Thank you to the Jack Bloor Fund for helping me pay for my flights to the recent European Off-Road Running Championships.
On Thursday 30th May I flew out to Annecy, France, for the European Off-Road Championships and my Great Britain debut. I had a great experience watching the other races and the seniors before my race on the Sunday. It was nice meeting other runners my age from all around Europe including countries like San Marino!
The race was at 8am so waking up at 5.30 proved the first challenge of the day. Half an hour later we found out the course had been changed due to heavy rainfall. This was disappointing as the downhill became less sketchy and more road which is not my strong point. After an incredibly fast start and a steep but just about runnable uphill I had made my way into a top ten position and second brit behind Scot Angus Wright of Edinburgh University. Hitting the fast road on the down I only lost places and by the bottom was about 17th. From here it was a flat 800m sprint to the finish where I managed to gain one position to come 16th in Europe!
A quick post-race dip in the lake, followed by the closing ceremony then the flight home the next morning. I am very grateful for the amazing opportunity and am incredibly thankful to the Jack Bloor Fund for significantly helping me fund the trip.
Thanks
Sam
Jack Bloor Race & Fund 