It had been seven years since I struggled with a cross country competition, and it is still a painful memory.
But I am determined to make at least some small contribution on the CNW team and that means dealing with the fast starts and challenging terrain of cross country --- cross country being the raison d'etre of this team and the passion of the cohort of national champion guys around my age.
I am happy to see that the 8 kilometer Lincoln Park course is not as difficult as the Lower Woodland course in terms of soft grass, side hill running, and tight turns.
There are 40 runners in the over-40 field, and when we burst out along the long, slightly-downhill 500 meter opening straightaway, I am right in the middle of the group. This changes when we turn onto a winding trail and I drop to maybe 30th place clocking 3:45 for a fast first kilometer. I grind out the remaining 7 kilometers and finish in 32:59 - somehow managing to overtake several other guys to finish 25th in the field.
I am 4th among the small group of 60-69 year old runners. This strikes me as another case of "survivor bias" in my age cohort. The handful of aging runners who have overcome overuse injuries and make it to the starting line are only the fastest, hardiest athletes with commitment to the sport - an age group world record holder, two high school track coaches, and a former cycling champion. In this race I am simply pleased to be among the survivors.
My splits are abysmal and of course my teammates only vaguely remember me, but I feel like a contributing teammate again after so long.
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