South of England Cross Country Championships

One of the biggest events of the year usually held at Parliament Hill in London, but sliding further south in years where Parliament Hill hosts the Nationals. This year, with Parliament Hill hosting those Nationals, the Southerns are held down in Brighton. Robbie has run both locations in the past with his last outing to Bristol being three years ago. This was to be one of the big races of the year for Robbie, with expectations for an individual medal place. Unfortunately it was not to be, a visit on Friday night to Stuart Butler (GB & England Athletics Support Team – Physiotherapist) highlighted that Robbie has suffered a torn hamstring, probably as far back as late November / early December 2014. Continued work and strain to the hamstring has resulted in a condition described as “weak hamstring”, Stuart explained that because the muscle was not being given a chance to recover, the body had started to “shut down” the muscle to prevent use and assist healing. Requirement for now is NO running, hamstring strengthening exercises followed by a gradual rehabilitation plan to get back to gentle running before stepping back in to training. The outcome 4 to 6 weeks minimum without competition, so no Southerns today, no School Southerns next week and for the moment we are not sure if there will be any more races this Cross Country season. Still at least we know the problem now and have a plan to move forward. Good luck to everybody running today, come on you AFD and congratulations to James Puxty (Tonbridge), Zac Mahamed (Southampton) and Lachlan Wellington (Portsmouth) who I am informed finished the U15’s race in that order, well done boys.