NEHL Eltringham Farm XC 2027

Second race of the North East Harrier League Cross Country season, and we’re back at Eltringham Farm — the same venue that closed out last season. It’s a tough, rutted course with two hills per lap, repeated three times for the men. Proper XC. Before anything else, a special mention to Bill McGuirk, a true North East athletics legend who sadly passed away the day before this race. The first lap today was the most congested I’ve ever seen. According to Strava, I stood still for over 1.5 minutes on that opening lap, and lost 45 seconds in a single 500m stretch through the trees. It was absolute gridlock. Despite that, I ran 51:35 this year — compared to 55:51 last season in March. I decided to pick up the pace on the second lap, even though I was anxious about fatiguing too early and ending up in a slog (which I’ve done before and do not recommend). But surprisingly, I held that pace through laps two and three and even picked people off. On a course like this, I’ll absolutely take that. I didn’t place well, but starting too far back played a big part in that. Lesson learned — and something to fix for the next races. Next up: Lambton Castle on October 24th. Onwards to the next one. Filmed with: Insta360 GO 3S Follow my journey: YouTube: @TheBrainCancerRunner Instagram: @thebraincancerrunner TikTok: @thebraincancerrunner