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@Jon.
After thinking pretty hard about going 1x10 a while ago I decided against it.
Couple of reasons; firstly my cross bike has roles outsides of racing, so a wider gear range without big jumps is helpful.
Secondly, being able to drop from the big ring to the granny is much, much easier than trying to jump 4 or 5 gears across a muddy, gummed up cassette. This is particularly handy when approaching a steep hill or a long mud section for example.
Finally, if you're having issues with your rear mech or cassette you've at least got another gear to go to. Today at Welwyn my chain was skipping and jumping around on the lower gears on the cassette (probably due to cable stretch from a new, cheap cable) but I was still able to ride the vast majority of the course by shifting on the front much more than I usually would.