Saturday 13 January saw FRC men and women compete down in Oxshott for round 3 of the Surrey League XC season.
January is a tough month to compete, everyone is regretting all the overindulgence over the Christmas period and only just kick-starting or possibly kicking out all their new resolutions.
One thing is for certain though is that our Bandits are committed. We had 24 men and 27 ladies come out to play in some rather chilly conditions. Base layer commitments clearly weren’t on everyone's agenda as some Bandits (who won't be named but the pictures might show otherwise) opted for an extra layer.
Men's Race: Speed, sweat, and sand
The men went off first, a fast start that bottlenecked early on, sand, tree roots and some fallen tree jumps greeted us all as we took on 1 small lap and 2 big laps of the XC course, to everyone's delight I'm sure, no mud!
A rather punchy climb that came around twice was a definite talking point post race.
Our Bandits flew through the course with Tom Mackay coming home in 7th place overall, our top finisher, with Nick Thomas and Callum Mason rounding off our Top 3. Overall this placed the men 5th for the event a strong and solid result all round.
Ladies Unleash the Black and White Blitz
Our ladies were up next, no risk of churned up mud but most other teams might still be having nightmares from black and white stripes flashing past them.
The same course and distance greeted the ladies and they flew out the blocks. Co-Captain Hannah closely followed by our newest XC recruit Armana Rai were in the leading pack as they tried their best to chase down the top spot. The ladies were on fire and bandits just kept on coming.
Hannah Cox finished as first Bandit home followed by Armana Rai and Leslie Gill. There were 6 Bandits in the top 10, an unbelievable result, showcasing how strong our womans team is, as they cruised to victory in round 3.
From Christmas Cake to XC Cake
Never before have I heard so many people enjoy an XC course, it was a great day out and really well organised. Our day concluded with thirst quenchers at the local Oxshott pub before heading back home.
Thank you all for showing up and racing your hearts out. Round 4 at Lloyd Park is on Saturday 10 February, let's get as many of you down there as possible.
As always a privilege to captain you all.
Your XC Captains
Bov, Trev, Katie & Hannah
Written by XC Captain, Andrew Bovell
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