British national cross country championship

By coincidence, while trying to look for some running races to enter, I learned this morning that the British national cross country championships were being held today in Hampstead Heath, which is my backyard since I no longer actually own a backyard.



Those of you who know me know that running has been part of my life for 26 years now, which is roughly two-thirds of my life. The discipline of cross country is the passion, though. Nothing in running is as much fun as cross country. Tragically, however, my spikes are inside a box, which is inside a crate, which is inside a shipping container, somewhere between here and Felixstowe. So it probably would have been a bad idea to go out and run with these chaps.



No way I could have kept up with them.



Or maybe ...



... I could have been somewhere in the middle of the field?



Most assuredly.

But never mind that. It's time to watch the action. Here are the runners at about halfway through the 12 kilometer (7.5 mile) course.







Notice the tape snapping in the wind. If you weren't running, it was pretty windy and cold out there. If you were running, it was pretty windy.

Here's your winner. I think they said his name is Peter Riley.



And the reward of a job well done.