Do do what you do do well boy.

Strange to report but today was a day for running in the Borders cross-country series at Berwick on Tweed. I like going to these events because they are in some beautiful parts of Southern Scotland and Northern England. There is a friendly feeling about them and it’s a great opportunity to catch up with old friends.
One of the things I’ve noticed about running in a series is that you end up running in a group of people who are about the same standard. It means you see them around you at the various races.

Another thing is that I tend to repeat the same old mistakes when I’m running. Today was no exception. It was one of those very bright and sunny winter days and the air was freezing. Now the last time I raced in these conditions I wore a singlet, shorts etc and the only concession to the weather was a pair of gloves. Today I wore my Helly Hansen top, thick gloves and a hat. I didn’t need them and they were stuffed down my shorts after about a mile.

The race started with very little preamble and a bunch of people made their way through a narrow path and onto the soft sand of the beach.  I hadn’t run there before, so didn’t really know what to expect. I found myself next to Fred McCain and thought ‘good, I’ll try and keep with him.’ That worked fine until we got to some steps, which took us off the beach and onto a cliff top - I started to loose ground! Then a state of not feeling fast or too happy with myself came on and continued along the cliff top on the way back and yes there they were, first Neil striding past me and then Anne. We went back down the steps and I started to gather myself. There was a guy in front of me who I caught and over took and I was hauling Anne in. The route came to an area of rocks with the waves crashing right into them. They retreated and I thought ‘okay here's my chance and made a dash for it over the wet sand. ‘ I didn’t make it, too huge waves washed over me and my shoes filled up. Straight after the rocks was a path of sand, which went up into some dunes. Undeterred, I started up the hill, tripped over something in the sand, and fell full length. A very nice woman asked if I was all right. By the time I got up and started running again the guy, I had overtaken went past me again… Ho hum... The good thing is that I finished the race and I'll have a chance to do it all over again next week at Gala.