12 March 2017 was my first formal visit back to Bry since I left in December 1970.
The OBs cross-country course was a bit awkward with the middle and river paths quite muddy and slippery, but otherwise the weather was good.
I ran most of the race alongside a pupil called Vasily, but he put on a spurt over the last 100m which I couldn’t match, so I came in 10th. We went up the gym path with him just in front. Half-way up as it got steeper he started to walk. I found that my attempt to keep jogging was no faster than his walking, so I did the same.
There were only prizes for the fastest Old Boys and current pupils, which meant I wasn’t in the picture. Apparently they’ve tried age-grading in the past, but their calculations got a bit confused. I think I might have been a contender if they did this still.
Anyway I did as well as I could – I certainly look somewhat drained at the end, so the coffee, tea, sandwiches and cakes in the new dining room were welcome. I went to look for the athletics record board in the gym, but it seems to have been moved whilst the building was being re-developed.
No OBs or staff there that I recognised. Chatted with a Stuart Jackson from Connaught (1980?). His father was one of the Blandford GPs and he had been a day pupil.
2019
The race was repeated in March 2019, having been postponed from the year before.
This time Jon ran as well, beating me, as I had to pull up before the end of the middle path with a strained hamstring (which had been niggling on and off for the last few months) so walked back to the start and recorded a DNF.
