Rob, Dan, Matt, Michael & I set off for the British Champs in Liphook. We left at 7:30, & I was running off of 2 hours of sleep. The ride was smooth for the most part, although the 2nd half took us through some pretty windy country roads, leaving Rob & Michael feeling pretty ill in the back.
Soon after arriving we were off. I had a pretty steady start, staying consistent, for the first 5 controls. 6 was my first mistake, I tried to beeline it through a steep forest, but overshot it, causing me to have to go back. I didn’t know where I was going for 7, one of my longest & most difficult legs. On the way I got smacked in the face by 2 branches, ran both shins into a log & slipped down a steep drop. At this point I blanked out mentally & just decided to hope for the best. Relying on myself to run in the general direction, I found it. I don’t know how. The next 3 were pleasant forest runs, with some small rivers running through. On my way to 11 was when I was getting tired, I slipped & slid down my side, got smacked in the face by another branch, then lost all hope & wondered what I was even doing here. Then saw Rob, who gave me a friendly wave, which gave me motivation to keep powering through. Back down the hill to 12, I slipped again & rolled my right ankle. What is happening. 13 seemed easy in my head, but I messed up – overshot it, so instead of going 1/5 of the way down the slope, I went all the way down, around & back up, which was annoying because 14 was over the hill and halfway up another one. I was right on the line to 15, my longest leg, which I was really about, although on the way I rolled my left ankle, then ran into another log, & struggled through a marsh. Smooth run to 16, but as I got to the top of a steep part of the forest, somehow I was at my last control? I had to backtrack, back down the hill to get 17, then back up the big hill to my last control, & onto the finish. I was happy to be finished & back with the boys. It was extremely painful, but not as painful as that night’s sleep, as no one could fall asleep because Michael was sleep talking.
After a surprisingly good sleep, I awoke early to the sound of birdsong on a cool spring morn. A couple of slices of toast later, we found ourselves back in the car to return to the scene of yesterday's activities - this time for the relay.
We arrived in good time, and got kitted up before watching Dan start on the first leg of the Men's Premier, carrying the hopes of a UBOC win on his back. A short fifty minutes later, it was my turn to start on the Mixed Ad Hoc. Raring to go, I sped away from the mass start, overtaking Wessex for the lead - which I then held for all of about two minutes before I messed up the first control.
From here the race continued, with my knee holding up well. A wade through thick bushes, and some fairly fast controls later I'd finished my 3.5km leg, with a couple of minor mistakes slightly dampening what was, overall, a strong run. I came in to finish in 3rd place, handing over to Kate for the second leg. As Kate and Matt toiled in the forest, Rob (who soon returned from his second leg) and I lounged in the sun, blissfully unaware of their pain. As Kate fought against being bogged down in marsh, Matt's shoe collapsed midway into the course, prompting a five minute break for a hasty repair.
Kate returned the first of the two, handing over to Peter Dobra who'd agreed to spiritually return to UBOC for the day to compete with us in the relay.
On Saturday, Rob, Michael, and Matt were 2nd, 4th, and 5th in times of 100:41, 111:31, 112:03 in MS1 short. Dan got a wrong control, along with many of the competition favourites, but his time of 164:46 would have placed him 35th on the M21 elite. On the W21 short, Kate came 2nd in a time of 140:46.
In the relays our Men's premier team, UBOCasuaurus, was 18th out of 21 and our mixed team, UBOngo, was 9th out of 39. Well done everyone!
Michael & Kate