As I sat down to watch the highlights of the Scotland v Macedonia football match, I decided that a glass of wine wouldn’t do me any harm. However with the game being so entertaining and the prospect of watching some football from the lower English leagues straight after the Scotland game I decided not to run in Sunday’s 10k race but to relax, let my hair down and drink the full bottle of vino rouge. However I woke up in plenty of time in the morning and after wrestling with the demons for a long time I decided that, as I had a 12 mile training run scheduled, I’d be as well participating in the 9:30 am race.
I got ready for the run, put my chip on and my race number and then donned an old race t-shirt which I could dispose off at the race start. I ran the two miles down to George Square and saw the other runners making their way to the start in cars and buses. After exchanging a few pre match greetings, I lined up with Maddie from Bella and told her that I would be happy running at 8 min/mile pace. However as we made our way along St Vincent Street, I discovered that there were loads of slower runners in front of me and I felt more comfortable making my way through them and running at my own pace. I ran the 1st kilometre in 4:30 (7:15 m/m pace) and was feeling quite good as I made my way over the Kingston Bridge and down into Tradeston where someone shouted “C’mon Bella.” Then it was up Shields Road and a right turn onto St Andrews Drive at 4k where Francis Thomson cried out “C’mon Ian, you’re doing great.” I know this part of the city well as I train on it often but I hadn’t done my homework, so I didn’t know the exact route that we would take. However we continued up St Andrews Drive and at the 5k mark we crossed Nithsdale Road, my half way time was 22:57 not too bad. We took a sharp left at Maxwell Park down Dalziel Drive where Jimmy, Sandra and Karen shouted words of encouragement. We reached Terregles Ave and turned left, I could see Nithsdale Road ahead but unfortunately the route took another left turn and headed over the hill on Leslie Road before reaching Nithsdale Road. Emma Grant supported me here and then Jethro Lennox; there were two water stations within a few hundred meters, one provided by the local Sikh community and the other by the Territorial Army. In between was Alistair Kell giving verbal encouragement. A quick left onto Darnley Road, then right onto Albert Drive and we were soon on Pollockshaws Road and the 8k marker. We took a right here and then a left and headed down Gorbals Street, where Francis had relocated to and again gave her support. Over the Clyde we ran, although this bridge was much less iconic than the Kingston one. Andy Birnie and other shouted me on and as I tuned right on to Clyde Street, I was met full on by a huge photographer who thought he owned the pavement. I bounced off of him and continued on my race. I don’t know what happened to him and care even less. I could see Glasgow Green ahead and was pleasantly surprised to see that the finish line was also within sight. The path was busy but I still managed to increase my pace a bit on the final sprint and crossed the line in 428th place with a time of 45:16, a rare negative split and all things considered an acceptable time.
I collected my medal and goody bag and waited for Maddie to finish, we were then joined by Karlyn Forsyth and a pregnant Rhona Moran. After the usual post race chatter and mutual congratulations I removed my number and warmed down as I headed homewards. I was surprised to see that there were still thousands of runners still on the streets as I reached home.
After a quick shower, change and cup of coffee I headed round the corner with my camera to lend my support to the 7260 rain soaked runners who were participating in the Half Marathon, including some 61 Bellahouston Road Runners.
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