Always a special day. Remembrance Sunday and the second of the Kent Fitness League Cross Country series in Swanley Park. Over 500 runners falling silent for two minutes before the start and an emotional feel to the event which gives that extra incentive to “dig in” when the going gets tough. Quite a number of young athletes lost their lives in the Great War including some of the leading endurance runners of the time:
https://www.iaaf.org/news/feature/armistice-day-remembrance-track-field-olympia
On a day which promised Autumnal sunshine and showers we had just a single dark clouding over and a single sharp shower strangely during the two minutes silence. Once we were underway the dark clouds disappeared cleared and we were running below clear blue skies and in mild conditions. Lots of variable mud and leaves with a twisty, turning 3 lap course of just over 5 miles incorporating short but sapping hills at halfway and at the finish of each lap. Given the surreal mud free off – road conditions during the year it felt like getting back to good old fashioned cross country normality.
