I bought my first ever pair of racing shoes, as opposed to trainers, Nike LunaRacer+2 on Tuesday 22 June from Run 4 It in Glasgow. On the same day decided to enter, on-line, the Healthy Working Lives jogscotland 5k Challenge, Glasgow Green, being held on Wednesday 23 June 2010 @ 6pm to try them out. After a slight concern arising from them not having my registration details, I got ready for the race and chatted with a few friends. John Smith informed me that Mixu Paatelainen had got the job as the new Killie Manager. Andy is one of the Jammies that are raising money for charity and was running in both the 6pm and 7:30 races. I was surprised to see Shona Donnelly as I thought that she would be seeking points for the Stewart’s Grand Prix by running in the 7:30 race. She was not a happy bunny to discover that the 6pm race didn’t count towards the Grand Prix. However I was please that she was running in the same event as me. She’s a good runner with a 5k PB of 19:45 and if I could keep her in sight, I’d know that I was doing OK. Linda Kennedy who is having a great season was near the front at the Start line too but informed me that she was going to take it easy. Lots of runners say this before the start but change their plans as soon as the race starts, lining up at the front of the field is a bit of a clue. I know, I’ve said it myself. Alan Fitzsimons was also there and I wished him and the other runners good luck for the race. Graeme Aitken and Tony McGale shouted words of encouragement from the sidelines as the event gun sounded and we shot off in a westerly direction.
There were a total of 435 runners and my target was to try and finish first in my age group. I started quick but soon reined it in slightly and was overtaken by quite a lot of runners. We soon took a sharp right turn and headed back along a parallel path, another right turn and Garmin bleeped for the first kilometre in 3:59. However the 1k marker was a little further on. Scott Kennedy encouraged me as we took a left and started heading out along the Clyde. I found myself running along with a tall runner who must have been about 6’4, we reached his mate who then sprinted off but soon slowed down. I decided to ignore these runners and concentrate on Shona who was a good bit ahead. Garmin revealed that I had completed the second kilometre in 4:12 but again this was before we reached the 2k marker. At the turn point I could that there were a few runners between myself and Shona, the path here is a little tricky as there are loads of tree roots breaking through the tarmac. I was catching quite a few runners now, who must have shot off too quickly. The third kilometre was a little slower at 4:14 but I blamed the sharp turn around. I was aware that Alan was behind me somewhere and having a PB of 20:08 was likely to catch me if I let up, so I kept my focus on chasing after Shona. There were three or four people between us as we reached 4k, Garmin revealed 4:12 but again the marker was further on. I hoped that the final marked kilometre would be short to make up for the others being slightly out. We veered right and then a sharp right by now there were two runners between me and Shona. She was a good bit in front of me but my target was to finish as close behind her as possible. I managed to catch the two runners but noticed that Shona had overtaken another runner. Another right turn and we were on the final stait towards the finish line. I pushed in hard and tried to make up as much as possible but had to make do with finishing two places behind her. Garmin revealed that I had completed my final kilometre in 4:06 and that the course was indeed 5k long.
I congratulated Shona in finishing second woman but she thought she had finished first. I had noticed a young girl overtaking both of us during the race but Shona had, wrongly, thought that it was a long haired lad.
I congratulated the other runners, including Linda and Alan who had finished in I had finished in 20:42 (wava 73.01%) exactly 20 seconds behind Shona, my third best ever time since I started taking records and a Seasonal Best by some 40 seconds. I placed 22nd and second in my age group to Jock Ferguson. Alan had finished in 30th place with 21:17, an SB for him.
Results
7:30pm Race
I then had the pleasure of watching the second race and providing vocal support to the many runners that I knew including the Bellahouson Road Runners and Harriers, Mhairi Duff from Dumfries, Gillian Armour and Tony McGale from work, my old sparring partners Norman Boyle, Keith Gibb and Graeme Aitken and parkrun regular Tom Keenan, who is in the form of his life. This race was the Stewart’s Grand Prix and the standard was much higher than the earlier race, there were some fantastic performances by many runners and it was a joy to watch. Some 212 runners participated and it felt as if I knew them all.
Results
MHFS 10k
I’ve never yet ran the Men’s 10k Race despite its close proximity to my home. I usually help out at the water station but this year had a 12 mile long run to do instead. I ran over to Bellahouston Park in the warm early sunshine, where I greeted a few of the assembling runners, before running down the route of the race along the coned off road to Pollok Park. After a lap of the park I continued along the race route and meeting the runners entering the park joined in with them for a second lap and then continued with them until they re-entered Bellahouston Park to complete their final kilometre of the ten. The encouragement from supporters had been much appreciated and it was good to bump into Alan Scott who had emigrated to Australia but, unknown to me, had returned in March of this year. I headed along Nithsdale Road and home via the paper shop. 12 miles in 100 minutes as per schedule and then another 0.68 miles as a warm down.
Photo by Claire Thompson
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