Wrekenton 2023: North East Harrier League

Posted: 23 Sep 2023 21:32

It’s the first event of the Cross Country season. Plus, it’s the first XC event I’ve ever done. And, it’s the first time competing for the Gosforth Harriers & Athletics Club. Saturday 23rd September was the opening to the North East Harriers League season. It’s Wrekenton 2023!

I will be honest. I was a little nervous going in to today. As someone who has never run for a club before, I found it rather daunting. I really didn’t want to let anyone down. But I couldn’t have been more wrong!

Arriving at the event village (for want of a better phrase), there was lot of flags for all of the clubs. Each flag had a tent with people chatting and in various stages of preparation. This was a new sight, differing from the normal mass participation events I’m used to running. There was clearly a feeling of camaraderie. Everyone was here as part of their team, regardless of whether they were quick or slow.

The Recce

Heading off for a little recce of the course with some of the other club members, I didn’t realise they meant literally running a full loop. The course itself is three loops. So, running one loop meant I was running a third of the course before the start. This is more than I’ve ever done as a warm up! Not one to make a fuss I kept my mouth shut and got on with it. After all, I was here with the club to run together.

Back to the tent to make our final preparation. I changed into my trail running shows and pinned on my number. A few light stretches and it was time to walk to the start.

The Race

“Don’t go out too fast!” That was the best piece of advice I got on the start line from Peter, a fellow Gosforth Harrier. And boy am I glad I listened. I’ve done plenty of trail running in the past. But that’s still on defined paths. This was soft, wet grass and muddy (although I’ve been reliably informed other courses are a lot muddier)! It was clear that this was going to sap the energy real quick.

The course features one hill which you run up twice (once on each side) per lap. Despite having never done any specific hill training until recently, I was determined not to walk. It might not have been quick, or pretty, but I managed to jog up it each time. Then of course there was the downhills. They brought some welcome relief to my aching legs, albeit short lived as the bottom came all to quick.

The rest of the course was reasonably flat. Due to the deluge of rain during the week, after lots of runners had been across is quite a few times, it was starting to get very soft and muddy under foot. Sticking to the edge seemed like the best approach and worked for me as I stayed upright!

I can remember Colin’s last words as we headed to the finish saying he expected a sprint finish. Spurred on by Neil cheering me at the last corner, and the rest of the male Harriers at finish shouting my name, I pushed on as best I could. There was definitely no requirement for a photo finish. But I was done.

Standing with the rest of the club at the end I was asked, “how was that?”. All I could muster between gulps or air was “that’s different!”

The Result

My chip time was 54:20 which put me in 539th place out of 572. I’ll take that. Besides it gives me plenty of room for improvement.

The Conclusion

Wrekenton 2023, you were a bit of a bastard. But you were fun. Bring on Druridge Bay.

Tags: Cross Country, Events, Harriers League, NEHL, Run, Running, XC