Striders Equaliser 14ks

A lot of rain fell this morning between Belrose and St Ives which is basically where the race went.
Start on Road, then bush, back on the road, then bush, and finish on the road. Easy.

Bad start due to one of my number's pins coming off, so I stopped to fix it and then had to go hard for the first couple of ks to make up the positions I had lost.
Flat at the start on the road and then into a narrow bush track which eventually widens after a couple of ks to a very steep downhill. And right at the bottom were two creeks flowing really hard which we had to plow through. Back up the other side to St Ives and I was feeling like crap being passed by a few runners here.
The road section for a k saw me open up a bit and pass a few back. Then it was back into the bush and the steep downhill to the creek again being passed by about 5 runners in the process.
Across a different section of the fast flowing creek and then up the hill the other side with the same runners still out of my reach.
The bush finally flattened out and I passed two in the bush and then another couple including Mohammad on the road to the finish.
Steady rain fell for the first 20mins of the race and there was heaps of water on the course, so very muddy. Saw a runner being walked out after he fell and badly sprained his ankle. I touched wood when I saw that. Also one runner fell in the first creek crossing.

Finished the 14ks in 1:07:48. Quite good as the goal I had was to run between 65-70 mins.
Ankle had no problems during the run although probably missing some pace due to it being a bit tender to step on. Certainly a great cross country course which has everything. Hills, flats, bush, water on course, creeks to cross, and road running. And today rain as well. Love it.