2-4-6-8-10-12-14 Motorway

I ran my 25th and strangest race of the year on Sunday, the M74 Bike ‘n’ Hike. The forecast had been for strong winds and heavy rain and it was to prove accurate as I huddled with Bellahouston Harriers and other runners in the shelter of Shields Road Underground Station. A number of us were dressed in black bin liners, in order to keep the elements at bay until the race started. We then made our way along the road and joined in with the assembled masses for the pre-race warm up, however although most people initially joined in with the disco inspired exercises, it wasn’t too long until the in climate weather had dampened their initial enthusiasm. We disrobed ourselves of our bin liners and other outer garments in preparation for the race, only to discover that we had a long, uphill, walk, along the access road to another warm up stage at the start of the motorway. Finally at 9:49am, almost 20mins late, we were set on our way, running eastwards, along the M74 Completion Route. Two doyens of the West of Scotland running scene, Super-veterans Gerry Montgomery and Robert Rogerson lined up on the Start line. I wished the two of them well and made my way back a little, taking my place amongst the thousands of other runners.

I had decided that I would treat the event as a Tempo run and wasn’t too disappointed to run the first kilometre in a time of 4:42. A little later on, I was surprised to discover that as well as K markers, the organisers had also provided 1/2K ones as well. I’m not sure that was a good idea or not. Anyway I counted the K and the 1/2K markers along the undulating route, over the Gorbals, Polmadie and Rutherglen we ran before crossing the Clyde and turning around just before the new road joined the existing M74 at Carmyle.

As soon as I turned, I could feel the energy zapping, headwind blowing into my face. However I kept to my pace and focussed on Andrew Hardman, who had stopped at the half way point to take some photographs. He’s a decent runner and as I kept him in sight, I found myself overtaking many of those that had passed me in the first half.

I found myself smiling as I approached the 9½K marker, knowing that I would normally be running flat out at this stage. My leg muscles were feeling the effect of the undulating course and the headwind but I was feeling strong and continued to overtake other runners. As we retuned to the Start line, the course got a bit busy, with walkers oblivious to the runners in the lane that they had spilled into. To be fair, there weren’t that many of us at this stage and we were well spread out. I successfully weaved my way through them and the road once again became eerily quiet as I neared the end. I increased the pace as the route headed down hill towards Scotland Street and then all of a sudden the race was finished. I couldn’t see any Finish line, or even a 14k marker. There was no-one taking a note of your running number or recording your time. However I did see people in Hi Viz vests handing out Certificates of Completion and I accepted mine slightly bemused and disappointed. A girl behind me asked “is this it?” I couldn’t see any water or bananas or anything else for that matter being handed out and decided that it would be best to get back to my car, for my post race drink and some warm dry clothes, pick up the papers and head home for a well deserved brunch.


Result
Garmin revealed that I had completed the course in a time of 1:04:30, an average pace of 4:37, and that my Heart Rate had averaged 148 but for whatever reason I was shattered, my legs muscles were aching and my body needed to sleep, so I spent much of the rest of the day in bed. Hopefully the experience will have been a worthwhile one and I’ll get the benefit at forthcoming races. I’m glad I ran it, it was a unique experience although it lacked something special at the end, or even a Finish line.

Tom Robinson 2-4-6-8 Motorway