Big efforts near Biggleswade – Beds/Bucks County XC

by Colin Postawa

 

So last Saturday I embarked on a short trip to Shuttleworth for my second ever XC race, and no more “just testing this out” excuses so a top three was definitely on the cards this time. This was the joint Cross Country County race for Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Having only been a club member since October, the first thing myself and fellow club newbie Amy F noticed was just how many LBAC members seem to turn out for these events. If not running, then vocally supporting other members or taking pictures. The XC scene also seems a lot more welcoming than your average 10k event, maybe the format helps with families being able to race in their respective category’s after cheering on their little ones….or maybe it is something else altogether.

There were 28 excellent performances for those LBACers representing Bedfordshire, and 8 for Bucks over a mainly dry course, the ladies may disagree with me here though as the heavens opened just in time for the start of their event. Depending on the category you would run between one and four laps around some undulating land, heading off to first tackle a long steady climb followed by a very abrupt downhill (which proved to be my undoing!)  The joint first Buzzards over the line for the day were Niquole Carter and Zara Brooks in the U13 Girls race. Dominic Grimshaw, Scott Towell, Owen Lindars, Harry Bell, Max Rose and Ewan Bell followed next in the Boys cat.

The standout teams of the day included the Senior/Vet womens team who narrowly lost out third place by just two minutes. Laura Brine snuck into the top 10 in Bedfordshire with Jo Sharples and Amy F not far behind.  The senior and Vets Mens teams both finished well with a couple of second places with Simon Coombes and Ian Grimshaw showing their quality by finishing in the top 10 in Bedfordshire. Meanwhile the U13 Boys managed to field an impressive two teams in their category.

All in all this was a very enjoyable event and my only regret is that I started these races so late in the season. I definitely need to work on my downhill pace for next year and listen to some of the kind advice I have been given by other members…then maybe I will get that top three.

Ed: Adam created a little video below to summarise the day’s running. Well done all!