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| Pic by Karen Craig |
Women's Race
I watched some of the women’s race, where Killie did really well with a great performance by Kara Tait in particular who completed the undulating 4k route in a time of 16:25. Kara handed over to Paula Wilson, who ran a course PB of 17:54 before Liz McDerment completed the ‘glory’ leg in a time of 19:39, to make a total time of 53:58. Good enough to place Kilmarnock in 26th spot.
I warmed up as the first leg runners lined up for the men’s event. Last year’s mud bath had been replaced with a beautiful sunny afternoon, however it was bitterly cold and I toyed with the idea of wearing a long sleeve vest and/or gloves. In the end I settled for the tradition vest and shorts and headed towards the cross over pen. The battery in my Garmin had died and although I had been offered the loan of a watch, I decided to run timepiece free. Before I knew it I could see Harald Bartl heading for the finish line and I made my way quickly to the front. Harald is in great form and completed the first leg in an impressive time of 17:05, to place 95th out of 129. I sprinted off just behind Central’s Stuart Watson. I thought about sitting behind him but decided to try my hardest and overtook him in the initial stages. However it wasn’t long until a group of 5 or 6 runners caught up and left me in their trail. I made my way around the course, I wasn’t too upset as one runner and then another passed by me on the route as I recognised some of them as being much better runners than I am. The lurghy was taking its toll and I was feeling shattered as I struggled up one hill after another. The crowd kept me going though, even though my head was down, I was trying my best to keep going. I didn’t need my Garmin or watch to tell me that my pace was slowing. I tried to make up some time on the flat sections but the rain during the week had ensured that many of these were quite heavy underfoot. Falkirk’s Mark Dunnachie caught up with me and commented on how hard going it was as we ran along shoulder to shoulder for a while before his class showed and he left me behind. I went hell for leather on the steep downhill stretch before struggling up the last hill and along the ridge before heading down past the start line and then back towards the finish. I managed one last push in the final strait to cross the line ahead of Greenock’s Bernard Kangley.
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| Pic by Kenny Phillips |
I headed back to Glasgow where a hotpot, followed by a hot bath eased my hunger and helped soothe my aches and pains. I was too tired for a Saturday night out and settled for a quiet night in with Wallander and some vin rouge.
When I checked the results on Sunday morning (well done to Scottish Athletics in getting them on-line so promptly) I was more than somewhat surprised to discover that my time was 18:34, a course PB of 15 seconds and three minutes off of my 2008 time.
Kilmarnock ‘C’ Team had finished in 100th place with a total time of 74:10. John McClarty had completed the third leg in 19:09 and Kenny Wales the final one in 19:22.
The ‘B’ Team had place 80th Connell Drummond completed the first leg in 15:46; Les McDerment the second one in 16:01; young Murray McDonald the third one in 17:23 and Graham Cairns the final one in 19:10, a combined time of 68:20.
The ‘A’ Team placed 39th with junior Ross Connelly’s first leg of 15:07; Cammy Wilson’s fastest Killie leg time of 14:42; young Grant Beattie’s penultimate leg of 15:53; and Scott Martin’s ‘glory leg’ of 15:34; making a combined time of 61:16.
Comparing my time with compatible runners, I now realise that, despite being unwell, my performance was acceptable and I shouldn’t have been so down about it yesterday. Congratulations to everyone who participated in the event, including all the youngsters who had run before the seniors. It really was a great day and I’m pleased to have been a part of it.
Now where and when is the next race?
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