SOG Local Event – Southwater Country Park
It was a clear and sunny morning, but so cold: down to minus 3 C overnight and only a couple of degrees above freezing when we started, which at least meant that the mud was frozen! Southwater Country Park (south of Horsham) is an abandoned clay pit which used to be part of a major brick works, so with some rain (and we have had a lot recently) the steep sides and all the earth paths become “slip clay” – almost impossible to stand on, let alone run. The history also means that the park has an obvious shape – flat in the bottom with lakes, and very steep sides, covered with thorny scrub.
I had a good run: the best for ages. I know this area very well, having planned here, and so it was just a matter of going as fast as I could. I had a couple of problems. On the way to control 5 I chose a great route which involved getting over a fence, then across a narrow marsh. The marsh turned out to be completely underwater and impassible so after a few attempts to get over, I had to climb back over the fence and run round a long way. There were also a couple of points where the park authorities had completely closed off areas which ruined what should have been clean routes. Still, I was round in 48 minutes, for 15th place and I was pleased. I did “fade” in the second half: I had more than half the race done in 15 minutes but could not sustain that (for me) breakneck speed. The cold helped – I wanted to go faster to keep warm.
I enjoyed a coffee and some cake in the park’s café afterwards – a thoroughly enjoyable morning.