Gunner Shaw

I ran in this great cross country race this morning – The Gunner Shaw Memorial Cross Country race.  The course was a tricky little 5k loop that ranged from sand, to mud, rolling hills and grass, hardpack trail and `the puddle` that was about 100m of ankle deep water.  We ran the loop twice for a total of 10Km.  Because if the terrain, and muddy wet conditions I wasnt really bothered with my watch, and forgot to start it and then forgot to stop it at the end of the race.  In any case without seeing the official results I think I finished around the 40 minute mark..?

The race itself was alot of fun, and to be honest I did struggle for the first few k`s perhaps even the first loop.  It was a very strong field of runners and perhaps I was still suffering a bit from my christmas party the other day.  I eventually found my stride and a great little race within my core group of loins gaters ensured.  I knew we would all be running around the same pace as we all have similar 10km race times, and upon inspection of Lindas race photos there are a few where you can see how close we all were as a group.  I need to add that I wan not happy with my choice of footware for running in the mud, my shoes were horrible and I lost traction numerous times in the mud.  Rae put the heat on me about 7km in and flew up the muddy hill in his spikes while I slipped and slode off to the side, it was a bit frustrating and I used that frustration to catch Rae up in the next km, and as we entered the puddle side by side for the last time I dug deep and just charged throught it.  Luckiy I was able to hold him off for the last km and had a strong finish on a more forgiving surface as we sprinted to the line.  It was great to be able to turn around and watch your team mates roll in one after the other all just seconds behind.  I got dirty and wet, it was a great work out and lot of fun and good to see alot of familiar faces out running in the mud and having a good time.

So that wraps up the racing season for 2008, and it was a good way to end it.  I have achieved 2 of my major goals this year in running with impressive 10km and half marathon PB`s and have a bunch more set up for 2009, perhaps even a marathon and definately an ultra.