West Paris basin cross-country championships

I've stated this several times, but I'll repeat myself again: I don't like cross-country. I wasn't looking forward to this race, despite the fact that I was better rested than last time and had enjoyed more focused training and race practise compared to the last race. Nico was enthusiastic and considered that he was in good shape for the race. He was racing after me and I was looking forward to comparing our times. He had informed me that Thierry fancied his chances and was looking to try and stay with me from the gun. I might not like cross-country, but neither does Thierry and despite a recent improvement, I couldn't see him bothering me today.

We watched the girl's race to start, where they all ran a decent race. Luckily it hasn't rained recently and the Montesson course was relatively dry with only a couple of patches where the mud would pose a problem. I put my spikes on and after a quick warm-up with Eric, I lned up with the 250 others who'd made it through the first round and waited for the gun to go.

I knew from the start that eating a large breakfast at 11:00 am was a mistake. It was weighing on my stomach and for a while the thought of sticking a couple of fingers down my throat was an option. I got over this and tried to focus on the race. My main objectives were to finish ahead of Thierry and José, like last time, and to beat Mr Mustache from Houilles. After a fast start and a few falls at the first corner, not to mention the spikes grazing my legs, I managed to catch up the gold and black vest from Houilles and overtake in the first downhill section.

The rest of the race was spent trying to find a rhythm and maintain my position in the field. I knew that I was somewhere between 80 and 90th and I could see Olivier and Bruno ahead without ever managing to get them close enought ot be able to worry them. Mr Mustache remained behind and with a few discrete glances around the numerous corners on the windy, bendy loop, I was able to see that he was a good 10 places behind and not threatening to come back to me.

I suffered in the final lap and lost a handful of places. I'd given just about everthing I had and was not motivated to push any harder. In a 10km road race, there's always the watch to tell you how well you've run, in cross-country, you just can't tell.

I finished the race in 90th place in 36:56 for the 9.5km so an average pace of 3:53. I was fairly pleased with the result considering the hills, the conditions and the mud.

I watched the seniors run afterwards and Nico pulled off an excellent run where he challenged Jean-Marc for the first loop before falling back on the second and third. He finished in 35:11 so 90 seconds faster than me over the same distance. I'll be hard pushed to beat him over 10km this year.

Some photos of me over the course:

Just checked the results of the guy who finished just ahead of me and the guy who finished just behind me. Results over 10km last year were 35:49 and 35:42 respectively (Vélizy and Enghien). I can officially declare that it was a good run.

Montesson

I had a lovely night's sleep prior to the race today but that didn't stop me dreaming and fretting about how I was going to manage in the race. The race strategy was to set off with Bruno and to try and stay with him over the distance.

The veteran's race was the first race of the day and there was a good turnout for the club: Thierry, Bruno, Nick and I with Alex, Philippe, Régis, Patrick, Jean-Claude et al. Some other good runners turned up for the race that we don't usually see in training such as Eric and another Bruno.

The weather forecast had promised heavy winds and rain, but most of the storm had blown through during the night so the weather was a lot better than expected. We lined up for the start after a quick warm-up and we were off. I set off fast and quickly pulled ahead of Bruno with my race strategy flying out of the window from the word go. The ground was very heavy with the rain during the night but we set off fast nevertheless. I managed the first kilometre in 3:47. The rest of the race was downhill from then on. Well actually it was very varied in terms of terrain but I struggled until the finish despite the encouragements from Laurence and the rest of the club scattered around the course.

Somewhere around half-way on the second lap, someone was shouting out the positions and I was in 45th place. From then on home though, I just lost place after place as I struggled to find the strength to maintain my speed and to push off after each little hill and bend. The mud and water were hard going too and the effort to run was intense.

I finished 62 and qualified for the next level, the departmental cross-country in Franconville in 3 weeks time. I was 4th in the team and so helped the team to 7th place. Even if I had finished 10 places higher this wouldn't have changed anything to the team's result so that helped me feel a little better.

We went back in the afternoon for the women's race and by now the course was far muddier and harder. Laurence ran a cracker of a race, just finishing a few places behind Muriel, and beating Aude who normally finish well ahead of her. I was thrilled and running all around the course to cheer her on. She said that this helped although by then end I could tell that she was fed up with me !

By the way, I beat Bruno so was thrilled with that. The fact that he was suffering from an Achilles problem might explain this however. We'll see in the next round.

A few photos of the event attached: