Kent Cross Country League 2017/18: Sparrows Den

The final fixture of the 2017/18 Kent Cross Country League took place at Sparrows Den, West Wickham. Sparrows Den Playing Fields is simply an area of open grassland which is laid out with sports fields, with rugby being the main sport.

Although the official name of the race is 'Sparrows Den', it is only the race HQ, toilets and the start/finish area that actually uses this area. Technically the race itself is almost entirely (96%) run in the adjacent area of Spring Park. Only the first and last 200 metres are run within the Sparrows Den area.

hoops! [photo: anoushka]

Spring Park consists of open grass areas which are contiguous to the Sparrows Den playing fields and a large wooded area. Car parking for this race is possible in a number of local car parks or on Woodland Way which is the road behind the woods.

The course is made up of the start/finish straight in Sparrows Den and then the description gets a little weird. The official description of the men's race is as as follows; 1 lap of the field, 1 lap of the woods, 1 lap of the field, 1 lap of the woods, 1 lap of the field, 1 lap of the woods, 1 lap of the field, and lastly onto the finish straight and you're done.

course map / parts of the course [photos: 7t]

The majority of the course is largely flat, but there are two hills to climb as you head in a north-west direction through the woods, and although not terribly long, they are quite steep and bloody hard work. My favourite section of the course is the meandering single track path that runs along the southern border of the wooded area.

Despite having some stomach pain (possibly a stitch) during the middle of the race, I had a reasonable run and finished pretty much where I would expect to finish. It's a great cross-country course which is certainly very suitable for cross-country spikes.

I finished in 125th position in an official time of 47.21.

Links:

• Official Results
• The final overall league table for the 2017/18 season
• My GPS Data
• The Relive course fly-by video
• Some video footage of the men's race
• Video footage of the ladies race

Kent Fitness League 2017/18: Blean Woods

The Kent Fitness League fixture at Blean Woods, Rough Common is another great venue, but in the times I have run here I've always had trouble deciding whether to wear trail shoes or cross-country spikes. The problem is that the course features a fairly even split between squelchy mud and hard stony paths. So for the final race of the 2017/18 KFL season, I took both shoe options.

dartford harriers [photo: eden]

Upon arrival in the village of Rough Common, I found a space on a side street to park the car. For the record, the on-street car parking is very tight here, so it's a good idea to arrive early and be prepared to drive up-and-down the streets searching for a space. The race HQ is in the Rough Common Village Hall, and this is also where the toilets are located.

Standing in the hall looking out of the door at the combination of sleet and hail stones, it was clear that this outing was going to be pretty miserable. After chatting to some team mates, I found out that it was also quite windy out on the playing fields where the race starts and finishes. So heading over to the fields in the rain, I was eager to get started.

into the woods [photo: eden]

Back to the shoes conundrum - I had made a decision and went for the spikes. After a quick warm-up it was time to get going. So, after one-and-a-half laps around the sports fields and it was time to dive into the woods themselves. The entry began with a plunge into some fairly nasty mud which released the almighty stench lurking within.

The paths in the woods switch between thick mud and firm, stony paths. So, going back to the shoe choice, I think the best advice I can offer is this; if you really can't stand running on hard paths in spikes then go for your trail shoes. However, if you can deal with being uncomfortable underfoot at times, you will benefit from spikes on the muddier sections.

playing fields heading to the finish [photo: eden]

The paths undulate all the way around, and the ups-and-downs are typically covered over fairly long stretches. I tried to stick to the edges of the hard paths in an attempt to soften the impact, but it wasn't always possible to find enough soft mud to make much difference. With the wooded section complete, the course heads back out onto the sports field and around to the finish.

And with the race complete, the 2017/18 Kent Fitness League cross-country season came to a close. I quickly got changed out of my running gear and into something a little warmer. However, I was frozen to the core, so I discreetly trotted off in the direction of the car.

kfl 2017/18 season complete [thanks to paul for taking the post-race photo of me]

My club, Dartford Harriers, had won the team competition again (Hooops!). For me personally, it marked my second consecutive complete season (all seven races) and my KFL streak reached 15 consecutive races. It turns out that I also ran a course best time, shaving 15 seconds off my previous best from the 2016/17 race.

Official Results: KFL 2017/18 - Blean Woods

Race stats:

• Overall position: 80 / 329
• Gender position:  77 / 228
• Age category position (VM40-44): 10 / 20
• Rating: 66.67

Links:

• KFL 2017/18: Blean Woods GPS data
• Relive course fly-by video
• Official results
• My Kent Fitness League course information page
• My full KFL stats page

Kent Fitness League 2017/18: Nurstead Court

Race six of the 2017/18 Kent Fitness League season took place in the grounds of the Grade I Listed Nurstead Court in Meopham. The grounds here are used by equestrians and features a purpose built cross-country course as well as many other horse related facilities.

dartford harriers

So, in the pre-race briefing we were told that the horses had been out in one of the fields and had churned it up, I noted it but wasn't overly concerned. The horn sounded and we all flew off to test ourselves over one of the best cross-country courses in the league. A real bonus was that the weather had slight spring feel to it, so I didn't have to wear a hat, arm warmers or gloves.

If you've read any of my previous posts (2014/15 and 2016/17) about this venue, you'll have a good idea what this course is like. If you haven't, you'll be pleased to hear that it has a bit of everything; uphills, downhills, mud, a water crossing, tree roots, branches, logs and bales of hay to jump over, forest paths, fields, open grass areas, and even some bomb craters!

kfl

As soon as we headed off along the start/finish straight, it was clear that the course was going to be soft underfoot and by the time I reached the water crossing (800 metres into the course) I was already suffering. This could in-part have been due to not having a proper warm-up - you see, there were five portaloos available and the queue was really long when I arrived. Long story short, my warm-up lasted 2 minutes.

So continuing around the first lap, I leapt over the bales of hay and then flew along the slightly downhill perimeter of the main horse shoe-jumping training field. Then I entered the woods - the twisty path was muddy, tree roots and logs were lurking everywhere. Through another field and then out onto a straight path which was caked in mud - I remember the first time I ran here and really struggling on the path. It was similar this time, but I was wearing spikes so coped ok.

kfl

After a short, sharp incline, I entered the muddiest of all fields. It wasn't just regular mud, it was churned up mud. Each footstep was a struggle and required vast amounts of energy to wade through - it was at this point I realised that my left shoe was a little loose. There was no way I was going to stop to re-tie the shoelace, thankfully it stayed attached to my foot for the rest of the race.

Now into the second wooded section - the fun to be had in here is off-the-scale! The paths twist all over, the terrain goes up and down - it was like a muddy, slightly dangerous, rollercoaster track. At the end of this section, the bomb craters are found - three of them. I was totally knackered already, but I dropped in and powered out of each one in turn. A few more twisty paths and then it was time for the long, uphill, drag towards the end of the lap.

kfl

At the top, I swung around and headed straight back down the hill to start lap 2. Strangely, despite feeling totally exhausted, with my arms seemingly just flapping around not under my control, I did manage to continue to catch and overtake quite a few other participants during the second half of the race. Water splash, hay bales, mud, downhill, uphill, and bomb craters all over again and it was time for the final stretch back along the opening path, and with that done, some serious recovery time was needed.

I picked up 97th finish position, which I was expecting to be a little higher. But that was out of 404 runners in total, so it's still in the top 25% overall. I was a few seconds slower than the previous year, but I think the course conditions were worse this time around, so on balance I think it worked out ok.

There were a few photographers out on the course whose photos I have used here, so I'm very grateful to Dawn Granger, Brian Pitkin, Eden Summers and my wife for getting some fantastic shots of the action.

My results:

• Official time: 38.16
• Overall position: 97 / 404
• Gender position: 91 / 277
• Age group position (VM40-44): 7 / 19
• Rating: 67.51

Links:

• Nurstead Court 2017/18 Official Results Page
• My GPS Data
• The relive course flyby video
• Kent Fitness League Venue Guide

Kent Fitness League 2017/18: Minnis Bay

The fifth fixture of the 2017/18 Kent Fitness League season was Minnis Bay. It is one of those venues that some runners love and others avoid like the plague. The reason lies at around the 7 kilometre point where the course leaves the main path and the runners have to face the six dykes (or ditches).

In true cross-country style the dykes are generally muddy and possibly also full of water - depending on how wet the weather has been dictates how muddy they are. Typically you'll find a few slightly muddy dykes and one or two really muddy ones filled with water which is sometimes above knee height.

photos: dani / eden summers

The January 2018 race attracted a field of 381 runners which was a record attendance for this venue. This was probably aided by the decent weather forecast. My club, Dartford Harriers, won the team competition, but as we have such a strong team, I was not one of the scoring runners. In the three occasions I have now run here it was the first time I haven't scored for the team at this venue.

Anyway, my race was fairly non-eventful. I started close enough to the front to avoid any holdups and was able to run at my chosen pace/effort level almost all the way round. The long outward 4 kilometre stretch parallel to the seafront was slightly splashy and ensured that my feet were soaked through from an early point in the race.

photos: funk dooby / brian pitkin

I find the toughest things about this course are the long, long stretches of running in a straight line. The course is essentially one huge triangle. Underfoot was generally quite uneven with patches of stones every now and then which I tried to avoid as I was wearing my spikes. The turn inland was followed by more running in a straight line, and then more of the same alongside the railway line.

It wasn't long before those dykes were upon us. One of the runners in the group I was in made a move and got a few spaces ahead which reduced his waiting time for each dyke. By the end of this section he had gained about 20 seconds on me. I've noted this tactic for next year.

photos: funk dooby / dawn granger

I had a further hold-up during a short, twisty, single track trail when the runner in front of me took this a little slower than he had been running. This resulted in the runners behind me gaining some ground. I was well and truly knackered towards the end and after running over the four sand dunes didn't have much left for a sprint finish.

The full results were available a few days later and I was pleased to have beaten my previous year's time. It was only 2 seconds faster, but I'll take it! Lastly, there were quite a few great photographers out on the course, so I'd like to say a special thank you to you all for capturing all the great moments in this race.

photos: dawn granger

Official Results Page: KFL Minnis Bay January 2018

My results:
Overall position: 81 / 381
Gender position: 77 / 262
Age category position (VM40-44): 10 / 25
Official time: 43.17
Rating: 70.99

Other links:

• My GPS data on Strava: KFL Minnis Bay January 2018
• Video on youtube: Relive course flyby video
• Venue guide: Kent Fitness League Venue Guide

Kent Fitness League 2017/18: Fowlmead

The fourth race of the 2017/18 Kent Fitness League (my venue info page) was held at Betteshanger Park. The park was formerly called Fowlmead and, for now at least, the cross country race has retained this name. This venue is the furthest drive of the XC season for me, and it took about 1 hour and 20 minutes to travel there from Dartford.

In fact I almost didn't make it to the race at all - The day before I had an unexplained sharp pain on the inside of my left shin and thought I would have to sit this one out. Fortunately it wasn't too bad on the day and I made the last minute decision to go ahead.

The race is run on a two-and-a-bit lap clockwise course around the country park. Underfoot is mostly hard surfaces, but can be quite uneven at times. I can't imagine there would ever be any need to wear spikes on this course, but trail shoes are quite handy.

dartford harriers [photos: eden / dani]

Every time I have run this race the course has been slightly different. In previous years I remember running a short off-road section that begins with quite a steep, uneven downhill. This section was missing from the course - I'm not entirely sure why, but I would imagine that it was for safety reasons.

The big story from this year's race was the wind. The forecast predicted 45mph winds and I can confirm that it was spot on. It was blowing from the East which meant that there was a headwind along the straight at the end of each lap and it was pretty brutal.

I found that I felt ok on the first lap, but that headwind at the end of lap 1 knocked the steam out of me and I really struggled on lap 2 resulting in a positive split of almost a minute. But that was fine because cross-country can quite often work out like that. On lap two I would have preferred to have been chasing and overtaking, but instead I was the one being overtaken.

dartford harriers [photos: funkdooby]

In the end the wind took its toll and gave me an earache as I reached the final kilometre. Then it was a case of pushing into the 45mph gusts all the way to the finish line. Totally shattered, I wandered over to the cafe to get out of the wind. Yes, I was cold, but it was the earache that most bothered me. Once out of the wind it eased off and I felt fine.

Upon crossing the finish line I had been handed finishing position token 68, which was my highest finishing position of the season so far. The full results were processed and available online a few days later.

Official Results: KFL Fowlmead January 2018

My race stats:
Overall position: 68 / 341
Gender position: 65 / 230
Official time: 34:57
Rating: 72.17

Data etc:
My GPS course data: KFL Fowlmead January 2018
My Relive course fly-by video: KFL Fowlmead January 2018

Additional link: My Kent Fitness League venue information page

Kent Fitness League 2017/18: Oxleas Wood

The third race of the 2017-18 season was run at Oxleas Wood, which is the wooded area you can see to the side of Shooters Hill. This race marked my third outing at this venue over the last four seasons. The first two races of the season had been so-so...

The season opener at Knole Park was ruined by a pain in my stomach. Then at the second race in Swanley I got caught in congestion early on and found myself quite far adrift of where I would have liked to be.

I came into the Oxleas Wood race with more of an aggressive mindset - the previous year I had started too slowly and got caught in congestion during the early part of the wooded section. I wanted to avoid that this time around, and so did the race organisers - Plumstead Runners. So this year the beginning of the course was lengthened in order to thin the runners out before entering the woods.

oxleas wood (oxleas meadows) [photos: 7t]

The race start time was set for 11am, however a couple of minutes beforehand it was announced that there would be a 10 minute delay. The weather was pretty cold (it always is here) and there had been an early morning frost, so to keep warm I started a second warm-up session of light jogging until we had our two-minute warning.

As I mentioned, the course had changed a little this year. So the beginning was a little different and involved a large loop around a line of trees and bushes adding a couple of hundred extra metres to the course. I'm not entirely sure if it helped further down the field but I can confirm that I entered the woods and didn't have to deal with any congestion. My start had been more aggressive than before, but to be honest, I was never going to go too crazy early on.

My race featured a bit of overtaking and a bit of being overtaken. I struggled on some of the inclines but I fared better on the flatter sections. I rolled my left ankle but I appear to have gotten away without doing any damage. I wore my spikes for this race because I found them really beneficial the year before. However, the ground was much dryer this time around and I reckon trail shoes would've done the job nicely.

oxleas wood [photos: eden summers]

After 38 minutes and 14 seconds, I crossed the finish line, weaved through the funnel and collected my finishing disc, which I was surprised to see was number 80. Bear in mind that I had finished in 146th and 135th in the first two races, so to be well within the top 100 was a bit of a shock. Not only that, but I had run a new course best despite it actually being a few hundred metres longer. To be fair, the course was the driest I have ever seen it, so was a lot faster than it usually is.

Official Results Page: KFL Oxleas Wood Results 2017
Overall position: 80 / 460
Gender position: 78 / 324
Official time: 38.14

My GPS Data: KFL Oxleas Wood 2017
Video: Relive course flyby video

Kent Cross Country League

The Kent County Athletics Association's series of cross country races are known as the Kent Cross Country League, or KXCL. They take place during the winter and consist of four races for each age/gender category spread over five different venues. Unlike the Kent Fitness League (which is non-elite), these races are open to, and attract, the very best runners in the county.

Each category features a slightly different distance which ranges from 2.5 kilometres for the youngest through to approx 5km for the senior women and 10km for the senior mens race. The races are held at different time slots throughout the early afternoon, usually starting with the youngest and working through to the senior mens race. The latest full information for distances and times for each age group can be found on the official website.

The information here centres around the senior/vet mens race as this is the series/league that I am taking part in.

Stanhill Farm, Wilmington (Hosted by Dartford Harriers)

• Course summary: 4 laps run on farmer's tracks around fields - The first lap is shorter than the rest.
• GPS data: Stanhill Farm 2017
• Video: Relive course fly-by video
• Parking / toilets / refreshments: Onsite parking for £1 (some side roads within 1km as an alternative). About half-a-dozen portaloos. There was a truck selling chips and burgers.
• Blogs: Stanhill Farm 2017

Somerhill School, Tonbridge (Hosted by Tonbridge AC)

• Course summary: 2 laps around the picturesque grounds of Somerhill School - lap 1 is shorter than laps 2 and 3.
• GPS data: Somerhill 2017
• Video: Relive course fly-by video
• Parking / toilets / refreshments: Onsite parking within the private grounds (no charge). About half-a-dozen portaloos. No refreshments available from what I saw.
• Blogs: Somerhill 2017

Footscray Meadows, Bexley (Hosted by Cambridge Harriers AC)

• Course summary: 3 laps around Foots Cray Meadows - Lap one is shorter than laps 2 and 3.
• GPS data: Footscray Meadows 2017
• Video: Relive course fly-by video
• Parking / toilets / refreshments: Parking in a private business park car park about 1km walk from the start area. No refreshments available from what I saw. There were apparently some toilets (possibly portaloos) close to the race HQ, but I couldn't find them.
• Blogs: Footscray Meadows 2017

Danson Park, Bexleyheath (Hosted by Bexley AC)

• Course summary: No senior mens race at this venue - Not attended.
• GPS data: none
• Blogs: none

Sparrows Den, West Wickham, Bromley (Hosted by Blackheath and Bromley Harriers AC)

• Course summary: 3 full laps + 1 extra lap of the sports field (see blog for official description).
• GPS data: Sparrows Den 2018
• Video: Relive course flyby video
• Parking / toilets / refreshments: Plenty of local car parks and on-street parking on Woodland Way. Portaloos available at the venue. No refreshments available from what I saw.
• Blogs: Sparrows Den 2018

Kent Cross Country League 2017/18: Foots Cray Meadows

Foots Cray Meadows is located on the banks of the river cray and consists of parkland and woodland. Formerly part of the grounds of Footscray Place, a country house built in 1754, it is now a Local Nature Reserve and a Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation. The house itself was demolished in 1950 following a fire a year earlier.

This was the venue for the third race of the Kent Cross Country League of the 2017-18 season. This was the first race of the season so far where I was sure that cross-country spikes would be the best option and as the race progressed I was pleased to have chosen them.

The course here is generally quite flat, but there are a few long, gentle inclines to deal with. The 10k course is made up of three laps with the first being shorter than laps two and three. Underfoot was fairly soft as we had experienced a bit of rain in the lead up to the race.

As for my race, I started quite far back in the pack, but due to the quality of the field at this series of races, I didn't really lose any time in the early congestion. The race panned out pretty well and I found that I was generally picking my way through the field.

Although the paths are generally a decent width, there are some sections where the course goes down to a single track path with long grass meadows on either side, so overtaking can be difficult at times. Strangely, the most difficult part of the course was quite a flat section which seemed to have a head wind and longer, clumpy grass to negotiate.

I finished in a higher position than I had in the first two races so it was nice to feel like I was improving as the season progressed.

Links:

• Official Results
• My GPS Data
• Relive Course Flyby Video

Kent Cross Country League 2017/18: Somerhill School

The Somerhill Schools are based at Somerhill House in Tonbridge, Kent. The house is a Grade I listed Jacobean Mansion, and was built between 1611-1613. It sits atop the highest point of the 150 acres of stunning parkland.

somerhill

This venue was used for race 2 of the 2017-18 season. The weather had been fairly dry and underfoot was a mixture of grass, very dry dirt and some slightly softer sections - a lot of people wore spikes but I found trail shoes were fine.

The course used this season was, I think, slightly different to previous years and featured 3 laps. The first was slightly shorter than the second and third and made the total distance run up to 10km. The profile of the course can be described as hilly with a combination of long shallow inclines and some short, sharper ones.

the grounds / race shot (thanks to prem)

The course itself feels like quite a permanent fixture of the grounds and I have seen that Somerhill hosts quite a lot of different cross-country events. It's a really enjoyable (assuming punishing yourself in this way can be described as enjoyable) course to run.

My race was reasonable and I finished ten places higher than I had in the season opener. I was still way down the field as expected, but then again I'm only running about 20km per week in training so it's not too bad considering that.

another race shot (thanks again to prem) / a short sharp incline on the course

Links:

• Official Results
• My GPS Data
• Relive Course Flyby Video

Kent Cross Country League 2017/18: Stanhill Farm

The first fixture of the Kent Cross Country League (KXCL) 2017 was at Stanhill Farm, Wilmington and hosted by my running club, Dartford Harriers. The farm covers an area of 150 acres and by cross country standards is almost completely flat.

The venue has an area set aside for parking near the main entrance and a charge of £1 was levied. If the car park fills up, there are some side streets within a kilometre of the venue which could be used as an alternative.

The team areas were all set up next to the car park and some portaloos had also been installed for the purpose of the event. I was issued with my number bib and this was to be re-used for each of the four races in the series.

After watching some of the youngsters running in their events, it was time for the senior and veteran races to begin. The women were first, but I didn't see much of this race as I was largely doing my final preparations (visit the toilet, warm up, etc..) for my race.

Underfoot the ground was very dry and firm so I decided to run in my trail shoes - not everybody did the same - some wore spikes while others opted for standard road shoes. If it has been softer underfoot I would gone for spikes, but overall I think trail shoes were the right choice.

Anyway, the mens race started at 14:45 and after a quick team photo, I mingled into the middle of the pack to await the starter's gun. From where I was positioned the start was not quite as swift as I would have expected and I found myself locked into a slower-than-desired starting pace.

The course is run on the farmer's tracks around the edge of the fields and there is a slight uphill slope from the start area towards the back end of the course. Almost all of the corners are 90 degree turns. The men's race covers a total distance of 9.8km and involves completing four laps with first being shorter than the second, third and fourth.

So with my slowish start, I found myself largely catching and overtaking people as I progressed through the race. With the four laps done, the course breaks off from the main loop for a 250 metre dash to the finish line.

As for performance, this league attracts the top county runners so I knew I would be finishing down in the second half of the field, and that's exactly where I was. The official results were available shortly after the race and I had finished in position 179 out of 294 in an official time of 42:21.

In the post-race discussions the general feeling was that I was far too gentlemanly at the start and should have got as close to the front as possible in order to avoid losing the time and positions in the crowd at the beginning.


Links:
Results: Official KXCL results page (senior mens race)
GPS data: KXCL Stanhill Farm 2017
Video: Stanhill Farm relive course fly-by
Video: KXCL Stanhill Farm 2017 posted by Mark Hookway

Kent Fitness League 2017/18: Swanley Park

Following my disastrous start to the 2017-18 Kent Fitness League season, I headed over to Swanley Park to take part in the second race of the series, hoping that I'd have a better race without a repeat of the stomach issues that ruined the season opener at Knole Park.

I started the race on tired legs that had already run a parkrun and raced the Foots Cray Meadows Kent Cross Country League race the day before. The course at Swanley was the same as it was the season before, you can read about it here, so I won't go into great detail about it.

A year beforehand, I had got a brilliant start and completed the course without encountering any hold-ups. This time around, I found myself pinned into the middle of the pack at the start and encountered a great deal of congestion throughout the first few kilometres.

This was topped off by coming to a dead stand still as the pack filtered through a narrow pinch point just over a mile into the race. This poor start meant that I was already way off where I would have expected to be (probably 40 seconds adrift after the first two kilometres).

The rest of the race consisted mostly of reeling people in and overtaking them (which was fun), but no matter how hard I pushed there was no way for me to regain the ground I had lost early on. I finally crossed the line in 136th position in a time of 38.22, which was 59 seconds slower than a year earlier.

A change I did make for this race was that I wore my trail shoes instead of my spikes, which I had regretted wearing during 2016's race. Swanley Park had not suffered much with the recent rain and the grass/dirt areas were generally pretty firm. I was much happier in my trail shoes, so was happy with that decision.

My Results:

• Position: 136 out of 566
• Gender position: 126 out of 379
• Time: 38.22

Links:

• KFL Swanley Park 2017 Official Results
• KFL Swanley Park 2017 GPS data
• KFL Swanley Park 2017 course fly-by video
• KFL Swanley Park 2016 blog post
• KFL Venue Guide

Kent Fitness League 2017/18: Knole Park

The 2017/18 Kent Fitness League cross-country season got underway at the stunning Knole Park in Sevenoaks. For details on car parking, toilets and an in-depth course description please have a look at my main Kent Fitness League information page or my blog post from 2016's race.

The run up to the race had been pretty good, topped off with a sub-20 5k at Southwark parkrun just two weeks before the race - this meant I was in roughly the same shape (if not slightly faster) as I was a year earlier. 2017's event saw slightly fewer participants than the record-breaking 2016 event, but there was still a very high turnout of 493 participants.

At the starter's orders we all shot off on our first KFL outing of the year. I had already had a decent warm-up and flowed with the pack as we negotiated the early part of the course. By the time I was nearing the top of the long, gradual incline I could feel my stomach starting to tighten. I held my pace and focussed on my breathing in the hope that I could bring it under control.

It seemed ok until I hit the short, sharp downhill section at the far end of the course. At this point the feeling in my stomach changed to a stitch or possibly a stomach cramp on my left hand side, and it was the worst running pain I've ever had. My pace slowed and runners from behind started to stream past. I shuffled on, maintaining a pace, but it was not much more than what I would run during an easy run.

All the way through the second lap, runners continued to catch and pass me, and there was nothing I could do. The pain was too intense. Then, with about a mile left in the race, another pain which felt more like a traditional stitch appeared on the right hand side. I had no choice but to stop and walk - I strategically picked the incline into the woods to do this so as to lose less time than on the flat.

At the top of the incline I shuffled back into a run and before I knew it, I had completed the last kilometre and crossed finish line. I was handed finish token number 146, which is my worst ever KFL finishing position.

After looking forward to this race for so long, it was a huge disappointment that it panned out how it did. However, I mustn't linger on it and I suppose I should be happy that I finished only about two-and-a-half-minutes slower than in 2016 despite the horrendous race I'd just had.

Links:

• Official results
• My GPS data
• The relive fly-by video of the course

Kent Fitness League 2016-17: Fowlmead

The seventh and final fixture of the 2016-17 Kent Fitness League cross-country season was held on Sunday 19 February 2017 at Betteshanger Park, in Sholden, Deal. Up until last summer, the venue was called 'Fowlmead Country Park' hence the name of this cross-country race.

Out of all of the KFL race venues, this one is probably the least traditional 'cross country' course of them all. Most of the paths are compact dirt or gravel and there's only the slightest hint of mud at a few key points around the course. With that in mind, the best shoes to wear for this course are trail shoes - it's not even worth considering spikes.

dartford harriers 2016-17 kfl champions [photo: eden]

The venue has a decent sized car park - there has been a slight change in the payment system since the last time I ran here. The pay at the barrier system has been removed and there is now an automatic number place recognition system in place. Parking payments are made at one of the machines before leaving - current fees are £2 for up to 3 hours and £3 for over 3 hours. Once the payment is made, you have around 25 minutes to vacate.

Moving onto the race. The course here is run over two clockwise laps of the park with an extended finish straight at the end. As I mentioned earlier, the paths are generally pretty firm underfoot and trail shoes are the way to go where footwear is concerned. There are a couple of inclines to negotiate, but they are fairly short and not too steep. My favourite part of the course is the short section of single track which starts with a steep, rocky downhill and is followed by some fun, twisty bits.

[photos: eden / funkdooby]

As for my race, I started slowly and gradually worked my way through the field until I found myself behind two of my team mates. I've been finishing slightly behind them all season, so I knew that I was in the right place. The pace felt good and just before the end of the first lap, I decided to push a bit harder and try to move through the field a little more.

The move was successful and I found that I was catching and overtaking people throughout the second lap. By the time I reached the last kilometre, I was red-lining, but I was still catching and passing people and was pleased with the way I had executed my race plan. Although this is probably my least favourite of the KFL courses, it does seem to suit me best.

[photos: funkdooby / eden / esther]

I finished the race in 46th position which was my highest finish this season, so I was pretty pleased to end the season on a high. My club, Dartford Harriers won the combined team competition which completed a straight run of victories for all seven matches this season. Plus, after a tense wait for the official results to be published, it was confirmed that the Dartford Harriers women's team had won the women's competition.

I used Strava to record the GPS data of the route, so if you would like to see the course in detail please take a look here - KFL Fowlmead. The course had a tiny variation to the one that was used when I first ran here in 2014, but apart from the it was the same. For the record, I completed all seven of this season's races so it's nice to have a complete season under my belt at last. It was thoroughly enjoyable and I'm hoping to do the same next season (and hopefully improve my results).

If you would like some more information about the other venues please have a look at my Kent Fitness League information page.

Vigo Valentines 10ish Mile Challenge 2017

I'm pretty sure that the Vigo Runners' Valentine's 10ish Mile Challenge, branded 'tough love' this year, only exists to give the masochistic runners of Kent something to do in the middle of February. I first sampled the delights of this race in 2014 - it was ridiculously hard and left me in pieces (for the record, this course takes around 15-30 minutes longer to complete than a regular, flat 10 mile road race). A few years passed and by the time of the 2017 race, the memories of the terrors that lurked within this stunning area of Kent had faded and I quite fancied giving it another go.

I had added the event into my calendar quite a few months before that date of the race, but hadn't actually submitted an entry. Had I done so in advance, I would have paid the £17 affiliated runner entry fee (unaffiliated runners paid £19 in advance). My long-term knee injury had been playing up so I didn't want to pay the money and then have a DNS. In the end it was feeling ok, so I drove down to Vigo Rugby Club with my wife and daughter and entered on-the-day. This cost me £25 which felt a little on the expensive side for a small, local race.

The race started at 10.30am sharp, and three-quarters of a lap of the Vigo Rugby Club playing fields later the course headed off into the woods and the runners could really get stuck into the delights of this brutal, but awesome course. Something that I noticed early-on was that the course this year was slightly different to the version I ran three years earlier - a subject that I'll cover in more detail as we go on.

The course is run mostly on trail paths and through fields (mostly full of mud), but there are a few sections that use roads and other hard paths, which means that the perfect shoes for this are trail shoes. The first few kilometres were a little congested on the narrow forest paths, but somewhere around the two kilometre point, I had settled into a decent pace and was pleased to have found a friendly group to run with.

We continued at a strong but comfortable pace, enjoying and grimacing as we encountered the various ups and downs the course throws at you. Just before the 7 kilometre point, I noticed we had turned onto a road I did not remember from 2014 - it was all uphill. Footstep after footstep we all plodded on. The hill went on and on for a full kilometre and according to my GPS data, the gradient ranged from around 10% through to 27%. I even had to slow down and walk just before the summit.

Turning back onto a trail path, we were immediately sent right back downhill. The trail path here was extremely uneven - I flew down the path and past the half-way point, completely out of control. To be honest, I still have no idea how I managed to stay upright. I tried to slow down, but I just couldn't - this continued for a full kilometre until I finally reached the bottom.

At this point we joined the Pilgrims' Way, which is an ancient footpath that runs between Winchester and the Shrine of Thomas Becket, in Canterbury. Our little group had started to fragment and I headed off on the tail of another runner. The section of the Pilgrim's Way that was used during the race is five kilometres in length and undulates continuously the whole way. Thirteen-and-a-bit kilometres into the race, the course left the Pilgrims' Way, and this marked the beginning of the end of the race.

The headline feature of the race is the almost vertical climb which awaits the runners at the 15.8 kilometre point. However, the detail that seems to get overlooked is that the incline actually starts over a kilometre earlier at the 14.5 kilometre point, so by the time the runners finally reach the bottom of Mount Vigo, they are already broken - or at least I was.

According to a Strava segment, in 2014, I managed to walk and crawl my way to the top in 2 minutes and 33 seconds, but this time around, the grass seemed to be more slippery and I just could get any traction. So again, I walked, crawled and even stumbled my way to the top, but it took me almost a full minute longer to complete the climb. It was nice to see my wife and daughter waiting for me at the top and they took a few photos of me suffering. As soon as I passed them, I had to negotiate the steps that go into the woods - I was truly broken at this point and was questioning whether I would actually be able to start running again.

I managed to get my legs moving, but could only run at a relatively slow pace. A few other runners caught and passed me, and I just had nothing left to even consider trying to take back the positions. The final section was a little different to the 2014 course. Instead of going out onto the main road, the course went back through the woods, which was much more pleasant than the roads the course used in 2014.

A few minutes later, the rugby fields appeared and the finish line was soon in sight. The race director was on the microphone and was introducing the runners to the crowd as they came stumbling over the line.

I had my timing chip removed, a medal placed over my head and a goody bag thrust upon me and before I knew it, I was rummaging through the bag looking for something to eat. I also grabbed some water and a banana from a table next to the finish line. I was totally exhausted and started to sense that I needed to get out of the cold, so I went into the Rugby Club clubhouse and collapsed into a chair. I chatted to a few of the runners that I had run with throughout the race and we were all in agreement that it was a fantastic experience.

I finished the race in 1.26.15 which was almost 2 minutes slower than my previous outing here. However, the revised course was longer and tougher (343m of elevation vs 315m back in 2014). My GPS recorded the new course as 300 metres longer than the old one (it came out as 17.1km / 10.6 miles in total), so on balance it looks like this was actually a better performance than 2014, and that is quite encouraging going forward. I finished in 18th position (16th male) out of a field of 147. The full results were published online and can be found here - Vigo Valentine 10ish Mile Race.

Kent Fitness League 2016/17: Nurstead Court

Fixture 5 of the 2016-17 Kent Fitness League season took place at Nurstead Court, Meopham. This was the second time I had run at this venue, the first being 2 years earlier during the 2014-15 season. This venue is regarded as ‘proper’ cross country and features pretty much everything you could ask for in a cross-country race. It is held in the grounds of Nurstead Court, which is a grade 1 listed medieval building dating back to 1320 with a Victorian façade that was added in 1825.

On race day, one of the open grass fields just off of Nash Street is put aside for car parking and there is ample space available. After a walk along a muddy, splashy path, the race HQ is found in a marquee which is pitched directly in front of the house and some portaloos are usually found just behind it. There is no other changing space available so bear that in mind when you arrive.

[photo: eden summers]

I find this course to be quite a tough mix of all of the various elements of cross-country racing. This is the only course in the entire KFL series which is 100% off-road, so I'd recommend sticking your cross-country spikes on for this one. The start of this 2-lap-course is outside the house, which is at the highest point of the course. After a hundred metres or so, the runners head downhill on a fairly wide grassy section which gets steeper towards the bottom.

At the bottom, the course heads straight back uphill for a short stretch and crosses into an adjacent field. The notable thing here is the very heavy camber which you could find yourself running on – I found it quite uncomfortable in places, but if you get your positioning right, you can find a nice flat groove to run along.

[photo: dawn granger]

Turning for another short climb, the course weaves around and drops back down to the lowest point where the headline course feature is to be found – this is of course, the water splash. It’s always cold and it’s always splashy, but you will find a lot of support here because what could be more fun for the spectators than watching a bunch of grown adults grimacing as they splash their way through a huge, freezing cold, knee-deep puddle. Plus if they’re really lucky they might even get to see a few people fall in.

After this, it’s time for another climb and this one can be quite exhausting with freezing cold feet to deal with at the same time. At the top another course feature can be found – the hay jump. Quite simply a couple of bales of hay across the path which require a little jump to negotiate. With that out of the way, there is some relief as the course heads downhill for a while.

[photo: dawn granger]

Once at the bottom, the runners swing to the right, through some trees and again sent back uphill along the edge of an open field. A brief section through some more trees brings them out on a very muddy, energy sapping, footpath – this must be a couple of hundred metres in length and finishes with a tight left-hander and a short, sharp incline.

Another, shorter section across a field and the runners head into the woods where the path twists and turns. There are all sorts of hazards to look out for such as log jumps, tree roots and low hanging branches. While the kilometre-or-so section in the woods undulates, there is a very nice stretch early-on that is ever-so-slightly downhill and I found this part felt amazing to run along (flying along, twisting, turning, hurdling, and ducking). More course features are found deeper in the woods – the bomb craters: If I remember rightly, there are four of them and all involve a very steep downwards entry followed by an equally steep exit.

[photo: dawn granger]

At the end of the section in the woods, there is another field to circumnavigate. This is followed by a tough incline to negotiate along the footpath which runs adjacent to the long downhill section from the very beginning. Once this section has completely broken you, you’ll have the pleasure of repeating the whole lap one more time before heading back along the flat start straight, and into the finish funnel.

I found the course really tough. I’d probably even go so far as saying that it was brutal and it hurt like hell. It undulates the whole way round, so whenever things start to feel good you know that another uphill section is surely right around the corner. While I was two-and-a-half minutes slower around the course than I was last time, it looks like I managed to pace myself better (there were only 30 seconds difference between my two lap times this year, whereas last time there was a full minute).

[photo: studio gecko]

My club, Dartford Harriers won the combined team competition and that makes it 5/5 wins so far this season. The full results were published the day after the race and I finished in 73rd position overall out of 356 competitors (65th male out of 246). My official time was recorded as 37.42.

Full results: KFL 2016/17 – Match 5: Nurstead Court
GPS data: KFL Nurstead Court

Kent Fitness League 2016/17: Minnis Bay

The fourth match of the 2016/17 Kent Fitness League cross country season took place at Minnis Bay, which is in Birchington on the north coast of Kent. I first ran this race in 2015, so if you want to know a bit of history and have a more detailed course description please have a look at my Minnis Bay 2015 blog post.

dartford harriers [photos: becca / 7t]

At my only previous race here, I did pretty well - finishing in 36th position in a time of 42.16. I suspected that I wouldn't be able to match that performance from 2015, but I made a note of that finish time so I could compare at the end of the race.

The race started fairly well for me, with no holdups. The very splashy opening four kilometres from 2015 were almost bone dry due to the lack of rain this winter, so I was pretty happy to be running a cross country race with dry feet for a change. One thing I had forgotten was how monotonous this course is. There's a lot of running-in-a-straight-line to do and there's nothing more than open scrubland to look at.

during the first few kilometres [photos: funk dooby / becca / 7t]

I suffered from a stitch a few kilometres in and it made it difficult for me to sustain my pace, so I had to relinquish a few positions during the 3rd and 4th kilometres as my pace slowed. By the start of the second half of the race, it had subsided enough for me to push a little harder, so I did and I was slowly gaining on the group of runners in front of me.

Minnis Bay's 'course features' - the water dykes (or ditches) were coming up and I left the main path to negotiate them. The first two were bone dry, but the third one was full of very sticky mud. At this point I was side-by-side with one of my team mates and he got through without any trouble...

gettin' dirty pt.1 [photos: funk dooby]

However, when I stepped in, my foot kept going down deeper and deeper into the abyss. It was soon joined by the other foot and I had to claw my way out of it while it clung onto my lactate-filled, achy legs. Fortunately my shoes managed to stay attached to my feet.

The next few ditches were also muddy, but I got through with creating any more incidents. After the drama in the ditches, my rhythm had been broken and I found it really hard to get going again. A few runners caught up with me, but I just couldn't switch my legs back on, and so inevitably they passed me.

gettin' dirty pt.2 [photos: funk dooby]

Inside the last kilometre, the legs felt like they had partially woken up, but a large amount of the end of the race is run on single-file paths. The places where I felt strong enough to pass, I just couldn't squeeze through and by the time the course opened up, it was for the final 100 metre finish.

I'm not a great sprint finisher so I just pushed a little harder, but didn't break into an all-out sprint. I crossed the line and worked my way around to the end of the funnel where I was issued with raffle ticket number 75.

the last part of the race [photos: esther / eden]

This is the highest finishing position I have had this season, so I was pretty pleased to be within the top 100 again. My time was around a minute slower than my 2015 time, and while disappointed to not be a little closer, I wasn't surprised.

Something that did surprise me was that when I looked at the official results, it turns out that I actually scored for my club, which is something I was not expecting and it hadn't even crossed my mind. It looks like some of the good Harriers runners were either injured or hadn't turned up. Had I realised this beforehand, I might have been a little more aggressive in the closing stages of the race.

minnis all done for another year.. [photos: adam / 7t]

Last time at Minnis Bay, I didn't take any technology out on the course with me. However, this time around I wanted to gather the course data, so I ran with my phone in its case on my arm. I fortunately managed to keep it out of the mud and I now have the course GPS data to share with you all - Kent Fitness League: Minnis Bay 2017.

My club, Dartford Harriers won the combined (male and female) team competition despite coming second in both of the individual male and female competitions. This makes it four straight wins out of four races this season - the other three so far have been Knole Park, Swanley Park and Oxleas Wood. The remaining fixtures of the season are Nurstead Court, Blean Woods and Fowlmead.