Bedfordshire X country championship report-Mr Cockup pays a vist.

Good luck to everyone at the Hertfordshire x country on the 6th .
The Beds X Country was today the 5th Jan .It was held near Tring as it is combined with the Buckinghamshire championships.I presume this reflects the fact that there are so few fit people in Bedfordshire.
Derek Myall and I were the sole representatives from NHRRS.
It was a tale of high hopes and crushing disappointment.Never have 2 men been so up for a race. Fitness levels were at an all time high for 2008 and aggression levels were peaking at 100%.
Incredible as this may sound, we had arranged to be there an hour and a quarter before the race and had run a complete lap to familiarise ourselves with the course.The course was mainly grass,perfect for the fast finisher,what could go wrong??
Then Mr COCKUP decided to pay us a visit: Derek's timetable with the race numbers clearly said the race started at 2.35 so we emerged from the changing rooms at 2.25.Going to the start we noticed a complete absence of other runners if you didnt count the distant specks on the horizon that is. For some reason they set off at 2.25 .Talking to other runners after the race it appears there were 2 versions of the race timetable.
On the plus side we had what I would call an unencumbered start. Derek as a vet 60 was in for a 2 lap race and I was in for four laps. I soon hit choppy waters ,Getting past the vet 70s seemed to take more time than I thought ( surely they really can't go that fast all the time they just didnt want us to go past?)but eventually I broke through to the promised land of the Vet 40s and senior men. .Looking back at Derek I could see him storming along not that far behind me picking people off. Quite relaxing really cruising past people.
So Derek finished 'somewhere' in the race and and I finished 'somewhere' as well.Next year we just might clarify the start time when we arrive.