The one concession that cross country runners must inevitably make to athletes of other disciplines is that this sport, unlike some others, requires little to no decision making. The APSOC runners at Westerfolds Park on Saturday, however, each had to make quite a weighty decision. Five, ten or twenty one kilometres?
For those who decided that they’d arrive first and conquer the least mini of the mini marathons, the 21.1km half marathon, a deceptive course lay ahead. The first eleven kilometres led the runners through a flat path, over boardwalks and past picturesque scenery. The second half of the race, however, dragged athletes up climbs both short and long, around farm gates and past precarious drops to the rushes below. Luke Goodman seemed to brush these distractions to the side as he courageously strode home to take an outright victory in this gruelling event, averaging a time of 4m15s per kilometre.
It was in this second half of the course that the 10km race took place. As well as battling the highs and lows of the track, runners had to deal with the varying pace of the stream of competitors; from the worn out pace of an athlete who has completed 18 kilomtres to the spritely bounds of one who is just finishing the 3rd kilometre. It was in this culminating charge that the likes of Tristan Mioni and the Cornwell family all put in for an inspiring effort. SKAAC runners for all events deserve to be commended.
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