Sunday saw the 3rd round of the PECO Cross Country League take place at West Park in Leeds. The overnight frost had provided us with a solid surface to run on, albeit running on frozen, rutted ground isn't always friendly to your ankles.
There was a certain balance to the Postal team with 7 ladies and 7 men ready to take on the 4 mile ish course, consisting of a nice mix of playing field and woodland trail with a bit of incline thrown in for good measure. It was only later that my father in law who lives locally chucked in some intel that told me the field was Headingley Golf Course once upon a time and the monument of Queen Victoria that we all ran up the hill towards used to be located in Leeds City Centre prior to being unceremoniously dumped in the middle of a wood.
There are many benefits to getting in a healthy dose of cross country running in the winter. Number one on the list is the opportunity for some top quality photos. This time round it was all about the eyes. Check out the photos that follow. I first came across one of Di, gazing to her left leaving me wondering what she was looking at? My first thought was Phil's cupcakes, carefully stashed in our gazebo-less pile of bags awaiting us at the finish.
Curiouser and curiouser though. The more I trawled the more I saw others looking in the same direction. See what I mean. Di, Jim and my good self all lost in the moment. And then I realised. Those strained glances gave it away. Where the bloody hell is that finish line. It was out of sight, hiding around a corner and tough luck to those who left it too late to get that pocket to socket routine into full swing before the finish came into view. A few places lost potentially just because we didn't know where the line was. Something for us to learn for next time.
What's clear from PECO when we go and play with the other boys and girls in the big city is that the depth is standard is a tad different than back at home. A top 100 finish is something to be cherished so lots of respect to our first finishers, Dom in 58th in the mens race and Jess finishing in a fabulous 47th place in the ladies race.
Here's the full results, https://racebest.com/results/7uu83
Next up is a return trip to Middleton Park on 19th Feb and if you haven't already entered you can do so here, https://racebest.com/races/42fv4
Racebest is also worth checking out for the full list of forthcoming races, many of them local. https://racebest.com/races In addition, if you're fond of the trail then Si Entries is a good source of race info, https://www.sientries.co.uk/ Other race options can be found here https://bookitzone.com/running-2-events/any_time and the Summer League series in York is now open for entries, https://timemyrace.co.uk/york-district-road-race-league-entry/
Last but not least, it is great to see the number of new members joining our club. New member forms keep popping up every week and I'm sure we all look forward to meeting our new club mates at one of our Weds training nights in the coming weeks. For our existing members, renewals are due by 28th Feb at the latest and it would be great to see everyone rejoin. If you need bank details for the club account then please see the membership section of our website.