Cross Country and Athletics run around Wales

On Saturday the 7th of September twenty-two members of the Cross Country and Athletics Team gathered outside the Union to depart on a week- long running adventure to Pembroke. As a group of keen runners, we naturally considered jogging there, but soon decided to travel the 240 miles by minibus instead. The van, effortlessly navigated and driven by Matt Douthwaite, was loaded up with trainers, sports bags, games and twenty odd obligatory contributions of home baked goods. Upon arrival we were welcomed by a spacious, seven bedroom house; with two sitting rooms and two kitchens, attached to a backyard with a terrace, a lawn and a pond. Not to mention the pool, optimal for resistance training and the hot tub, ideal for muscle recovery. All this and only minutes away from coastal running paths! Although the focus throughout the week lay with running, we had many activities unrelated to XC on offer too. Everyone was keen to contribute in whatever way they could to fill our time with fun and new experiences. Vicki Solly held an introductory yoga class, in which she had us bending and stretching in ways previously unknown to many of us. As relaxing as it was at the time, this session left most of the participants sorer than after the 12 km run from the previous day - proving to all sceptics that yoga is not just posing as a sport. James Ellis conducted hill reps and Alwyn Elliot taught some basic Kung Fu, as well as the vital skill of lighting a log fire. Sophie Kirk planned the dinner menu for each day of the week and it goes without saying that we were very well fed! It is always fantastic to see the level of commitment and enthusiasm that goes into a club tour. Cross Country and Athletics captain Chris Bannon, who was unable to run, came along regardless of his injury and his upcoming exams. Harriet Nerva and Antoinette Hardijzer, both also had other important commitments that week, but didn’t want to miss all of tour and so ended up staying for half the time. Despite having to make their way back on their own, they are both insistent that the long train journey was worth it! There was so much hype about this tour, we even had triathlon committee members, Siân Morgan and Ed Hallet, join us. Peter Spence also deserves a special mention here. As our designated cameraman, he was bold enough to take his camera everywhere we went and even faced runs along the steep, rocky coastal paths, with only one free hand. However we witnessed another type of commitment on tour too, namely the commitment to the sport. While the rest of us were playing beach volleyball; or in the case of Richard Bennett, who was merrily letting himself be buried in the sand, Liam Smith was engaging in interval training alongside the water. Similarly while some of us were having a lie in and recovering from a late night, Laurence Tse and Matthias Knop were already tying up their trainers and getting ready to head out on a morning run. In total six out of the twenty two tour participants were freshmen. Andreas Ekholm and Duncan Ingram both joined XC&A at the start of autumn term 2012. Equally Harveen Hayer, Oliver Ashe and I joined at this time and have now all taken on committee positions. This goes to show how quickly one feels integrated in the club and just how welcoming the members of XC&A are! Having said all this, it would be great to see some new faces at our runs. Give XC&A a go and who knows, come next year, it may be you eagerly putting down your name for the XC&A Summer Tour 2014 sign up.