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Since being baked alive on the Lewes Downland 10 mile, I have run little: a short-ish outing every Sunday and that is it. For that reason, I abstained from last weekend's Barns Green half and was in two minds about today's Crowborough 10k. In the event, I went and enjoyed it.
This race had to be cancelled last year due to the weather. The original early December date fell to the early snows, and a rerun was arranged but was also snowed off. Crowborough is the highest town in Sussex and, even today, felt chilly in a north wind, and a grey sky led some to wonder if we might not be snowed on today.
I drove there through the Sussex countryside, with Finzi and Delius on the radio, suitable pastoral accompaniment. We huddled in the school that did was Race HQ, leaving it till the last possible moment to venture out to the start.
The race began with a long downhill, and turned off a main road after 3k or so into a lane, where runners were faced with a ford. Those of us brave enough to take the ford rather than the bridge to the side, as I did on my second lap, are rewarded by having our photograph taken. Then there was a long climb up the lane, and a turn onto a main road and the half-way point, where there were drinks, and a woman sitting outside her house playing Sousa marches on an accordion. Then, for this is a two-lap race, we did it all over again.
Towards the end I was flagging. I had enough to overtake one runner towards the finish, but was passed myself by a young woman, looking fresh as a daisy. I now have a 25th anniversary t-shirt.
I had forgotten how much races can exhilarate. This one was certainly a case in point.
