Saturday 8 February 2025
Week 5, Day 6: Midlands XC
It’s race day! Bring it on!
This one was a little touch and go, given my knee has been giving me some issues the past day or two. But it was the final match of the series and the first one where we have been racing at the same venue at the Harriers’ Men. I wanted to go and support the team and see Rob race, so I decided I should pack my kit, see how my knee was and decide when I got there.
It was fun racing as a team. Kaighan had sorted a mini bus (“executive coach”) so there was a good team atmosphere right from the start.
My knee felt ok on my warm up, so I decided to race, with the aim of keeping it a little ‘within myself’ meaning “don’t run so hard, Nicole!”
Start Fast
The race started uphill then the course narrowed so a good, fast start was key. Given ‘good starts’ are not a strength of mine, maybe today it would go to plan? Erm.. no. Al recorded the start and with a bit of manual counting and some guesswork as to whether there were two legs or four, my guess is that I was in about 26-30th position when the course narrowed.
Work Through The Field
My plan to ‘run within myself’ didn’t really go to plan. It turns out that’s really hard to do on an undulating XC course. In typical Nicole style, I worked through the girls from my slow start. On the first bend I probably jumped up about 5 places, taking it wide. There was then a nice out-and-back-dog-leg where I gained a few more places. The course had changed a bit from the last time I raced here so I was a little surprised when we did a lap of a field I wasn’t expecting. But I didn’t get lost or go wrong this time! Yay!
I overtook the odd person here and there, and was pleasantly surprised when someone shouted “you’re in 14th” to someone not that far behind me. I didn’t know how many people were between us but I guessed this put me somewhere in 10th-12th ish.
Finish Strong
As with the start, this part of my race didn’t really go to plan. I don’t have the best finish-line-kick at the best of times, but this one was uphill up the same field we started in. I had overtaken the girl ahead of me twice in the final kilometre or so, but she outkicked me on the final run in. Just before the line another girl steamed past me and I couldn’t cling on. So sadly, I lost two places in the final sprint to finish, happily, in a very good 11th.
After I finished racing, I headed back to the final straight to cheer in the rest of the girls. They had some great runs too, and this was our biggest team at a Midlands XC match, which I consider a big success for the team.
A Great Team Day Out
We came 16th team on the day, finishing 13th overall in the league. Luckily, my DQ at the last match had no bearing at all on our overall position, as the team in 12th were more than 100 points ahead and me counting would not have made up that difference.
Next up were the boys. Some thought they were up for potential relegation, but I had faith that though we might not have anyone in the top 10, we have real strength in the depth of the men’s team. Rob, Harrison, Al, Matt, Cameron and Andy put in some brilliant performances and especially some insane sprint finishes to fight for every point. We’re still waiting on the results, but think they won’t be relegated.
After all that racing fun, it was back on the party bus to head home for a shower, PJs and a relaxing evening in front of the TV.