It is fair to say that Killamarsh top the mud levels for this year’s XC series. Who could’ve thought Retford would be beaten?!
With 182 runners slopping around the course, hopes were high as we near the end of the series. The sun was dipping in and out of the clouds and there was limited wind – perefect racing conditions!
The course started in, what can only be described as, an enormous muddy puddle! After 100 metres or so, a tight right turn brought us up a bank onto the upper path, headed back on ourselves before looping around Nethermoor Lake. This was where the first of two laps started. We headed through some wooded trails, hopped over a couple of ditches full of water (deeper than first expected) and ran on a mix of mud and hard gravel paths. A short, but sharp, uphill road section led us to a higher wooded path, guiding us down to the top of Meadowgate Lake. After a tight and slippy turn around a tree, the route hit a slight downhill onto the compact gravel path running parallel with the river. Another short, sharp uphill took us back onto the wooded trail. After two laps of this were complete, all that was left to do was to run back around Nethermoor Lake to where we first started. It’s fair to say, the run back in on tired legs and on ground churned up further by 182 runners starting the race, felt more like skating on ice at times! The downhill bank turn back down into the muddy puddle and the final 100 metres of the race gifted some comical slips.
A big shout out to Danny Green’s for his heroics of the day. Someone running near to him on the course injured themselves on the way round. Danny was kind enough to stop and help them out to make sure they were ok. Huge respect and a great example set by yourself. Well done!
After a clean-up in the lake, we headed to the West End Hotel Pub for bacon and chip butties and a catch up on everyone’s race experiences.
Now for the results. With 84 points, Retford women finished in second place and with 177 points, the men finished fourth. Hannah Noble had an amazing race and was neck and neck with another Hannah from Worksop coming into the finish. This led to a lot of “come on Hannah” being cheered from supporters of both sides and saw Retford’s Hannah finish in an amazing second place. Well done, Hannah!
Overall, for the series, the ladies continue to fly high in first place with the men sitting in third. The combined overall has seen Clowne take the lead with 15 points. Retford sit in second place on 18 points, closely followed by Worksop on 19 points. This means we need all your support and a great turnout at Worksop next weekend to stand a chance of retaining the overall title. Come on Retford AC, we can do it!
Write up by George Page.
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