SOG Local Event – Lancing Ring
Lancing Ring is basically a downland chalk hill above the seaside town, with a lot of open grassland and small scrubby pockets of woodland. An old quarry adds a little complication and as the area is now a dog-walkers’ paradise, there are paths everywhere to catch you out. It was very humid and surprisingly warm this morning.
This was the cleanest run I have had for a while. Apart from missing a path between controls two and three (which lost me a minute) and a couple of 30-second errors elsewhere navigation was smooth and confident. I even managed some bursts of speed, especially over the last two controls to the finish, which were in full view of registration and download and across flat lawns around a childrens’ playground.
I felt as if I should have gone much faster, but I was really struggling for the middle third of the course, despite feeling fine before the start. My wife has had a virus, and I suspect I have caught it. I could not get enough breath, my nose and eyes were streaming and I just felt ill. Still, I persevered and came back in 44 minutes – much quicker than recent events – and was 19th – again rather better than recently.
