I'm spending an awful lot of time in the office writing away. Weekends, late nights and so on. Conveniently this afternoon the Braid Hills Cross Country race was on. Two laps of the bridle path around and over Braid Hill, for a total of about 9.2km, a little under 6 miles.

It wasn't too wet and muddy today, but my fell-shoes still seem to have been a good choice, good traction on soft ground. An odd experience of a race, initial placing is important as there is not much opportunity to overtake. Each loop consisted of a mile up a (car-width) track, followed by a steep descent then a single-file dirt path. The first lap I snuck by a few people in a few wider spots, but mostly there wasn't much more to do than follow the guy in front. By the start of the second lap, the track provided enough room to drift past people, and I made up a good number of places. I managed to reach the front of a group just before the descent, and with a big gap in front it was a case of "brakes off, brain off" for a much faster drop than before, great fun. For the remainder of the race then I was just trying not to slow down, maybe pick off the odd person. I went past somebody who seemed to have faded badly, at the finishing straight I got a shock when they shot past me...

I came in at around 39:20.

Good fun, and very convenient for KB. Now back to work.