SATURDAY 13TH NOVEMBER, SANTRY DEMENSE, DUBLIN
There was a real excitement in the atmosphere, even at the airport (lets face it you can spot a runner a mile off!) and a great friendliness from whomever you met. Our hotel was facing the course & was certainly a beautiful setting.
Jane & I had scoped out the course of Friday, 4 laps, 1 hill, lots of mud.
Jane's reserves race was up first & it was mix of men & women & all ages categories. Jane looked strong throughout & really pushed it on the last lap, polishing it off with a great sprint finish. She was pleased as her time was 50 seconds quicker than the 4th V55 in the main race, which bodes well for her next year when she has some more races under her belt.
My race was all the women's age categories plus the men 65 to 70+. It was incredibly busy at the start with lots of pushing after the gun. It never really thinned out & you really had to battle past people & through the heavy mud over the 4 laps. My Garmin bleeped at 6.26 for the first mile & I was well back from the leaders already. It was a tough 6k & the calibre of the athletes was amazing, England had a 1st & a 2nd in the overall race with a V35 & a V40. I was the 3rd V35 of 4, and 3 count for the team, I had first thought that we had won the team gold but was hugely disappointed to find out at the gala dinner to find out that we were beaten by the Republic of Ireland who had put out some very strong teams on home ground. I couldn't help thinking that if only I'd gone faster......
All in all England won most of the age category team golds & were overall champions. It was amazing to be part of this event & breathtaking to experience how fast they run (we sat next to the ladies winner who was averaging 5.55 per mile!) It's Glasgow next year & Jane & I certainly want to be there representing our country again, with some more WRC runners too!
OPEN RACE 6K:- Jane MULRYAN - V55 - 27.01
MAIN 6K:- Louise Rudd - V35 - 25.01 41st / 14th V35
Congratulations to you both : An oustanding achievement . Nick.
Posted by: Nick | November 15, 2010 at 10:09