Moorfoot XC and Marcothon

Yesterday (Sunday) a bunch of us ran the Moorfoot XC.  the Moorfoot XC is in Peebles, confusingly. Running buddy and recent pub quiz buddy Brian gave us a lift to Peebles, and as we drove in Kata and I remembered that a couple of years ago Kata ran this race while I held the bags!  Well here we are two years later and we are both running it.  It was more trail than Gala XC but a lot harder than Lauder XC.  In fact I think this goes down as one of the hardest races ever.

I got off to a really slow start and was wheezing badly.  The race started with a lap of the sports field which included a scramble up a slippy mud slope.  Running downhill out of the field, the pack was still very tight.  I knuckled down, pushed on, and once we got on to flat I managed to pull away, catch my breath, and get into my stride.  The first section was on a beautiful river path and when I managed to lift my head up away from checking where my feet were going, the view of the crisp autumnal morning by the river was stunning.  I have to admit it beats the view of most city road races - I can see how people could get into this.  The trail snaked back on itself, crossed a bridge and it was heartening to see so many runners behind me given my bad start.  There were two HBT runners ahead of me and I made it my aim to pass them.  First up was Andrew who is a great runner but just returning from injury.  Showing no compassion I passed him uphill through a wood.  There's no way I'd catch him under normal circumstances but he is just getting back into it and I think taking it easy.  Once I was passed him I didn't think there was much prospect of him catching me so I made Mairead my next target.  She was easy to spot as apparently she is something called a "Golden Trotter" for the year and so is wearing the mankiest, most ridiculous vest held together with pins and tape that's possible to imagine.  I honestly never though I'd catch Mairead but fortunately (for me) I managed to catch her on a really long steep uphill that required some walking.  I made a big effort and managed to get by her.  I say "managed to get by her" but I waved and said, "Hi Mairead" as I passed and she said "Hello".  It was all very civil and I am not sure she knew we were racing!

Kata's jump is many orders of magnitude better than mine

The big hill was murder and to make matters worse, after a short downhill, we had to do a lap of an awful field then run part the way back up the hill again!  I'll be seeing that cursed field in my nightmares for weeks.  As I left the field though, I saw Kata about half way down the first side, so not too far behind me.

The final section was a woodland trail and as we ran back into the area where spectators were, I heard some Trotters shout, "Come on Steve" followed almost immediately by "Well done Mairead"which made me think, "JINGS!  Must run faster".  So I summoned whatever I had and pushed on to the end.  I am happy with how the race went and I really enjoy it.  I lost a lot of places (maybe 10 or 12) on the uphill field section because the path most worn was narrow and I had no energy to take a wide path and boost, so I had to stay in line behind the runner in front of me.  Results are in and I finished 94th out of 198 in 34:29.  

Even her standing is better than mine

Well done to Moorfoot Running Club for a well organised and beautiful race.

Oh yeah, and apparently some dude called Marco invented a Marcothon which is running 5km every day for a month.  Ha!  Only 5km?!  Pfft!  Weakling.  I accept his challenge.  Kata and I and a few thousand other people will be running 5km every day in December.