Saturday, February 25, 2006

British national cross country championship

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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.

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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.

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No way I could have kept up with them.

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Or maybe ...

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

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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.

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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.

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And the reward of a job well done.

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2 Comments:

Blogger Smitty Werbenmanjensen said...

I'm remembering a certain race in 1985. Everybody was miserable that day--winners, losers, spectators ...

9:57 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

My favorite part of this entry is your statement that your spikes are in a crate somewhere between your house and Felixstowe. There's just something delightfully Wodehousian about being able to use "Felixstowe" in a sentence.

2:30 PM  

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