My Crazy 50th Race of 2011

Pic by Chris Upson

Thursday 18 August was the date of the Kilmarnock Harriers’ Crazy Craigie Handicap Race, which has retained its original name despite being relocated to Fenwick last year. It was also the date of my 50th race of 2011.


I made my way down to Burns’ Country in plenty of time to prepare for the event, although a few of the more weel kent Harriers were not to be seen, there was still a good turn out of some 32 runners, including a decent number from the ‘six o’clock group’. The race organiser, Ian Gebbie was supported by a number of marshals, time keepers and others in ensuring that the event would be successful. Scott Martin had also arranged for the legend that is Sandy Ferguson to be in attendance to take photos for the local newspaper, the Kilmarnock Standard.

I wasn’t sure what the protocol was for the race and had taken both my Harriers vest and my parkrun 50 vest. There didn’t seem to be any hard and fast rule, so I plumped to wear my 50 vest, in honour of my 50th race.

We assembled next to the underpass at the M77 and Ian explained the format of the race and the route. After a couple of group photos, the first runners were dispatched along the footpath adjacent to the A77. We had been asked to submit our predicted times and I, along with some others had said 30:00, however this had no bearing as to when we were set off as Ian had calculated our race handicaps for us. I was a bit surprised to see some of those being set off before me and joked with the organisers about bribes being paid.


Race Report
Gerry Dodds, John Parker and Brian Darroch started as a group and then, 22 seconds later, at 7:12pm I was the solitary runner sent after them. The race starts at 123m above sea level and starts off downhill. I ran along the path and was then, with ‘keep to the right’ ringing in my ears, directed onto the B751 road towards Kilmaurs. I was a bit surprised to see that the organisers had posted kilometre markers around the course and as I reached the first one my new Garmin XT vibrated to inform me that it had taken 4:01. I hadn’t caught anyone yet but after another half kilometre I managed to overtake Rod Pugh and Ian Drummond, who had been given a 72 second start on me, I was therefore a wee bit surprised when Garmin revealed that at 2k my pace had slipped to 4:17.

Pic by Mike Scott

The route then turned right onto an unclassified ‘farm’ road and slightly uphill. My focus was on Brian Darroch but I didn’t seem to be making any ground on him, however I did pass another runner but my pace for the 3rd K had slipped to 4:20. I then lost a place when Richard Skilling passed me, despite starting 53 seconds after me. I reached the farm and saw a slightly bemused farmer as I continued up the quiet country track.

The road continued its steady incline, it zig-zagged a bit but I could still tell that Brian was running strong, unfortunately I wasn’t and my pace slowed to 4:32 for the 4th k. I continued, slightly uphill, and turned right onto the B778 Stewarton Road, heading towards Fenwick. Perhaps the steepest part of the route was the 5th k, I knew that it had taken its toll on me and my pace had slumped to 4:42. Another runner overtook me at this point. A marshal then directed us onto another country road and said “final sprint now ‘til the end”, although I overtook someone here, I knew that there should still be over a mile running to do, as we had earlier been advised that the race was 6.6k.

Another 0.25k and I reached the highest point of the course, some 144m above sea level. However I didn’t have anytime to admire the visa and instead raced down the hill, completing the 6th k in a more acceptable 4:18. I pride myself in being a decent downhill runner but there was nothing that I could do when first Scott Martin and then Iain Connell overtook in the next 0.25k. The route then ascended from 116m to 126m before the final downhill strait took me back to an altitude of 123m and over the line in a time of 29:07. My Garmin measured the course as 6.7k and I could see that other Garmin’s were displaying 4.17miles, so I think it’s fair to say that the course might be a tad longer than advertised. That said, it is the same distance for all runners. I shared congratulations with Brian and the other runners around me before warming down on my way back up to my car at the Kings Arms Hotel.


Good Times
A quick wash and change of clothes and I was in the former 18th Century staging post enjoying post race chat, a hot and cold buffet and a refreshing pint of the black stuff. It must be 30-35 years since I had been in the Kings and I was impressed with its olde-worlde charm.

Eve McClurg was the first person over the line and the tea total, vegetarian won a bottle of wine and a box of chocolates for her efforts. There were similar prizes for Maire Gorman, who won the women’s race, with a time of 28:51, and Iain Connell, who must have caught Scott, as he won the men’s race, in a great time of 23:09.

The organisers weren’t long in compiling all the results and I noticed that my predicted time by the handicappers was 29:08, which was almost spot on my actual time of 29:07, although that one second means that I ran faster than predicted…but only just. I placed 15th out of 32.

Thanks
All and all, a great event and an excellent way for me to mark my 50th race of the year, huge thanks are due to Kilmarnock Harriers and to Ian Gebbie in particular for all his hard work.

Results
Name/ Projected Time/ Handicap/ Total Time/ Race Po’n /Net Time/ Net Pos’n/ Actual v Projected

Iain Connell 00:23:33 00:16:27 00:39:36 19 00:23:09 1 00:00:24 Faster

Scott Martin 00:24:50 00:15:10 00:39:23 16 00:24:13 2 00:00:37 Faster

John Cairns 00:25:05 00:14:55 00:39:56 23 00:25:01 3 00:00:04 Faster

David McLeod 00:25:55 00:14:05 00:39:51 22 00:25:46 4 00:00:09 Faster

John McClarty 00:28:00 00:12:00 00:39:16 15 00:27:16 5 00:00:44 Faster

Richard Skillen 00:28:15 00:11:45 00:39:02 12 00:27:17 6 00:00:58 Faster

Gerry Dodds 00:29:30 00:10:30 00:38:23 9 00:27:53 7 00:01:37 Faster

John Parker 00:29:30 00:10:30 00:38:30 10 00:28:00 8 00:01:30 Faster

George Laird 00:26:26 00:13:34 00:41:44 30 00:28:10 9 00:01:44 Slower

David Lowdon 00:28:40 00:11:20 00:39:33 18 00:28:13 10 00:00:27 Faster

Alasdair Cochrane 00:28:45 00:11:15 00:39:44 21 00:28:29 11 00:00:16 Faster

Willie Duffy 00:29:45 00:10:15 00:38:55 11 00:28:40 12 00:01:05 Faster

Maire Gorman 00:31:50 00:08:10 00:37:01 3 00:28:51 13 00:02:59 Faster

Brian Darroch 00:29:30 00:10:30 00:39:24 17 00:28:54 14 00:00:36 Faster

Ian Goudie 00:29:08 00:10:52 00:39:59 24 00:29:07 15 00:00:01 Faster

Adam Law 00:30:15 00:09:45 00:39:10 13 00:29:25 16 00:00:50 Faster

Matt Dodds 00:30:00 00:10:00 00:39:41 20 00:29:41 17 00:00:19 Faster

David Mitchell 00:30:00 00:10:00 00:40:30 26 00:30:30 18 00:00:30 Slower

Rod Pugh 00:30:20 00:09:40 00:41:26 28 00:31:46 19 00:01:26 Slower

Ian Drummond 00:30:20 00:09:40 00:41:26 29 00:31:46 20 00:01:26 Slower

Bernard Brown 00:32:00 00:08:00 00:40:07 25 00:32:07 21 00:00:07 Slower

Alex McGee 00:33:00 00:07:00 00:39:14 14 00:32:14 22 00:00:46 Faster

Darren Rydock 00:30:00 00:10:00 00:42:52 31 00:32:52 23 00:02:52 Slower

Brian McManus 00:32:00 00:08:00 00:41:12 27 00:33:12 24 00:01:12 Slower

Eve McClurg 00:38:30 00:01:30 00:35:59 1 00:34:29 25 00:04:01 Faster

Liz Paterson 00:38:30 00:01:30 00:37:46 6 00:36:16 26 00:02:14 Faster

Sharon Barr 00:39:30 00:00:30 00:37:19 4 00:36:49 27 00:02:41 Faster

Fiona Robb 00:39:30 00:00:30 00:37:20 5 00:36:50 28 00:02:40 Faster

Colin Crosbie 00:40:00 00:00:00 00:36:56 2 00:36:56 29 00:03:04 Faster

Anne Graham 00:40:00 00:00:00 00:38:09 7 00:38:09 30 00:01:51 Faster

Rebecca Audsley 00:40:00 00:00:00 00:38:12 8 00:38:12 31 00:01:48 Faster

Heather Stewart 00:38:30 00:01:30 00:45:06 32 00:43:36 32 00:05:06 Slower


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