My training schedule had me down for a 5 mile run in 42 minutes on Saturday and 1 mile jog followed by a 10k or 5 mile race rounded off with another 1 mile jog on the Sunday.
Instead I chose to drive to Motherwell in the wind and rain and to do a 2 mile warm up in Strathclyde Park and then run the Strathclyde parkrun in around 24:18. I had a wee chat with Claire McCracken, Billy Reid and Anthony Quinn before we set off in the dreich conditions. This was the fourteenth staging of the event and, perhaps surprisingly the first time it had rained. I had a blether with fellow Ayrshire man Jammy Jo (John Smith) as we ran along shoulder to shoulder during the 1st k, which we completed in 4:31. I decided to slow down a little and bid him farewell. I said hello to Jammy Mo (Moira Nicol) as she overtook me and I completed the 2nd k in 4:52. The 3rd k included the turn around and took me 5:03. I maintained a steady pace for the 4th (4:56) and then decided to increase the pace a little to overtake a couple of guys in front of me. As I did this another couple of guys decided to go with me and tailed behind me until we were approaching the finish line, where one of them, Jim Murphy, sprinted to a new PB of 23:53 before thanking me. Congratulations to Claire, Anthony, Jammy Jo and Jammy Mo, who all achieved course PBs.
I finished 32nd with a time of 24:01 (Splits: 4:31 4:52 5:03 4:56 4:33) and had completed my 48th parkrun. Only two to go to that elusive fifty!
Results (pic by Ross Goodman)
Girvan Half Marathon
I had been warned about the course being somewhat hilly and susceptible to head winds, particularly in the second half, so I decided to start slower than usual and conserve some energy for the more demanding part. I wasn’t chasing a PB and decided that I would be happy with a time of around 1 hour and 42 minutes. As usual my 1st k was too quick at 4:30 and I then slowed things down a bit. I wondered at the time if I would catch up with those that were running ahead of me during the first few kilometres. For a wee while I ran along chatting with a group of Troon Tortoises and would have been delighted to run the whole race with them but at the first drink station, less than 3 miles in, we split up. The rain had stopped before the race had started at noon and had been replaced with hot and humid conditions. After last week when I suffered from dehydration, I decided that it was more important for me to stop and take water on board than try to save a few seconds. I did this at all the water stops and at the later ones took a couple of cups of water, drinking one and pouring the other one over me in an attempt to cool me down. At about 4 miles Paula encouraged me to speed up as their were a couple of Killie Harriers ahead before asking if I was saving myself for the second half, which of course I was. Nevertheless I did pick it up a bit when a tall Troon Tortoise (Ian) overtook me and I hung onto his tails as ran down through the village of Dailly and up towards the 6 mile point. I was struggling a bit up the hill when I saw Paula at the halfway point however my Garmin indicated 50:48, so I was still on course for 1:42. I ploughed on wondering why I was so tired after only 10k and took a jelly baby to give me a tiny wee bit of energy. Kerry gave me some support at the top of the hill and I started to overtake people as I ran along the flat and even more as I sped down hill and over the bridge to the 9 mile point.
I was now shattered, I had been warned that there was a long hill at the 10 mile stage so why was I struggling now? I had noticed that Brian Darroch was crossing the bridge when I was at the top of the hill, so I knew that he was a good bit in front of me. I thought about walking a few steps or stopping to recover a little but I could hear footsteps and breathing behind me and I didn’t want to be overtaken, so I kept going albeit slowly. My 4:24 k/min pace downhill had been followed by a 5:10 uphill pace. Not too bad I thought and managed to increase the pace again. At the 10 mile point there was no big hill. Instead it was at the junction of the road that we had run down at the start of the race however there was a strong head wind to contend with as well as the afternoon sunshine.
I could see loads of runners making their way, in single file, up the winding road towards Girvan. I could see Brian Darroch a good bit ahead running along behind a Bellahouston Road Runner. I knew there was only 5k to go and tried to work my way through the field. Although Brian was probably too far ahead of me to catch I did have the benefit of having something to aim for and I started making my way up through the field. My pace was slower than I would have liked at 4:53 and then 4:54 but I was making ground. I was more than a little surprised to overtake the Bellahouston Road Runner, who looked as if it might have been Alastair Kell who got a 19:42 at the jogscotland 5k and has a Half PB of 1:35. It didn’t matter to me who it was though as my focus was on Brian who I was now catching. I managed the 20th k in a slightly better time of 4:48. I knew that there was only one kilometre to go and dug in but I just didn’t have much left to give. However as we reached the roundabout approaching the stadium I was now within yards of him. Fellow Harriers Connell and Les, who had already finished, cheered us on and may have inadvertently let Brian know that I was just behind him. I decided it was now or never and sped past him as we ran towards the stadium entrance. He wasn’t for given in that easy though and chased after me. We both gave it our all as the crowds cheered us over the line with Brian just edging past me. We both collapsed on the grass before congratulating each other. Brian informed me that his PB on the course was 1:42:18 and he was seeking to better that, he did as we both crossed the line in a time of 1:42:01 in 49th and 50th place. My final kilometre had taken 4:32 but was much, much harder than the first one. I was more than happy to have completed my 12th Half Marathon in the desired time so soon after coming back from injury.
There were some excellent results on the day including Susan who had been in the toilet when the race set off a minute or so early and had to work her way up through the field to earn a new PB.
My splits 4:30 4:50 4:57 4:56 5:03 4:52 5:05 4:38 4:48 4:29 5:09 5:18 4:40 5:03 4:24 5:10 4:42 4:53 4:54 4:48 4:32
Route
Results
Pics by Kerry Liam Wilson and Kenny Philips
Well done at Girvan. I was there myself definately a tuff route.
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