National Cross Country Champs 2022
30th July 2022
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Race Day
I drove Liz Hardley down to Taupo for the National Cross Country on the Taupo Spa course. Liz is a lifelong runner (and one of the last remaining members of the Glendowie Technical Harriers club) who lives just around the corner from me! (who knew?)
The weather was cool but not rainy. The pumice base meant that there was no mud (in spite of recent incessant rain).
I chatted to and warmed up with Glenn Wright, which was nice.
The Run
11:10am start for the 8km Masters Men.
I started well and went through the first 2km loop in 8:10, which was pushing fast and hard.
There was a bunch of 3 or 4 Auckland runners not far ahead of me, including Tony Warren who I knew was a competitive 60+ runner (he came second today it turned out). I stuck not far behind this group for most of the race, working hard. After 6km I couldn't maintain their speed and slowly dropped back from them.
I started to struggle more with about 1km to go, but managed to mostly maintain my pace. I don't think that I could have run any faster overall - perhaps going a bit slower at the start would have enabled me to lose less time at the end of the run?
There were a few minor hurdles to leap, and a few smallish hills which added up to 120m of elevation by the end of the 8km.
Wrap
I came 5th in the 55+ group - which I was very pleased about. I was about 30 seconds ahead of Glenn (although to be fair he is currently on the wrong end of the 5 year age bracket).
Liz came 3rd in her 65+ category 😀
Amelia's friend Angus Monroe came 6th in the under 20, which was a great result as an 18 year old.
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