The School Cross Country Race 1953 – Grahame May (25th)

This annual 5 mile race was regarded as the highlight of the School sporting calendar and I was first able to take part in the 1952 event which was held two months before my fourteenth birthday. I think I was a bit overawed by having to compete with such a large number of older boys and I finished well down the field, but did gain some valuable experience. The following year I was all geared up and ready to go. The weather was fine and I felt as fit as a fiddle. The course was roughly the same as before and I paced myself for the first few miles before starting to overtake the field. I saw the finishing flags about half a mile or so away over a valley which I remembered from last year. It was rather narrow in places and the ground a bit uneven. It was then that I started to flag but still got past a few lads who were worse off than myself. Then I heard cheering and assumed the leaders were in sight of the finish. Suddenly I was running on air, my legs were as light as a feather and my lungs and breathing were quite normal. I tore along the valley, turned right and saw only one runner half way up the hill ahead. He had ginger hair and I recognized him as being a bit of a bighead. He was slowing down and waving to the gallery of schoolgirl spectators but some of them then saw me bounding up the hill and yelled out, but I sailed past the cocky little jerk and broke the tape to win by about a couple of yards. I managed to stay on my feet but suddenly felt absolutely wacked. The sports master rushed over and wanted to know how the hell did I do it, “You were nowhere in sight lad, the race was as good as over.” He then congratulated me, as did quite a few others and I told him that I seemed to have got a second wind and recalled everything that happened. He said that would probably explain it and we left it at that. I competed in the next, and my last, Cross Country event a year later but only fared reasonably well and there was no second wind or plaudits of any kind at the end . I still have my 1953 winners medal. It is nothing flash but I keep it safe, just as I would a lucky charm. Well, you never know do you??