Hereford 10 km

OK Blog,

              ….. so, for my comment in my last letter but two to you for ‘Peak District’ read ‘Hereford’!!! With all the rain of late, trying to find a campsite which would accept a tent for three days over the New Year break was like trying to walk on water. Fear of having three campers drowning on your property during the holidays seemed to have been something all site owners wanted to avoid!

So instead of a tent in Derbyshire, it was a camper van in Hereford for three days. Even there, the decision to hold the proposed 10 kilometre race on New Year’s Day, was not taken until the actual New Year’s Day!! The race H.Q. was on the banks of the river Wye at the local rowing club …. record rainfall + river + rowing club … is it any wonder that the decision to race was deferred until very late. Even so, the course was changed at the last minute which included a different start to the one usually used and the statement from the organiser that the course would be ‘about’ 10 kilometres. No complaint then. The local club did very well to allow the race to proceed; another example of a ‘new age’ club not being intimidated by ‘Health and Safety’ considerations but letting common sense rule the day. The whole field was shepherded the half mile to the new start by the organiser and the start put back fifteen minutes as a result. The best estimate, post-race, for the hilly course was that it was nearly a kilometre over distance. No complaints then. The race was organised by the local club without the benefit of sponsorship, all power to their elbow. A scenic undulating [the word is Herefordian dialect for ‘hilly’] course on a beautiful day with a coaster depicting the local Wye Valley Runners for each finisher with free tea / coffee / biscuits before and after the race with awards for every 5 year age group was praiseworthy and an example for more experienced clubs to follow. A lesson in what a road race should be which most of the latter day commercial events would do well to emulate. And best of all???? The male and female winners were rewarded for their efforts with a wooden hand carved trophy depicting Hereford Cathedral (it of the Mapa Mundi). And what is more, they were both carved by the race organiser … ABSOLUTLY BRILLIANT with a capital ‘A’ and a capital ‘B’. Waiting for the prize giving, I sat in the rowing club H.Q. over-looking the river in full speight, an evil brown colour of swirling fearsome eddy currents. Purposely built high above the river Wye to avoid flooding, the lower floor allowed for the frequent ingress of water, nothing being kept there that could be damaged by water. I sat in the sun watching a spider laboriously spin a new web in the corner of the window frame on the outside of the pane; eat your heart out Robert. I had an incredible urge to go outside and do battle, but I did not succumb and stayed indoors and had another coffee and a biscuit.

And so to watch the County Cross Country Championships on Saturday, five races in eight days … beat that Blog. Shades of Giro della Umbria???

                                                         Colin