Running race 34:52 [5] 9.3 km (3:45 / km) +188m 3:24 / km
ahr:183 max:193 shoes: inov8 X-TALON 212 Black/Yellow
Braid Hills XC
Looking forward to this. 5th time i've raced but 1st time in 4 years.
Not wanting to set off too fast I started far back and got boxed in. I didn't panic and just maintained a nice pace but Mark had a 10s lead by the top of 1st hill. Picked a few off on the down and the back straight but the lead increased to 20s by the end of the 1st lap.
I felt good and with less people in the way up the second hill I was able to cut the lead to 10s. Lots of people cheering us on and willing for me to catch up but could only gain a few seconds here and there on the down and flat. Final wood section to go and suddenly the lead was only 5s. Final 200m to go and the sprint was on. I needed to give 100% and luckily i found a good line to not get held up by an oblivious Pat G who wasn't aware of the train that was about to hit him which held up Mark a tad. All this was captured by Matt Leitch
Splits: 17:30, 17:11