Liverpool Cross Challenge

After a pleasing run at Leeds over 10k the previous weekend, I lined up here feeling positive about this race.  I’ve had a mixed bag of results here in recent years, the highlight being in 2009 finishing 12^th and 34secs behind the race winner that day. 

Last year, I came into this race on the back of a 30:40 in the Leeds Abbey Dash 10k and with a 30:42 in the equivalent race this year, the aim was to at least match my 38^th place at Liverpool from last year, but I was quietly confident I would be able to improve on that a bit as I did not feel that last years conditions were to my liking.

I still don’t know what went wrong, but this was an absolutely disastrous race.  I just had absolutely nothing in my legs from start to finish and my strongest part of the race became my weakest as I faded from a poor placing at the start of the last lap to a horrific one. 

I didn’t get a great start and with such a large field, we bunched up and slowed down on the first two bends.  When I looked up, the leaders seemed to be so far ahead.  I was trying to come through the field like I so often do but it just wasn’t happening.  With a lap to go with me hovering somewhere around 50^th, I still felt I should be able to move forward and match last years position but the reverse happened.  It was an unusual experience because it’s rare for me to get overtaken on the last lap of a cross country race but here I must have been passed by 20 runners!  My final position was 71^st – a whole 59 places lower than two years previous!  A disaster and my worst performance of the year relative to fitness levels.

I’d love to know why I ran so badly but suspect I never will, the best thing is to move on and use it as motivation for the rest of the big races this winter.