LSK Masters Road Relay Championship – My 11th Race of January 2011



Start of the first leg -pic by Kenny Phillips

 A record 186 mature athletes participated in the LSK Masters Road Relay Championship on a bitterly cold and windy morning on the last day of January 2011. I had only participated in the event once before in 2009 and had failed to check my time before the race, I had also forgotten to pack my Kilmarnock Harriers vest! Fortunately Kenny Wales had a spare vest with him and I donned it, prior to leading the Harriers’ ‘B’ team around Strathclyde Loch.

There were a few confused runners at the start, as this year the organisers broke with the tradition of having a staggered start between the men’s and women’s events and sent us all out together. All runners race the same course, the only difference being that the men’s teams consist of four runners, whilst the women’s consist of three. The organisers had also added a new category to the race, including 50+ teams for the first time.   Despite appearances, Kilmarnock only had three athletes in this category and therefore entered both teams in the 35+ race.

The Race

I set off with another 51 runners to do the first leg with some well known faces. The field settled down during the first kilometre with Annmarie McCaffrey ahead of me, Clare Barr behind me and Motherwell’s Gerald Hartley by my side. The first kilometre had taken me 3:55. I thought about trying to run behind Annmarie but she was too fast for me. I started to slow after the first mile as the route turned right into the icy wind. Gerald maintained his pace and left me behind as he started working his way up the field. The second kilometre took 4:06. Carnegie’s Gail Murdoch was sitting in behind me as we approached the undulating back section of the course. The third kilometre took me/us 4:15. Annmarie was still running well but the group which she had been in had left her behind. I managed to keep Gail at bay up and down the rolling hills with the fourth kilometre taken me/us 4:18. However I slowed a wee bit more over the next kilometre, which took me 4:22, and she overtook me as the course levelled out. I chased after her as we ran along the beach before reaching the end of the loch and joining the path back to the Watersports Centre and the Finish Line. I handed over to Tom Wyper in 24:39, five seconds behind of Gail and fifteen behind of Annmarie but ten seconds in front of Clare. Much further up the field Killie’s Iain Connell had won the lap in a time of 19:29, three seconds ahead of Carnegie’s Allan Fotheringham, with Dumfries’s Joasia Zakrzewski being the first woman in a time of 21:05 and Falkirk leading the M50 team race, with Alec Bryce completing the lap in 20:53.



Dignified Finish - pic by Karen Craig



Post Race

After a short rest and post race mutual congratulations, I swapped my racing shoes for my trainers, added another layer and headed around the course in the opposite direction, in order to get my daily target of 11 miles done and support the other runners. 

This was the furthest that I've run since September 2010 and it was with aching leg muscles that I made my way back to the Watersports Centre for coffee, carrot cake and post race chat. As usual it was good to meet some familiar faces as well as new ones, including fellow Blogger Allan Fotheringham.  

Congratulations to everyone that took part and to the organisers  who, eventually, managed to fathom out the various results.


Kilmarnock Harriers
Although there was no third place this year for Kilmarnock Harriers, the Club didn’t leave Strathclyde Park empty handed as Iain Connell ran the third fastest lap on the day. Iain’s time of 19:29 was good enough to put the Harriers’ ‘A’ team into an early lead but fine performances from Scott Martin (20:50); Les McDerment (22:24) and Connell Drummond (21:32) were insufficient to deliver a top three place for the team, placing a respectable sixth.

I led the ‘B’ Team and handed over to Tom Wyper in 24:39. Tom completed his lap in 25:42 and handed over to Matt Ferguson, who ran a very respectable 24:57. Ken Wales ran the final leg of the icy cold morning, completing his lap in 26:33 to earn 22nd place for the Team.

Full Results

NEW PB BY 71 SECONDS
Despite my aching legs, I felt like jumping for joy when I discovered that I had taken one minute and eleven seconds off of my previous time, over the SAME course, in 2009.  Although rather than the 3.8 mile advertised length, my Garmin recorded the distance as 3.7 miles, which seemed to be the general concensus. I placed 76th out of 105 in the M35+ race.