The weather was cooler than of late, but the conditions were near perfect with firm conditions for much of the race and only a bit of mud later on - not the extremes of rock hard drought ridden ploughed fields or quagmires of previous years.
The start varies depending on the crop in the first field. This year we weren't confined to the borders of the field and had a broad mass scramble down to the bottleneck exit at the far corner.
My legs have felt quite sore the last few days, with shin splint pain causing discomfort as the tight muscles pulled on the insertion points along my right shin. Today things were feeling much better though after just a single run on grass yesterday. Hopefully my legs will continue to settle down over the next few days and I'll be pain free for Abingdon.
The Bells course is easy on the legs - firm trails for much of the course, all off road, and only the first field of uneven stubble to watch out for. There are some rather steep bits though! I settled into a nice steady marathon effort, watching my HRM, but I couldn't help let my HR rise somewhat as we hit the big hill at 2 miles. Going downhill was fun though. I overtake so many people going downhill as I try to float down under gravity - some are just too cautious.
I'm always wary of chatting with other runners during races when I'm taking it easy, as I fear hacking someone off if they are 5 miles into a really hard effort. It was clear that the woman in blue ahead of me was putting some work in, but the young woman in red seemed relaxed and eager to talk and we passed a mile or 2 having a right good natter. She remarked that I sounded rather relaxed, to which I suggested that she too perhaps wasn't exactly taxing her talents, and on she pushed as I kept an eye on my HRM.
I had a dodgy moment as we dropped down a steep bit with a mile to go. I tried to do my mountain goat impersonation and went over on my right ankle - the dodgy leg! That's always the risk doing cross country before a marathon, but mercifully it seems OK.
I kept it nice and steady as we climbed the last hill, but at the back of my mind I wondered if I should push on to catch the woman ahead in case she was a villager. As we reached the final climb on to the playing fields I pushed a bit but it was all a bit late and she finished ahead of me.
I was shocked when I saw the finish time: 56:22 - that's 9 minutes faster than I've ever run it before. And that's taking it easy! (ave HR 144bpm)
I was even more shocked when I was handed a laminate which proclaimed me as 1st lady 40+". Wow!
I got to meet one the stars of my childhood too - Wolves legend John Richards presented me with my voucher - swiftly converted to a Helly-Hansen top.
It turns out that the top villager award is the "challenge trophy". There's no women's trophy so it always goes to a man - outrageous!
Apart from that huge disappointment (tee hee) I am absolutely over the moon. That was just the tonic I need ahead of the marathon next week - I guess I'm back on form!
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