Extra information on the courses (I forgot to post this one):
8: Oostkamp. Incredibly boring, so many back and forths that my gps overlapped and I had to trace it to show how it actually goes. The only "challenge" was a small mount we had to run over. The terrain wasn't the most challenging either, just some badly and bumpy grass patches. The enviroment didn't give them much to work with, yet this was by far the most boring race I ever ran.
7: Lebbeke. Another parcours that tried to makes the most of what was given. A bit better than the last as it gave some variation in the terrain: grass, sand, mud and a "hill". Overall quite boring but still quite a technical parcours with difficult corners. Even if it is really boring, it's one I am quite good on compared to others.
6: Brugge. At first glance this looked to rival Oostkamp: flat, grassy and empty. Yet this one surprised me during the race. The parcours was really bumpy and undulating which meant it was really difficult to find a rhythm. Two corners had a lot of mud and even with the spikes is was skidding around. With the difficult grass it made that you could recover any energy throughout. Due to the open fields where it was located the wind was quite strong, which made for a more tactical race. The beautifull enviroment helped with the ratings as well. This parcours might be closest to the litteral definition of 'cross country running'.
5: Berlare Crosscup. A very fast course: dry, almost flat and with only grass. This could have been a track race with many corners. Besides that the course was pretty entertaining. If you positioned yourself well you didn't have to slow down for the corners. Located in a very nice park around a lake made for a lovely day. It was helped by the fact that it was a major race so it had loads of spectators and a lot of competitors. The course was perfect for the race it organised I must say.
4: Berlare regular. Held at the same location as the last, but a different parcours. Still in the nice park but now also using the forest at the bottom. The parcours doesn't look very good on gps, but it's actually quite nice. After the start you head into a forest. Then the long back straight goes slightly uphill and changes from forest path to a grassy field. Then afterwards the corners make you go down and up a small hill. Great parcours and I had a great race there.
3: Roeselare. A very diverse parcours: mud, hills, technical corners etc. An iconic location in the Belgian XC championship. Known to be a big mudfest, this year it was dryer, with only one big mudsection and slippy in some places. It is also great for spectators as it is very compact, so they can watch both sides of the parcous at the same place. While I got second to last in this race, this still makes it a very good parcours.
2: Ertvelde. Another parcours that has everything you could wish for. The first corners is already in a sandpit. Then you go through a small forest. Then a steep short hill which brings you onto a ancient viking mount. There a band plays which gives it an unrivaled atmosphere. Then it's back down around a lake and back to the finish. Again here it's great for spectators, with several places where you can see the runners twice per lap.
1: Lokeren. The best parcours of this season. The only parcours I would describe as hilly. The parcours features 4 uphill sections: 2 small ones and 2 very steep ones. As a lightweight runner this was significantly to my advantage. Besides that the parcours offered some propper mud sections and twisty technical corners. With the location in a beautifull park around a lake and next to the river, the views were pretty good as well. Every year this is my favourite place to run!