Chippenham Harriers 83

Cotswold Leg 10 2005

By Peter Cusick

The build up to the race had gone reasonably smoothly. I even took a rest day on Thursday. With a 5.20pm start a sense of anticipation grew during the day and as I drove to the start of the leg I felt I was ready to contribute.

This general sense of well being was shattered by the news about Di which I received on the way. I felt very flat. It must have been very traumatic and painful. It could have happened to any one of us. The team event was now gone so it was just a question of personal pride. My target was a top 10 finish and to break 70mins.

I warmed up and started chatting to a lady from Bristol Orienteering Club. She said she was not a very good runner. "At least you will not get lost" I said. She managed a grimace and I immediately realised she had probably heard that before.

I had decided to run the first part (downhill) with controlled aggression using the Dave Stayt windmill technique. I got to the front and stayed there for about 200m. I was then overtaken by a young chap from Bath (who was to win the leg) and someone from Bitton.

The Bitton runner was not quick down the hill and I overtook him. In fact I had almost caught the Bath runner before we went into a flat section across a couple of fields.

We then crossed a cattle grid. We were about 6mins into the race. I had a chuckle to myself as I remembered my first recce of the leg last month. Got hopelessly lost at the bottom of the hill (turned left instead of right) and got to the same cattle grid in about 1hr 15mins eventually finishing in 2 hrs 56mins. I was already over an hour ahead of that schedule!

Leg 10 only has one major hill. It is in four sections and I worked steadily up it. After the hill I settled into a decent rhythm and was not overly concerned that I had lost 2 more places by the time I got to the civil war monument. I was running my own race not theirs and I knew I had to pace my effort.

After another 5 mins I caught up with a runner from Stroud. He asked me if I knew where I was going. He looked comfortable which was irritating. I said I knew the way so he stayed with me with a bit before disappearing as we started to leave the golf course. I tried to stay with him for a bit which was a mistake.

I then got overtaken by a runner from Cheltenham. I was now 7th. I kept working hard.

I followed the Cheltenham runner for a while. He had an unusual way of getting over a style. He would turn his back on it and spin as he went over it. It looked effective so I decided I would try it at the next style. All that happened was that I got myself quite dizzy and nearly fell into a large area of stinging nettles and lost about 10metres. I would not be trying that again.

I kept catching both the Cheltenham and Stroud runners everytime we when downhill but they would pull away on the flat. I decided that was not going to happen again and worked really hard through Widcombe and the new Improvement. By the time I got to the top of that area and by the steps the die was cast. The Stroud runner was out of sight and I was absolutely shattered. I looked up the Stroud guy after the race. His last half marathon was 1.16.

The Cheltenham runner got away from me but starting braking downhill through the pitch and putt course. I caught him and as he hesitated at the road I flew past him and encouraged by Paul and Joc started to pull away from him. Unfortunately, as soon as I got into the Royal Crescent the efforts caught up with me and I was really struggling.

The Cheltenham runner glided past me. That was that now surely. To my amazement however he hesitated again when crossing Gay Street and I managed to get past him again. I took the middle of the pavement as we ran down the side of Queen Square. He was not getting past now. I slowed up a fraction and settled myself for one last huge effort. I turned the corner and started sprinting. He went past me like I was standing still. I kept going but 7th it was!

I looked the Cheltenham runner up after the race. He ran FLM this year in 2.55. Now there's a thought………………….

Results:

Peter Cusick - 7th - 1.06.57
Nick Pollastrone - 16th - 1.12.55
Simon Ringham - 22nd - 1.15.33
Kirsten Greening - 46th - 1.43.37

Page updated July 02, 2005