Some Great Performances at Ayr Turkey Trot

My 64^th race of 2010 was the Ayr Turkey Trot: it’s a Kilmarnock Harrier Championship race; it’s in the town of my birth and it affords me the opportunity to pop into the Golf Inn in Prestwick to see my relatives, so there are plenty of reasons for running it.  That said, I had raced the day before and was hoping that it would be rerouted along the beach and be a bit of a lottery.  However I noticed a change in weather conditions south of Kilmarnock as I drove down the M77 and wasn’t too surprised to be informed that the race would be on the traditional route.  For the first time since the Bangkok Mini Marathon, I would be racing in my shorts and racing shoes along a road, although the temperature was slightly cooler.  There was a decent turnout from Killie, Troon, Ayr and the two Bellahouston Clubs as well as other weel kent faces from Girvan, Dumfries, Central, Edinburgh and other clubs.  I also spied the two Winchester runners who I recognised from the day before’s Glasgow parkrun.  

Determined Final Strait

After a brief warm up I lined up with 176 other runners on the Ayr promenade to listen to the pre race announcements between chats, of course!  At noon we were on our way, heading southwards with the Firth of Clyde on our right hand side.  I noticed that there was a lack of the usual suspects around me during the first kilometre and started to wonder if I had set off too fast for a 10k, given that all my recent races have been shorter.  A quick glance at my watch, as I approached the 1k mark, revealed that I was running at an average pace of 4min/k.  I was actually quite glad to see Paula Wilson and Suzanne McMahon overtake me.  However my attempt at sticking with them as we ran into the wind was fruitless and my second kilometre took around 4:20.  I tried to stick behind a couple of guys but they also outran me and, as usual, I ended up running at the front of a pack. The third kilometre took me a disappointing 4:27.  Not that 4:27 is, in itself, a bad pace for me, it’s just that it was almost half a minute slower than my first kilometre.  The route then turned left away from the sea and along the sheltered River Doon path for about 400 metres.  I could hear a female breathing heavily behind me and when we turned left onto Doonfoot Road and started running northwards I opened up a bit and managed to keep her at bay.  That said the fourth kilometre still took me 4:25.  I knew that this is the part of the course where I usually see the lead runners making their way back and thought how good it would be to reach the turn off point before seeing them.  It was not to be today though as I could see the lead cyclist making his way towards me in front of an unknown to me racer who was storming along.  Behind him it was Kerry Liam Wilson and then Jeff Farquhar, I congratulated Jeff and then spotted Colin McGill running on his tail and congratulated him too.  Next in line for congratulations was Scott Kennedy, whose wife Linda seemed to be popping up everywhere offering me encouragement.  

At 4.5k the route does a loop of a housing estate and as we turned left I noticed that it was Troon’s Natalie Fleming that was running right behind me.  I’ve raced against her a couple of times and although she had beaten me at last week’s Harriers v Cyclists race, I was confident that I could beat her.  The fifth kilometre had taken me/us 4:19 and we had reached the halfway point in 21:35.  Although I had lost sight of Paula and Suzanne as we ran round the houses, I could see the red haired Bella Harrier Ruairidh MacDonald in front of us.  We rejoined Doonfoot Road at 5.5km and as we approached Ruairidh, Natalie made her move and overtook me and him.  I was kind of relieved that she had finally past me and relaxed for a moment or two before refocusing and catching Ruairdh.  I caught Natalie but she wasn’t for giving up and we ran along shoulder to shoulder for a while.  The sixth kilometre had taken us 4:24.  I edged in front as we entered the River Doon path but she kept right on my tail and we took 4:21 for the seventh kilometre.  I could see Suzanne ahead of me and Paula well in front of her.  I was thinking that I might be able to finish one place behind Suzanne when I heard a man’s footsteps behind me.  I lifted the pace slightly but it wasn’t long before I was overtaken by John Hagemeiser and Bernie O’Neil running shoulder to shoulder.  I made a cheeky attempt at catching them but they were too fast for me and I had to settle in behind them.  The eighth kilometre had taken 4:13 and I had managed to shake off Natalie.  John was running great and he soon left Bernie behind and she did the same to me.  There were a couple of guys ahead (Chris and Alasdair James) who seemed to be slowing and although I thought I might be able to catch them I tried to ignore them and focus on the stronger runners instead. Not surprisingly my pace dropped and the ninth kilometre took 4:21.  One kilometre to go and no surprises ahead, I gave it my all and could hear cries of “Great run, Ian” and “Well done, Ian Goudie” as I managed to catch Chris James and crossed the line in 42:45, a final kilometre of 3:50, only my third time under 43mins and a negative split to boot!

Paula had run a great race to place second female vet, behind Avril Mason, with Suzanne third in the same category.  I had placed fifth in my category, which isn’t bad when you think that it contains Jeff Farquhar and Al MacLachlan.

First across the line was Central AC’s tri-athlete David McNamee in 31:58, with Kerry Liam Wilson in runner up spot in 32:39 and Colin McGill third in 33:34. Jeff Farquhar was fourth and first super vet in 33:38 and Scot Kennedy was fifth and took the first vet prize in 34:47.  Kilmarnock’s Matt Ferguson being the first classic (V60+) in 44:27.

Natalie Fleming

In the women’s race Edinburgh’s Sarah Hood was first (eighth overall) in 36:09, followed by Alison Docherty (10^th overall) in 36:17 and Toni McIntosh  third (19^th overall) in 37:43. Louise Hill Stirling broke the 40min hurdle for the first time to win first junior prize in 39:14, whilst Toni’s mum Trish won the classic race (V55+) in a time of 56:33.

Selected results:

42 760 Paula Wilson Kilmarnock Hars F35-44, 41:50

 47 778 John Hagemeister Male 18-39 42:24

48 733 Suzanne McMahon Bellahouston Harriers F35-44, 42:29

49 776 Bernadette O'Neil Bellahouston Harriers F35-44, 42:37

51 841 Ian Goudie Kilmarnock Harrs Male 50-59, 42:45

53 795 Natalie Fleming Troon Tortoises F18-34 42:57

55 769 Ruairidh MacDonald Bellahouston Harriers Male 18-39, 43:25

Full Results

Congratulations to everyone who participated, marshalled, supported, organised or provided the lovely post race spread.