McBride just in front of me. Lap 2 was the hardest I found and I chose a different route at one point thinking it would be ok to run through a small puddle as I might get more purchase than the heavy mud beside it. How wrong was I, it was merely covering a deep dip and as I stepped into it it was up to my knee and I nearly took a tumble. I wont make that mistake again. My third lap was my best as I caught the pack of 3 in front of me at the same time they where closing on Colin. With a lot of dead turns on the course there was ample oportunity to see your clubmates. I noticed as I turned onto my 4th and last lap that Andrew J Buchanan was only about 50 metres from the finish so managed to dodge that lapping. With the effort to catch the group in front on lap 3 it took its toll and they managed to pull away from me during the latter stages. Onto the finishing order and first Harrier was Andrew J Buchanan 48.12 (105th) then David Herbertson 52.37 (157th),  Kenny Leinster  54.20 (175th),  Jim one shoe Holmes  56.15 (190th),  Stuart Waugh 56.40 (194th), Richard Lawton 57.20 (198th), Jim Mearns  60.46 (212th), John McBride 62.05 (215th), Colin Banks  64.19  (218th), Russell Couper  65.49  (222nd) and Hugh Simpson 67.25 (224th).
Many thanks to all who came down to cheer us on today if I miss anybody here please accept my apology as there was loads of you. Kays family, Neil Green, Martin Howell and family, David Searil, Emma Mearns your support on such a hard day is very much appreciated.
If anyone further up the field wants to drop me a report from further up the course I will add it onto this one.