MND Four Mile Run for Christine

After some deliberation over whether to do the Dunlop 10k, the Walter Scott Memorial 10k or the MND 4 Mile Run, I decided to plump for the MND and run it on behalf of my wee sister Christine who died of Motor Neurone Disease.

I had run this race in the sweltering heat, with a hangover last year and placed seventh. So I knew that the competition wasn’t great and that there was an opportunity to win a trophy for Christine.

I got to Strathclyde Park in plenty of time to register and to pay them the 50p which someone owed them from last year. You know who you are. I got chatting with a few running buddies and Scott Hastings, who I knew from my rugby days and catch up with him at various running events. He enjoys his running and doesn’t take it anyway as serious as his rugby. After a warm up, I lined up at the front of the field.

This year the organisers had decided to have two waves for the 600 or so participants, the first one being for the runners and the second one being for walkers. There were two races being staged simultaneously: a four miler and a six miler but I didn’t know which runners were doing which.

A Winner's Trophy for Tini

I lined up at the front of the Start line, outside the Watersports Centre, and at 11:00am Scott sent us on our way. I dashed out of the traps and was leading the race, when I noticed Clair McCracken running towards me doing a training run. A quick ‘hi’ and I continued along the side of Strathclyde Loch where we joined the local parkrun route. I had run the first kilometre in 4:02 but I knew that I wouldn’t be able to keep that up at this stage of my comeback, especially after having run well at the Glasgow parkrun the day before.  I’m also not used to leading races these days, so I wasn’t too surprised or upset that my pace decreased and a couple of guys passed me after about a mile, although I did hope that both of them would be doing the Six Mile Race.

I held off the challenge of another runner, who sounded like a pressure cooker and was glad to see that when we reached the turn off point that he was doing the six mile event. What I wasn’t glad about was the fact that the second placed runner had turned right along the four mile route. I kept him in my sights and made steady progress as I chased after him along the loch and up the wee hill. I increased the pace after this and as I ran past the beach, I was confident of catching him on the road section but, just as I was making my move, he found an extra gear and started to pull away. I chased after him but he was too fast for me and he crossed the line a few seconds in front. As I finished the officials informed me that I had placed first in the veteran’s race, I collected my goody bag and we congratulated each other as we headed for the massage marquee.

I had completed the race in 26:51, 77 seconds quicker than last year’s 28:08 and my Heart Rate had averaged 156.

I chatted away with loads of other runners before the prize winners all assembled in front of the main marquee to be awarded our trophies by the local MSP. Christina McKelvie. Immediately after the award ceremony, I explained to the others that I had another race to run and headed back towards Glasgow for my second race of the day and my third of the weekend, the Walter Scott Memorial 10k.