Going Good to Soft at Gosforth Park Racecourse

When my alarm chimed at 6am I was already half awake. I would love to tell you it was because I was excited. It was the day of race three in the 2018/9 Start Fitness North East Harrier league and to be my first of the season! I love every aspect of cross country, the team camaraderie, the challenging courses, and especially the mud. No dear reader, it wasn't the excitement that woke me up long before dawn; it was the rain hammering on my bedroom window!

Normally I would hop out of bed and think, "Great, this is proper cross country weather!", but normally my alarm would be set much later in the day. The race was to be put on by Gosforth harriers with support from Heaton Harriers, and my club, Tyne Bridge Harriers and I had volunteered to help with setting up the course. To get it ready for the first junior race at 12pm we had been told to arrive at Gosforth Racecourse for 7:30.

I'm always quite well organised for cross country, with my bag prepared the night before, spikes clean, a few different lengths of pins ready, bin bags (one to sit on, one for the muddy kit), food, gloves etc. all packed the night before with my race number vest and shorts with them. So with needing to leave the house around 5 hours earlier than usual, obviously I would have made sure this was done well in time. Cleaning month old dry mud and grass from my spikes whilst eating my breakfast and trying to remember where my race number was, I thought about how badly I managed to miss this step...

As I was preparing to leave I looked out the window properly for the first time. That wasn't rain drumming on the window like Phil Collins in a gorilla costume, it was snow and sleet! Better grab my gloves.

The six of us from TBH arrived almost in unison, parked up by the grandstand and quickly set about getting the tent up in the wet grey field adjacent to the racecourse. The waxing moon was still shining through the dawn as we huddled inside waiting for instruction from the harrier leagues very own clerk of the course. This was to be the first staging of cross country at Gosforth Park Racecourse for many years (NEHL Gosforth Park History in Making). The talk from people close to the route planners, and those that knew the area, in the preceding weeks was that we were in for great event. Unfortunately, all the talk on social media in the morning was about the offensive weather which was now trying to put on a cycle of misery. Gusty wind giving way to more rain which became sleet then back to wind and combinations of the above. Time to get to work and warm up.

The small battalion of volunteers from the three clubs dispersed across the fields and woodland adjacent to the racecourse armed with stakes and tape to make the vision on the increasingly wet maps a reality. Led by the tireless members of the harrier league committee we spent a few hours setting out the various routes on the 1.9mile (almost 16 furlongs) lap for the seniors with various permutations for the shorter junior races.

Unfortunately, we also had to deal with a few piles of tyres left behind from a recent obstacle course event, after all this wasn't supposed to be a jump race. I'm sure some people pay for cross training like this! By 10am the course was set and I was back standing in the tent wringing out my gloves. Final preparations were being made and I took the opportunity to sit in my car and dry off a little. 15 minutes with my gloves on the heater was enough to make them slightly dryer to the touch and my fingertips had come back from wherever they had been hiding.

Jonny arrived to drop off the club tent and a few more people started to pitch up to marshal and lend a hand with the second shelter. As the first juniors appeared the weather had brightened, only a few wispy clouds, the wind and chill were left from the earlier unpleasantness. I took a few minutes to make sure my shoes were ready (12mm pins fitted), grabbed my lunch from my bag, a cup of tea from the van (fingers still needed warming up) and set off to my marshal post. I was in the crew at a slightly tricky spot we had set up earlier. After the U11 boys and girls, we had to re-position to guide the U17 men and U17&U20 women; then before the remaining 6 races the stakes and tape needed to be moved to create the route for the large lap. I'll be honest, it felt more complex than it sounds now...

Heading off to marshal now I can feel my fingers again!

I enjoyed marshalling the foals races. Seeing the under 11's all giving everything and enjoying being in the outdoors was fun; as the age categories got higher the kids became athletes, watching the potential future stars in every race with determination written on their faces was inspiring and encouraging all at once. Our duties were carried off without a hitch and after I waved through the first crest of the senior women's race I bid adieu to my fellow volunteers and trotted back up the hill toward tent city. Woa, hiking boots aren't built for running, I was shattered from just a few paces, time to shed the layers and don the lightweight spikes!

When I got back to the club tent it was bristling with TBH men and the whole area was awash with eager runners and tired looking juniors. I greeted my club mates while retrieving my bag and squeezing myself into a patch of grass to change. The mood was jovial as more men arrived ready for the race. It felt good to put my spikes on and get my legs moving. I was a little tired from the early start and hard graft but the jog and company were waking me up.

Returning from my warm up I found the women had started to gather at the tent after their race. It was smiles all round with rave reviews of the new course and some great running despite a few missing the start! I was chomping at the bit to get on the course.

24 members of the men's Tyne Bridge Harriers team were there in total and everyone seemed to be relishing the look of the new course in the weak autumn sunshine. The harrier league races are structured with three starting "packs". The bulk of the field are in the unfortunately named "slow" pack and are set off first, it often holds a few dark horses who haven't run in a cross country race previously or for some time and quickly earn promotion and good points for their club. The "medium" pack follows, setting off 25 seconds per mile later (for this race that was 2 min 30 seconds), finally the "fast" pack are released with the same handicap over the medium pack. I was promoted to the medium pack during the 2017/8 season and I am still getting used to the feeling of watching most of the runners set off without me!

The start line was next to the paddock like tent city and the first part of the race skirted the edge of it. As the slow pack rounded the first bend in the distance the starter pointed at them, turned to medium pack gathering at the post and said "your job is to catch that lot!" No doubt he was to say something similar to the thoroughbreds yet to come. "Runners...you will go, on my first whistle!"...is what he should have said to really add to the gladiatorial feel, but alas, he didn't have the flair of John Anderson and we had to muster our own motivation (I apparently chose to have "Eye of the Tiger" stuck in my head for a lap and a half. If anyone can tell me why that would be great!)

We wished each other well for the chase and assumed the position (no not that one... the one with one foot in front of the other, slight bend of the knees, lean forward, grasp watch in hand, ready to press "start"). The whistle went, almost as loud as the collective Garmin beep, and the chase was on. Circling the tents the support from the women was great as always, but from the clamour we were straight into the woodland. It never felt quiet though, I was always surrounded by other runners. To begin with I was enclosed by the rest of the medium pack as we wove through the wooded path but it wasn't long before we started to catch the back of the slow pack. We hit a downhill and I started taking a lot of places, cantering past over the twigs and tree roots that skirted the track. The freedom was short lived though, the overnight rain had added a water jump at the bottom of the hill and there seemed to be a few stalling at the prospect and I was momentarily brought to a standstill.

The race route stayed narrow through the trees for a little longer before bursting into the open field and immediately climbing. We made our way to the top, through a chicane along the edge of the fence then it was time to hoof it back down. At this point the course was generous enough that I could take a wide line for the corner (I wish I could say I had done that on purpose!) and I found myself in free space for the first time and able to open up my stride down the hill, taking plenty more places in the process. This was a tactic I relished and repeated on each lap. For the rest of the lap the route wound around the edge of the field including a pair of long uphill drags with another grassy descent in between. Every time I passed a club mate we would exchange a few panted words of encouragement.

The crowds returned with the sharp right turn through the gate back into the start/finish field and they were near constant around the circumference as we turned to start lap 2. The support is always great at these races but seemed to be especially good on this occasion.  Somewhere in the woodland of lap two I started to notice the fast pack front runners overtaking me and tried to tail them through the crowds in the narrower sections of the course.

I spent the most part of the first two laps jockeying for position with a few other runners but I could feel the fatigue of the long day starting to catch up with me and decided I needed to rein it in a little or risk having a mare of a final lap. By the time I entered the woods for the third and final time I was starting to feel a little more lively and the field had thinned out enough that I was able to soak in the pleasant surroundings.

The last lap felt like it passed quicker. Maybe the fatigue means you don't remember as much or the familiarity means you notice less but there always seems to be sensation of a shorter third lap (unless you have an aforementioned "mare"!). I spent most of the lap being passed by fast pack runners still working their way through or medium pack runners finishing strong but I was still overtaking the main herd. I could see the black and white of my club mates silks ahead as the course twisted and turned and used them as markers of progress. Each one successfully reached with more words of encouragement (unless I had mistaken another clubs vest for one of ours!).

I caught a friendly black and white vest (Jonny, who had brought the tent) just before the gate near the end of the third lap and encouraged him to stay with me. We only had about a furlong left to go. Instead of looping around the tents a marshal directed us to double back on ourselves and there, slightly uphill was the finish. I dug for the line, I picked my target, push push push! I beat him to the post by a nose!

The predictions were right. The course was great, the woods were very popular with everyone I spoke to and most enjoyed the fields as well with the challenging climbs and fast descents. 

But there wasn't much time for chat. After a short cool down jog I changed my shoes, and put a few layers back on and got back to work. With the club tent down and packed away, Jonny was once again saddled with it until the next race and I went off to help with tidying up the course.

I thoroughly enjoyed the day, despite the early weather we had fun getting everything ready and it was rewarding to feel a part of what was a very successful day. Most importantly I now have a new appreciation of the level of work involved with each cross country fixture, all done by a team of volunteers who go largely un-thanked, and in the case of the committee, often spend time fielding complaints and questions (not to mention keeping an eye on the occasionally lively Facebook group).

Time to dry off, clean up the mud and get ready for the next one! 

P.S. Take 10 bonus points if you spotted all 22 of the horse racing references on your first read!