As the cross country running season draws to a close, it is time to reflect on what has been a hugely enjoyable and successful winter both personally and for the club with which I run, Ipswich JAFFA.
Cross country or XC as I will refer to it, is perhaps the back bone of British running, particularly for the development of junior runners due to the safe traffic free courses, the natural surfaces which are more forgiving on growing bodies and an introduction to competitive running, and unusually for what is considered an individual sport, teamwork. The fastest women in marathon history, Paula Radcliffe is a product of the British XC scene, and is a firm advocate of the sport, quite an endorsement I am sure you will agree. Races are staged throughout the winter in local parks and farmland, often with leagues creating some healthy competition as road running races come less regularly than in the summer.
The beauty of it is it's simplicity and it's difficulty. Courses are mostly through or around muddy fields, and with it being a winter sport, the weather is generally cold, wet or both. Furthermore, if there is a hill of any description in the vicinity, then the race organisers will gleefully utilise it! Races are cheap to run from both the runner and organisers perspective. Race entry for local races is on the day, and operating on a “cash and dash” system. Turn up, pay your £3-£5 entry fee, run and have a great time! With regards to organisers costs, road running is generally falling foul to traffic management and policing fees, even in some unfortunate circumstances leading to the death of traditional races, no such problem for XC, as the most important factor for venues is a generous land owner and a creative course designer.
The association with XC for most adults’ links back to school PE lessons, and are mostly very negative. So many times within my club, people chose not to take part in XC as they understandably don’t relish the idea of slogging round a muddy field with a teacher shouting and blowing a whistle at them to run faster. The coaches often offer “encouraging support” usually whilst stood at the top of a hill, where the runners are at their lowest and slowest ebb, but I have yet to see any of them brandishing a whistle.
So often with a road race, you will hear people rejoicing or seeking commiseration for the success or failure of achieving a PB. There is none of that in XC, in fact most races aren’t even timed and finishing positions are what matters. The poison of GPS watches, mile splits and average paces fail to infiltrate the raw nature of XC, and with the varied make up of courses, it’d be hard to find any relevant analysing of times. A course could consist of the first kilometre being a wide open windy field, the second a slippery off camber river bank, and the third a series of lung busting ascents, making each kilometre a completely different challenge. For the eagle eyed amongst you, you will notice that I have just described the Suffolk XC championship course at Ickworth Park, in one sentence!
I touched earlier, on XC being a team sport. This is due to its interesting scoring system. Positions mean points, if you finish first, you score one point, second scores two, third three and so on right down to the final runner. Runners from the same club make a team, and depending on field size, the first eight men and four women count as ‘scorers’ for their club. This means that their finishing positions (points) are totalled up, giving a sum for the team of eight or four. The team with the lowest sum of their first eight runners are simply, the winners. The team element continues beyond the scorers for each club however, as runners finishing outside of their own clubs top eight runners, can still affect the scores of other teams by finishing ahead of runners from other clubs who may well be a scorer, thus meaning a higher total to individual and team points.
Men’s and women’s races run concurrently, but the scoring is kept separate. The men’s and women’s teams with the lowest aggregate score receives one point each, the second lowest aggregate receives two points each and so on. Finally, the male and female team score is combined giving a final club score. If for example the men finished third, and the women finish second, the club receives an overall score of five points. Clearly, runners are representing not only themselves, but their club also. If that seems confusing, don't worry, it is, but fortunately, those that collate the scores seem to have it nailed!
I enjoy XC as it is HARD. It has taught me a lot with regards to how to race others and not just the clock, it is character building, running at your absolute maximum and then requesting more of your body, running without the sure footedness of the road through mud and puddles, but most of all, it is fun and rewarding. The free cup of tea offered to all runners at the finish only adds to the allure that XC holds for me!
The club of which I am a member is Ipswich JAFFA, so named as the initials of the club’s philosophy, ‘Jogging And Fitness For All’ rather than any links to a range of Mcvities cakes (or biscuits, you decide) or the brand of tasty Satsuma’s, although the latter did contact the club recently, donating fruit for the half marathon which we host in September. Also, after an inspired decision in the club's recent history, we are now clad in delightfully bright orange running vests, which shows up very well within a group of runners, except in the Netherlands, as we found out on our visit to the Amsterdam marathon. Or in a Norfolk race involving a "Coltishall Jaguar" as my mum has been frustrated by on so many photographic opportunities!!
We compete in a local league consisting of clubs from South Suffolk and North Essex, sponsored by the 53-12 Triathlon shop. The league is made up of the clubs, Ipswich Jaffa, Springfield Striders (Chelmsford), Gt Bentley RC, Harwich Runners, Colchester Harriers, Tiptree Road Runners, Witham RC, Hadleigh Hares, Halstead RC, Mid Essex Casuals, Colchester and Tendring and finally, a representative team from the sponsors,53-12. There are six fixtures throughout the season at Chelmsford, Harwich, Halstead, Ipswich, Witham (Braintree) and Hadleigh.
Information for the league organisation, results and standings can be found at www.53-12xc.com
The season started for us at Hylands Park in Chelmsford, best known as the venue of the ‘V’ music festival, but the only groupies in the park on this chilly November morning were the supporters, families and coaches of the running clubs.
As the first fixture, it would prove to be a good indication of how the league would pan out, and a good chance to familiarise yourself with whom you would be spending several hours slogging through ditches and dirt in the following months.
I had raced at this venue in the previous season, and my most vivid memory of it was a series of ditches that we would traverse several times, and a deep, leg sapping pond.
The early exchanges felt very pedestrian around grassy fields, but the field soon strung out as the race turned uphill and back into a fierce wind. The small, stocky tattooed runner from Springfield Striders, Tom Cammack, a runner with whom I would race fiercely with in the coming fixtures, was the first to show his hand as he made an attempted break from the group of front runners, only to be reeled in gradually by the eventual winner, Tom Fairbrother (IJ) and the Colchester double act of Chris Sellens and John Fryer, with myself trailing behind. This was an early indication of Tom C’s grit, as he is a tough, punchy runner who is happy to take everybody on.
The only thought running through my head as we ploughed on around the course, having settled into fourth position with Tom C on my heels, was “when is that pond coming!?" I was expecting it around every corner, and when it eventually appeared, I was able to witness the three leaders enter at great speed, only to be slowed to a high stepping crawl as the mud below gripped at their running shoes. Once it was my turn to enter, I fared well, as being six foot three, didn’t, at first get sucked in too badly as my hips were able to stay above the water surface, the same couldn’t be said for a lot of other runners, particularly the smaller women in the race, barely hitting five feet five!
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| Tom F leads the Colchester pair through the chilly swamp. I follow through the trees. Photo: Kelly's Running Photos. |
The league had for the team JAFFA gotten off to an average start, with the men gaining three points due to strong showings in depth from both Colchester and Springfield, and the women scoring two points, helped in part by the return to XC running of JAFFA’s elite marathon runner Helen Davies, taking the overall victory in the ladies race. After the first fixture, Springfield Striders sat top of the tree, having gained top league points (six) with a combined team score of three, JAFFA took four points and sat third.
Credit must go to the organisers, Springfield Striders, for providing delicious donuts at the race HQ, the cake is one of my favourite things about XC!
We would have to wait almost a whole month for our next fix of mud, as the following fixture was staged by Harwich Runners, just a short hop from Ipswich over the Stour Estuary in the village of Ramsey, at a charming if very basic barn, kindly provided by the landowner, on December 1st. The JAFFA team had hopes of a better overall result than at Hylands Park, with the addition to the team of two of the clubs top runners, Jon Ling, and our pocket rocket Matt Spencer.
This race was a real turning point for me as a runner, and made me realise what I was capable of, giving me the belief that I could run alongside the top local runners, rather than fall in line behind them as I have been guilty of in previous meetings.
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| The early excitement at Harwich, L to R: Tom Cammack, Gavin Davies, Myself, Matt Spencer, Gavin Allen, Jon Ling. Photo: Kelly's running Photos. |
After the initial excitement of the first few hundred metres, the race settled down, and upon turning onto a muddy field edge to follow the bank of a small stream, I found myself in an unfamiliar position, the lead of the race with just Tom C again for company. Tom was able to open a small gap as we ran uphill into a stiff breeze, showing his strength, but as the hill was crested and we began descending the other side, I soon caught back up to his heels, using my long stride to glide down.
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| Three out front. Running scared from Tom C and Matt S. Photo: Mark Blackburn/JAFFA |
As we continued around the farmland, it became very sparse of anything but course markings and the occasional marshal pointing us the right way. The elastic between myself and Tom C was continually stretching and whilst I was always aware of footsteps behind me, I was running scared and didn’t want to look back to check the distance, in case my stalker took it as a sign of my weakening and used it as incentive to close the gap.
Coming back from the far reaches of the course, we began approaching the finish line and spectators, although we still had an additional mile or so to run, retracing the first half of the course. We were able to see runners streaming back towards us in the opposite direction on an adjacent track. To be leading the race and hear the encouragement of my club mates gave me a real buzz and really spurred me on to stay ahead and continue what felt like a ferocious pace. I was still very aware of the runner close behind, but refused to check behind.
I was blissfully unaware of what was occurring behind me, and it was only with two hundred metres remaining that the footsteps that had been taunting me for so long drew level and proceeded to scamper away toward the finish line. Inside I was devastated, having led everybody around the course from the very beginning. It would have been wonderful to get my hands in the air as the winner, but as a former instructor in the Army once screamed at us during a physical training session, “It isn’t over until you’re in the shower”(that is the sanitised version of what he said). However, as it turned out, and with XC being a team sport, I was delighted to see that it was the orange vest of Matt Spencer passing me, making for a satisfying JAFFA one-two. Matt later thanked me for setting the pace as I did, and admitted that he probably would have settled in the pack had he not had me to chase. From a runner of his calibre, that was very pleasing for me to hear.
The race at Harwich had been a vast improvement from the previous fixture in Chelmsford. Both the JAFFA men and women took overall, with Helen again taking the victory for the ladies, we walked away with maximum points, and with a surprisingly weak outcome for both Colchester and Springfield, we found ourselves sitting top of the league, albeit after only two events.
After waiting a whole month between fixtures one and two, race three of the league was hosted just a week later by Halstead Road Runners at the impressive facilities of Gosfield School. In the fixture here in the previous season, the race director had proudly and correctly claimed it to be the muddiest XC course in the league. A mild and dry (it seems crazy to be describing dry weather now we are in March!) prevented a repeat of those conditions, and but for some boggy bits in the woods, the going was good, making for a fast paced race.
This race would be my first experience of running in long spikes. Up until now, I had always just used the spikes that were provided with my shoes, nine millimetre studs that had now been worn down to a point that they were barely protruding from the sole! They were laughed at by club mates in the sports hall beforehand, and so I set about joining a small circle of runners frantically dipping into a supply of twelve millimetre spikes, brought along by Gavin Davies, Jon Ling and Mark Furnace. This was a great demonstration of team work and the camaraderie that XC brings out as shoes, spikes and spanners were tossed around to be ready in time. the extra reassurance of improved grip certainly helped whilst careening down the steep hills.
Women get a bad reputation for being obsessed by shoes, but in my experience, male runners are far worse! Throughout the year it is always a hot topic on our club Facebook group, as members post a picture of their sparkly new daps, or discuss the pro's and con's of various models...
After the success of my race at Harwich, I had now found the confidence to take on a race, and run as hard as I could. The Gosfield course follows the perimeter of the school playing fields for the first and last mile, so having a good position heading into the narrow wooded section that would last approximately three miles was important. I was able to lead around the fields before finally ceding to Matt S and entering the woods second, where I would remain on his shoulder for the duration.
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| Little and Large in perfect harmony. Always Amusing for spectators. Photo: Mark Blackburn/JAFFA |
Once in the woods, runners were faced with a series of sharp ups and downs, although with the dry conditions, the footing was good and the pace high, a few muddy sections of vehicle tracks wrong-footed us several times though as we slogged through. Following Matt S up the sharp rises, gaps opened up between us as his short stride climbed quickly, but my lopey stride allowed the gap to be closed again on the following downhill's. We were now out of the front of the race alone, as other competitors had fallen back, mostly after the fierce pace set uphill.
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| Matt S leading the initial charge through the woods at Gosfield School. Photo: Mark Blackburn/JAFFA |
Despite Matt’s best efforts to take us the wrong way around the course (he needed occasional direction of which way to turn when the course markings got a bit vague, not for the first time according to Mrs Spencer), we emerged back for the final loop around the fields and back to start finish area. With a short section that doubled back on itself around some trees, we were able to see our competitors behind us. We were certainly still in a position where we could be caught, so the pace had to continue, and Matt was able to open up a sizeable lead over me as the pure speed he possesses on the road kicked in, giving him the extra yards to take the lead around the final few corners, and safely into the finish as the winner again. We had been within a metre of one another throughout, and I had found that as I attempted to move in front to take up the pace making, it was just seen as an invitation to run a bit faster!! I was pleased to have at least be close enough to see him finish, and delighted to again finish ahead of some notable names that usually run away from me in road races.
Another successful race for the club, as the eight scoring men produced a combined total of just ninety three points to take first place and the ladies had amassed forty to finish the day second, meaning we once again took maximum points, and sat top of the league heading into the break over Christmas.
After a lengthy break for Christmas, the first weekend in January is traditionally reserved for county XC Championships. The Suffolk Athletics Association is lucky enough to have the National Trust site, Ickworth Park, at its disposal. The park is home to Ickworth House, a beautiful Georgian Palace set in 1800 acres of grassy parkland, and offers a superb canvas for a challenging running course, utilising the hills, woodland and fields. The 2013 county championships produced a tough course, including a long muddy uphill drag, a bomb hole which became almost impossible to exit on the final time through as conditions worsened, and most amusingly, a field of free roaming sheep which, I’m sure, had a traumatic day being herded by the county’s runners.
I had fully expected to arrive and be racing on the same course, but it turned out that a completely new arena had been created at the opposite on of the park. On a particularly windy day, the opening of the race involved circling a large field, completing a sweeping U turn at the end, before running back into the wind. After leaving the field, the route turned left around the boundary fence, and began the long descent around a small church, and alongside an old red brick wall before a muddy bridge crossing leading onto a lakeside. The natural lay of the land made this a technically tricky part of the course, as it was both off camber and muddy, making the choice of line critical to the ease at which it was possible to traverse the section.
Following this section, the route took runners back over a small bridge, marshalled by JAFFA XC secretary, and club mile record holder, Brian Rogers, an unflappable and calmly spoken XC legend. His gentle encouragement carried you up a series of two lung busting climbs, where it was less a case of moving quickly than not going so slow to come to a halt. This was naturally a popular place for spectators to gather, as is always the case in a running race, and there was a contingent of JAFFA coaches gathered at the crest of the second incline. Urges to “dig in” and “get over the top” were heard but difficult to acknowledge.
During our warm up, we had trotted over to these hills to see what all the fuss was about, and were able to see one of our junior members, Paul Wain, running powerfully up the hill to create a gap on his rivals and ultimately become under 15 Champion. Upon seeing the severity of the climbing that we would be doing, for the first time in the year that I had known him, I heard Suffolk's fastest forty something, Brad Jones, usually so well spoken, utter words not fit for print!
Over the top of the hill, and the quickest to recover could power round the gloriously flat pasture before rounding a corner to the finish straight, after splashing through an ankle deep puddle. At this corner, during the senior men's race, the JAFFA ladies had gathered to create a wall of noise, welcoming the runners to the beginning of the next lap, or the relieving sight of the finish line.
The course measured roughly four kilometres long, and would be completed twice by the ladies and three times for the men.
The dynamic of the county championship is very different to any other XC race we take part in. Firstly, we race against members of only Suffolk clubs and other eligible individuals, as opposed to the usual opponents in the 53-12 league who are mostly from Essex. Whilst we regularly compete alongside them on the road, it would be interesting to see who is stronger or weaker in the mud.
Secondly, each race is run with different start times. This allows us to be able to watch the other races unfold. Particularly the ladies race, which was won by a good distance by Sara Bird of Woodford Green with Essex ladies. She is a classy runner who regularly runs near the front of road races with the top men, and the lead stretched and stretched as the laps passed.
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| The JAFFA ladies look cold and apprehensive ahead of 8km of County XC Championships. Photo: Robin Belsom/JAFFA |
There was success in the ladies race for the JAFFA team too. The trio of Jayne Williams, Val Jennings and Kate Wooldridge took third in the team race with a combined total of thirty six points, trailing St Edmunds Pacers (22) and West Suffolk AC (26).
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| The gun fires and the ladies are off at Ickworth park, winner Sara Bird three in from left(green and white vest). Photo: Robin Belsom/JAFFA |
The senior men’s race was the final event of the day. The early pace was hot, as Aaron Scott, a 2hr22min marathoner and race favourite lead from the start, dragging along Matt Spencer, 2013 runner up Chris Rooke, and West Suffolk AC’s youngster Macaulay Delo racing his first year with the seniors, for as long as they could hold on.
The race quickly reached the hills for the first time, and larger gaps where beginning to open as Rooke continued to claw on to Scott whilst Matt S and Delo continued to battle for third. I was currently sat in sixth, where I would remain for the duration of the race, on the heels of Chris' brother and reigning champion Andrew.
I cannot possibly comment on what was occurring at the head of the race, such was the distance ahead of the leading two. The rest of the race snaked along behind, with Andrew R creating a small gap between us as we went uphill, which I was able to reduce again on the way down, but ultimately his strength once we reached the flat created a gap which I would spend the next thirty minutes trying to close.
The psychological benefit of a multi lap course can be huge when you are struggling and running at your limit. Once it has been navigated once, you are aware of where you are on the course, and which sections will give you opportunity to recover or push on whilst moving at race pace. There is also the added advantage of support. A three lap course will take you past the same spectators in the same positions three times, giving you the encouraging words you need to continue moving forward.
As we continued for laps two and three, the gap between Andrew R and myself stayed equal, I was going to have to move faster than I could muster to both catch and pass him, so I was left to settled for sixth position, followed in by Brad, Gavin and Jon to complete five Ipswich JAFFA men occupying the top ten, a testimony to the strength in depth of the club, and the hard work being undertaken by the coaches and members of the club. The result was also good enough for Matt, myself, Brad and Gavin to take first place in the men’s team race with a combined total of twenty seven points.
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| JAFFA's Mon Lee shows great relief at completing the course!! Photo: Robin Belsom/Ipswich JAFFA |
Many thanks to Kelly of Mid Essex Casuals for allowing the use of her wonderfully popular 53-12 photographs. Here is a Link to Kelly's Facebook collection
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