Jack Crawford 10k ‘road’ (cross country) race, Saturday, Feb 27, 2010

I had considered doing the Cupar 5 mile road race but the long drive through with bad weather made the Jack Crawford 10k an easier option.  That said, the Cupar race would have been much easier than the Bishopbriggs’ one organised by Springburn Harriers.  The mud bath of a car park gave me an early indication of what the course would be like, being advised that at least one canal path gate was locked closed and spying the road works at that start of the route just added to the difficulties.

 There was a decent Killie turn out as they had added the race to their club championship, following the postponement of the Beith Harriers’ race and as ever a good turnout of Bellas.

After an emotional meet up with the Bellas at the start of the race and listening to the warnings from the race director re the conditions of the route, we were off.  I knew that the first part along the canal would be heavy underfoot, full of puddles and so narrow that it would be hard to overtake, so I started off at a decent pace following Paula Wilson.  There was a bit of jostling as competitors made their way along the road and in particular at the two sharp corners before we reached the main road.  I decided to take my gloves off and threw them down as we passed by the entrance to the car park.  A sharp right and another one saw us making our way eastwards along the undulating canal path.

I was right about the running conditions and as I made my way along following the footsteps of those in front, it did cross my mind a couple of times that the path was somewhat treacherous and one misplaced foot could easily find me tumbling down onto the frozen canal.  However I managed to reach the bridge unscathed and as I crossed the canal and turned left to head back towards the race HQ at the Leisure Dome, I could see Paula about seven places ahead of me.   The path was wider and much safer on this side.  I was still working hard though as I chased after Paula and the pack in front of me.  “You’re running well” said John Hagemeister as he caught up with me around the 3k point.  We were soon running under the road bridge outside of the race HQ where the supporters had congregated.  Ada Stewart supported me as I continued to work hard.   

The path was narrow under the bridge, although it opened up again there were loads of puddles to negotiate as we ran along the next section.  Alan Dempster was next to catch me and although I kept up with him for a while he did eventually run away.  “No shame there” I thought, knowing that he was a 40min 10k man.  I felt a hand on my back and heard an apology as Garscube’s Jill O'Neil pushed her way past me.  I was thinking how strong she was running and how easy John Hagemeister seemed to be running as I seemed to be struggling with every step.  “Focus” I said to myself, "keep chasing after John and Jill and you’ll be alright".  I heard someone from the other side of the canal shout “C’mon Kilmarnock”.

We were now approaching the next turning point and I could see that we were making up ground on Bellahouston’s Ali Kell, another 40min man.  Up on to the road, a sharp left another sharp left, through the gate and we were now heading back towards the finish line.  I noticed Bella Keith Gibb on the other side of the canal as I made my way along.  I could hear someone behind me and I could tell that it was a female but I didn’t know who.  However it gave me that wee bit extra motivation and I decided to run straight through the puddles whilst others ran around them in order to increase the gap between us.

As I ran though one particular puddle I passed Ali Kell who ran around it, seeing me he shouted “on you go”.Before we reached the 8k marker, there was a giant puddle which I ran around, whilst the woman runner behind me splashed her way right through the middle as she overtook me.  I could see that it was Calderglen’s Frances Maxwell who I had chatted with before the race and had beat her at the final stage of a recent parkrun.  She was running really well today though and as I struggled to chase after her I noticed that my left lace had become loose, even though I had double tied it.  After some thought I decided that I would keep running as far as I could and if it came off, I would kick off the other trainer and make my way to the finish shoe less. 
I tried to avoid any boggy parts of the route and the shoe remained on.  I tried to push it in as far as I could for the last kilometre and as the path opened out to reveal the finish line I gave it my all and managed to catch Frances and another runner but it was too late, they had crossed the line and I had to rejoin the finishers behind them.  I was so disappointed when I looked down to see that my watch was indicating 44:18.

I had worked really hard and had hoped for much better time. I con
-gratulated Frances and was handed a spot prize whilst I queued to collect my snack and water.  I joined the other Killie Harriers and I supported the other Harriers, Bellas and running buddies as they crossed the line before heading home to watch England being beat at home by Ireland in the Six Nations.

As I uploaded the race onto fetch, I was pleased to see that my Wava was 70.53%, the highest I’ve achieved in the last 12 races and over the magical 70%.   My average heart rate had been 77%, higher than last week’s XC by 1% and given I had beaten a few runners who were around my standard, it should really go down as a decent day at the office, although in hindsight I should really have worn trail shoes.                                                                                                                                                                                                  

Pics by Kenny Philips, map by Chris Upson

Time 44:14 confirmed  Results Here  Placed 78 out of 189.

Splits: 4:02 4:36 4:18 4:19 4:27 4:36 4:37 4:37 4:41 4:04