once stepping into a hole covered with grass and that my competitors had no pace judgement whatsoever. I would definately say that the Kenyan National Cross is that hardest thing you can do in cross country running.
I got out good…..I thought….until I realized that the other runners planned to keep the sprint until they could not sprint any more. So when I thought it was time to settle and relax, they just continued (and most died at the end…) So I got back in the pack in the beginning, and fell to the ground at about 1.5 km….wroooom runners just blew past me 🙂 I think I could have been top 50 if it had not been for that fall.
On the second lap of 2 km I started catching people, and preserved energy for the final kick. As the only Mzungo in the race (only 2 total in the whole meet, the crowd loved it when I sprinted full speed the last 300 meters going from around 80th to 69th 🙂 I finished a bit under a minute after the winner, Enok Mitei (will be STRONG next year) with 4 of the top 5 being sub 12.57 runners in track….(Sammy Kipketer, John Kibowen, Albert Chepkuri and Benjamin Limo)
It was a great experience….last year I was 1.20 behind Kipketer, so I am getting closer 🙂
All well from Nairobi / a good test that I am on the right way.
Marius