Open
(6.29k)
47:57, 7.6mpk
25th/82 finishers.
It was great to finally run in the Oxford City Race, years after it was originally conceived. It was a novelty to be sprinting down the middle of the streets and past historic buildings. I even deliberately went through The Turf pub – because I could! I defintely had a home advantage, useful on the long legs as you could pinpoint the control and then fold the map away and sprint. Despite this though, I made quite a few mistakes and poor route choice decisions. For the Men’s Open, the planner was trying to catch us out as often as possible, and succeeded in quite a few places.
Incidentally the shortest possible legal distance for the course was 9.4km, making my pace around 5mins/km, a bit more respectible for what was a sprint, albeit a long one.
2 replies on “Oxford City Race, 4 November”
[…] 10. Hindleap Warren (enjoyable.) 9. South Ashdown Forest (satisfying battle against the weather.) 8. Hatfield Forest (a breakthrough race for me.) 7. Ilkley Moor – JK Day 1 (moorland but intricate.) 6. Druskininkai – JWOC Specator Race Day 5 (so fast but so hot!) 5. Leith Hill – Varsity Match (always an interesting area.) 4. Temple Newsam – JK Sprint (fast, scenic.) 3. Trockener Steg – Swiss O Week Day 3 (unique glaciated terrain.) 2. Oxford City Centre – Street Race (home advantage.) 1. Epping Forest North (and not just because I won it!) […]
It was advertised as a middle distance race for a reason 🙂 And as you found, knowing where you were going didn’t necessarily mean you had the best route choice…