Allhallows Cross Country Fixture 6 of 7

Huge congratulations to Julie Williams who was crowned V60 Champion with a race to spare! A fantastic achievement from an amazing runner! 

Thanks to Brittany Crombie for the following race report – always great to hear from someone who finds such joy and fun in cross country!

This morning we travelled to Allhallows in Rochester for the penultimate cross country race of the season.

After seemingly non-stop rain this year so far, everyone was delighted to be out in some sunshine. We were blessed with perfect spring-like running conditions: 10 degrees, no wind, and sunny spells – definitely vest weather! However, we were warned upon arrival that spikes might be sensible as the accumulation of rain had made the paths slippy with mud. We were also reminded of the gully at around 3km which, in previous years, runners were able to jump across.This year, though, we were advised to make use of the make-shift ladder and spade handle rather than taking the leap, as the gully had widened significantly over the winter. This, along with the shingle and sand to navigate in the first third of the race, were on our minds as we headed to the start line.

The course has been redrawn as one lap, rather than two and I think all runners were in agreement this was an improvement; no one wants to run along the beach twice… The race starts with a circuit of a slightly sloped field, then a wiggle round to the beach. Stretching on for a couple of miles, this section requires runners to hop, step and jump their way over crevices and around pebbles and stones, before coming to the notorious gulley. Runners at the front of the pack were quick to get over, however many runners were stuck queueing (as the British do best) to cross over – apparently for almost 10 minutes!

Whilst the new route felt mostly positive, the hill it now included felt a little daunting. Whilst it isn’t particularly steep, the incline stretches on longer than the majority would’ve liked. Once at the top, runners pass through a kissing gate (beside a field of alpacas which apparently I was the only one to notice!) and along a straight stretch before heading back down another hill. We then come to a short section that is strictly “no overtaking” following an incident with the barbed wire fence last year… Out of this stretch and into a boggy section, runners had 1km along the edge of some (unsurprisingly) muddy fields before making their way onto the home straight.

Post-race reports were of lots of slipping and sliding, a couple of shoes sucked off in boggy puddles, a handful of scratches and grazes, and muddy legs for all. Proper cross country! As ever, there was plentiful cake afterwards to make it all feel worth it.

Results

Well done to all TRAC runners today, as said before everyone makes an amazing contribution to team positions. 

Fantastic top 10 Finishes for Matt McCarthy (7th), Elly Maggs (4th) and Brittany Crombie (10th). 

A strong performance from the Ladies team this week gave us a 3rd place finish and helps maintain our 4th position in the season to date. 

The Mens were missing a few team members week but they still sit in 2nd position for the season. 

With the Combined TRAC team still maintaining 2nd place, its all to play for in the final fixture – can we have our best ever season in this tough inter club competition!  

The next race takes place on 22nd Feb in Mote Park for its first ever XC fixture. We hope to see you there for the final race of the season!

Next TRAC race event is the Deal Half marathon Sunday 15th Feb. This is the 2nd event for the all new Local Club Championships – we look forward to seeing lots of you there.