Week 45, Race 40: Southern XC Championships, Parliament Hill

Photo by Martyn Annetts

I did it!! 40 races in a year (with 7 weeks to spare!). I decided I would finish my challenge with a bang and one of my all time favourite races, the Southern XC Championships at Parliament Hill. I've done this race quite a few times before, it's 5 miles of mud and hills, a real challenge! It's been a bit wet recently so I was expecting plenty of mud but the weather was nice and sunny.
The race started with a massive hill and for the first time in 40 races I was worried I would be sick mid-race. Luckily I wasn't and I plodded up and down and through the mud for the next 5 miles. I was extremely happy to finish in just under an hour and to complete my 40/40 challenge!
Over the course of the last 45 weeks I have raced just under 180 miles with 28 5km races, 5 10km races, a half marathon, a full marathon, 4 XCs and a relay. I've won a prize (Third FV35 in the Hatfield 5km series) , done a crazy obstacle course 10km and discovered the wonderful world of parkruns. Although I have done a lot of 5km races I am really pleased with myself for completing this and, most importantly, it's really got me back running again!
It's been really fun doing parkruns most Saturdays (and when I've not done one Gary often has) and it's given us plenty of practice at getting out of the house in a hurry!
So, what next? More races of course! (although less frequently as I need to let Gary have a turn too!) And more training...maybe my next challenge should be going to 40 NHRR training sessions in a year? :-)
I should probably also celebrate with an alchoholic beverage but I am far too tired for that today!

Chuffed!

Week 43, race 39: Wimpole Estate parkrun

 Brrr! Today's race was a cold one. Wimpole Estate parkrun is probably my favourite run (althought I've only run it 3 times in total), scenic, nice cafe, easy parking and fun for the children. The only downside is that it's a little bit of a drive to get to so we have to be out of the house nice and promptly which is a challenge!
There's also a bit of a hull to climb, this video sums it up quite well!
Last weeks Wimpole parkrun was cancelled due to the wet conditions and this week all the muddy rutted earth was frozen instead making it pretty tricky under foot. And it was cold. But I loved it finishing in a slow 32:57 and very much enjoying my coffee and sausage role afterwards.
The mini-Cooks also had a great time investigating frozen puddles, all in all we had a very succesful morning!
So, that was race number 39, only one more to go!!!

Week 41, Race 38: Holkham parkrun

A holiday in Norfolk gave us the chance to be parkrun tourists and we found the new Holkham parkrun to get us about and about early in the new year. It was a 1 lap course around the attractive grounds of Holkham Hall. Not much to say really other than it was a lovely scenic run (if slightly undulating) where we had to dodge deer and cows. I finished 89th in a very average 31:16. Only 2 runs to go now and if I had been less lazy over Christmas and run on Christmas Day and Boxing Day then I'd be all done and dusted by now!

Photo from the Holkham parkrun facebook page