Time/Position: 41.27 (89th from 180)
Another week, another championship cross-country fixture. This was a huge contrast with Glasgow for several reasons, although my performance was similarly 'adequate', nothing more. The last time I represented North Wales in the regionals was 2016 in Brecon, quite a gap. Compared to the internationals, the regionals are a lot less intense, but the (very large) field is still very strong and the conditions in Dolerw park on the banks of the Severn were appalling after a lot of rain. The course took one smallish loop with the usual frenetic argy bargy at the start, then three slower big laps around the edge of the park - and after several earlier races conditions had descended to 'quagmire' in numerous places, knee deep mud at times, ankle deep for much of the rest. This kind of thing is uniquely draining and a gradual slowing is inevitable. I lost some places on the last lap but never imploded fully, although never felt particularly strong either. So although it was almost the opposite of Glasgow in XC terms, it felt similar in terms of performance - mildly disappointing but not disastrous. I scored in 4th place in the green and orange vest for the 45-55 North Wales team, and we did enough to win the silver medal, which was a nice bonus.
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