District Cross Country

March 19th

For the third year we were to play host for this event. Akela was away working and it was left to Baggy and Hathi to organise the course and our Pack's contenders.

On the two previous Pack nights it had been mentioned that if the Cubs took part in the Cross Country the sleep-over at Easter would be a freebie. We were expecting a good turn out and six Cubs turned out. Thank you Deanna, Shannon, Zeze, Breiz, Tom and Emma.

Hathi arrived early and went round and laid out the course, after the recent dry spell the going was described as good to firm, with the odd muddy puddle for the Cubs to wallow in. It was surprising how many dog walkers were out at that time and how few of them cleared up after their dogs.

At 09:15 our first Cub arrived, half an hour early, perhaps the traffic was lighter than expected. (If the parent of that Cub reads this, I am very sorry for the confusion that I caused you) Akela (Tuesday Cubs) arrived  as did Simon (NOT ADC Cubs) and Linda from another Pack to help out. Akela and Hathi were soon in floods of tears, preparing the onions was a messy business but was completed as quickly as we could. Burgers, sausages and the onions were put on to cook ready for the hungry Cubs that would be along later.

The HQ remained very quiet as 09:45 was supposed to be the meeting time, this was due to the Cubs, parents, supporters etc. were all outside the Pub next door.

After a short talk by Simon describing his answer to the irregularities of last year, a series a different coloured tokens exchanged on each lap, the tokens being forfeited if the Cub was found taking a non approved route. The Cubs were taken down to the start line. Despite being told to WALK down the hill and NOT TO RUN, several of the Cubs fell over as they ran down the hill. One of them managing to get scratched on something but bravely decided to continue anyway.

The few marshals that volunteered took up their positions and the race was under way. The mist that had been around all morning slowly began to break up as the runners charged round for the first lap. The second time around the Cubs looked a little less happy knowing that the hill back up to the Scutt was still to come. At this point I would like to say that all the Cubs managed to complete the course showing a really good attitude and made me proud of them.

The finishers at the Scutt lined up to get their position stickers and reported to their leaders who took the lowest four scores and gave that figure to Simon who was able to pick the best team and individual winners. As expected 148 Friday Cubs were there supporting every body else near the bottom of the list. Never mind there is always next year.

Thanks to all 11 Packs that turned up and ran. Thanks to the sungod, although he was not with us it was obvious when he started to think about us as the sun came out and burned the mist off. Thanks to Simon for running it, the marshals for providing the fair play check. and last but not least to Akela (Tuesday) and her helpers for the food (Even though none was kept back for the people who did most of the hard work!!)