World Cross race report

World Cross Country Race Report, Poland 2010

The weather and conditions on race day where not too bad, probably about 10 degrees, a slight cold wind but once we did a warm up and everything it was fine. If you where standing around watching the race, you would have needed a fair few layers though I guess.
I warmed up with the Aussie and NZ team, repping the Down Under ANZAC spirit!!! and tried to just take it like a normal warm up, so basically just giving shit to each other, mainly Shauny!! That kept us all relaxed as we knew what was about to go down when that gun went. I was a bit nervous, but not cause I was worried how I would go, I knew I was fit and that the body was strong, but knowing that it was going to be tough from the gun, with no let up until the finish line.
The plan was always to go out hard, as there was about 150m until the course narrowed right down and then hit a mud patch of about 30 metres, I knew I had to be in a decent spot so I didn’t get thrown out the back, pushed off balance or hit the mud and stop. The tips I had been given by others that had raced World Cross before and from the memories of the junior race in Dublin of few years back, I knew the start pace needed to be real quick!
I was on the front row of our little fenced off section and had Collis on one side of me and Mo Farah from Great Britain on the other. Each country had to try and jam all their runners into a small little start box with two across. We had a middle box, so knew we were going to be flooded with Africans when the course narrowed down. The elbows where up and sharpened and off we went.
Collis and I went off hard, probably doing a 29sec spilt for the first 200m, and he was up in about 20th spot when we hit the mud, I was only about 5 metres back, but about 15 spots difference as I was in an African stampede. I had to keep the eyes down to negotiate the mud section and when I looked up there was only about 4 other white boys around me, so I knew I had nailed the start!
I tried to just stick with Collis for the first lap and kept him just a couple of metres in front as we rolled the first lap in a lazy 5.40 (2.50/km). This was as I was being knocked around by people that were flooding past me or I was getting around, and I hoped that we would settle down after the first lap. I tried but the rest of them didn’t.
So hitting the muddiest section for the second time I tried to just focus on picking my line and staying upright to start with. The rest of the lap I think I finally caught my breath and tried to find a rhythm as I rolled most of the next lap alongside Collis. I never could really relax and just get rolling as I was either jumping a log hurdle, dealing with all the turns (it had about the same twists as that old Yarra Bend Relays loop), or getting through the mud. Along with that I had people going by me, others bonking and people on the sidelines going mental!
By lap 3, halfway Liam had gotten past me, and I tried to pick up and go with him, but he was moving across the ground pretty well. I had settled into about 60th place and tried not to lose too many spots over the next two laps. I managed to do this, and just as I managed to move up a placing, some other guy would get past me, so the progress was slow. I knew that if I just got through the next couple of laps, I might be able to use my marathon based training to grind out the last 4 km and take some scalps to get me closer to the top 50.
I got around to the start of lap 5 and hit a bit of a rough patch, as I felt a bit of a stomach cramp building up, that meant the breathing became a bit shallow and as a result I lost a bit of my momentum and some placings in that lap. I reckon it came on from all the focusing and never being able to settle so I was working harder than I should have. Not sure but a bit frustrating. So finally lap 6 was starting and I was pretty much dead by now, it was hang on or hang it out for the rest of the race. So I tried to block out the sore gut and just closed my eyes for a while and tried to draw on anything I had left. At this stage I was in about 75th according to Tim O who was calling out our placings and I was pissed of that I had let myself slip in the previous lap. Once I got through the mud, there was about a mile to go and I just started to kick. Every time I felt myself slowing I would kick again and try to get more pace out of the legs. I started to pick a few off and there were a few patches of guys ahead that I could try to take out. I was pretty much out of kicks with about 500m to go, but I heard the Swiss Distance coach (Fritz) yelling `Hop Hop`` to his Swiss guy who was coming at me. There was no way I was gonna get nipped at the finish by the only Swiss runner in the whole meet, so I dug in one more time and sprinted my arse off. I rounded the final corner and had about 100m to go, I knew this Swiss bloke was on my hammer and there were two more spots I could snag so I held my kick, with legs going all over the place to get me to the line in a final time of about 35min and 30sec.
I was spent at the end and had to hang onto a fence to hold me up before I could move my legs again. I was probably there for about 2 minutes before I could muster up the energy to move and then the legs felt like I was a baby giraffe walking for the first time. I had 15mm spikes in so had to lift my legs, and even this was an effort and was tripping over myself to get back to the Aussie tent.

So I think looking back now at the race, it was quite a battle out there. I was never really comfortable at all, so that must mean I was always pushing and on my limit, which is what I wanted. When I finished the tank was completely empty so at least I know I left nothing out on the course. I had a personal goal to run top 50, and I know that I was capable of that if I got it all right on the day of the race. I am a decent cross country runner and have been doing it since I was 10 years old, so know the feeling of running over the uneven ground. The sessions we did out at Hawthorn gave me the confidence that I could run all day at 3min per km and that would have given me about 60th place I think. The field was so, so deep and the course was my first experience I have had of European type cross country courses. This made the race even more of a challenge but at least I have experienced a World Cross now and I will be ready next time to move up 20 or so places AT LEAST!! It will help me once I am fully recovered with London I am sure, because the road will be flat and I can get into a rhythm and roll.
So now time to recover, absorb it and get ready to drop a bomb in the streets of London. I am ready for it!!!! Bring it on.