Time/Position: 39.05 (8th from 174 [1st V50])
Yet another 'personal worst', although there were contextual factors at play this evening. First, the Sandstone Trail was still in my legs (although I felt reasonably good after a rest). Second, there was a nasty cross-headwind for the arduous rocky beach section south from Thurstaston which really drained the tank before the race leaves the Dee estuary and reaches the shelter of the Heswall Dales. This gave me a bit of a problem, and I really struggled to get my HR down for a while, losing several places (I was 3rd for a while on the beach). I have done this race twice before, and it is always a challenge to pace, genuinely multi-terrain with a constant danger of blowing on the different sections. The Dales are hilly and twisting XC terrain with steep steps and drops. Eventually, the race emerges onto the pan-flat Wirral Way, and luckily I regained my composure and had a reasonably quick run-in. Well down on my best time for this great course (which was 2014 I think) but not bad in the circumstances, and I did win my age category.
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