I was a bit later than planned in getting to Irvine. As I was collecting my race number the volunteer commented that he had seen my name in loads of results, at which I joked “yes but well down them”. I warmed up as I made my way to the race start at Cochrane Street with some Bellahouston Harriers and joined with the rest of the assembled runners outside the home of Irvine Victoria FC. This being a Kilmarnock Harriers Championship Race, I was surprised that there wasn’t much of a turnout from the pride of Ayrshire. Richard Skilling, David Lowdon, Brian Darroch, Ian Logan and myself from the men’s section were wearing the famous blue and white vest, whilst Kara Tait was the sole Killie Gal. Kibarchan were represented by Jim McMillan, Cat Stewart and flying machine Derek Hawkins, whilst Giffnock, Motherwell and Hamilton had one runner each: Sheila Lewis, Clare Barr and Jim Breen. Sarah Munn and Chris Clarke were there from Glasgow Uni Hare and Hounds whilst Cambuslang had Robert Gilroy and Kerry Wilson going head-to-head. Host club Irvine AC and their Ayrshire neighbours Troon Tortoises and Ayr Seaforth were all fairly well represented but again there were a number of runners noticeable by their absence. Together with a sprinkling of runners from other clubs and a number of those classified as unattached took the total number to around 130.
Race Report
After a staged ‘start’ for the local photographer we were set on our way at 11:14am. The first part of the router took us south and slightly uphill along Harbour Road and past the back of the railway station where the road veered right and headed down to Portland Roundabout. My Garmin beeped to reveal that the 1st k had taken me 4:13. “What a surprise”, I thought recalling that 4:13 seems to be the time it takes me to run the initial kilometre in a lot of my 10k races. The extended route, it was previously short, goes uphill at this point, along Beach Drive before a sharp left turn took us on to the cycle path, parallel to Marine Drive. I was disappointed but not surprised to see that my pace had dropped to 4:35. Clare was already well in front and Sheila and David Lowdon had also overtaken me. By the time that Garmin revealed that the 3rd k had taken me 4:32, I had slipped down the pack even further with Jim and Cat overtaken me. The 4th k was even worse at 4:42, Jim and Cat were increasing their lead and the only mystery was why Brian Darroch hadn’t overtaken me yet. I didn’t need to worry for long though as when I stopped to refresh myself at the water station he ran past me and turned left on to Marine Drive for the homeward leg. A guy with a yellow vest (Brian Hamilton) had also stopped for some water and as I chased after Brian Darroch, he overtook me. The 5th k had taken 4:40. I lent some encouragement to a few running buddies who I could see heading towards the turn before the road left the path at 6k. My pace had increased to 4:33 but I wasn’t having any success in closing the gap on Brian. In fact I had actually continued to slip down the field as Andy Taylor and someone else ( Darren Ramsay) had also overtaken me. I could see that Sarah Munn had dropped back a bit and I figured that I could catch her, Jim, Cat, Brian and Andy before the race ended. I made my move and caught yellow vest, Andy, Darren, Brian and just as Jim and Cat caught Sarah, I overtook all three of them. The 7th k had taken a much more respectable 4:23. I left the road and rejoined the path, there was now no-one else in sight and although I was telling myself to work hard, I could hear some runners closing in on me. My pace had dropped to 4:33. Someone cried “keep going Ian” as I rejoined Beach Drive. I could now see some other runners including David Lowdon in front and managed to increase the pace to 4:28 as I ran into a strong headwind. “It’s the same for everyone” I thought as I closed the gap slightly on at least one of the runners in front. I lost my bearings for a second at the roundabout before a marshal shouted out “this way” and directed me onto the promenade, where I caught sight of the next runner (Neil Jeffrey). I was chasing after him, along the cobbled road when “arghh” I felt a pain in my right knee. Jim Stevenson advised me that there was about 600m to go, as I decided to grin and bare it. “Nice smile for the camera” commented Gillian Scott as she photographed me just before the final strait. I heard my Garmin beeping as I approached the Finish and crossed the line to the sound of the timekeeper saying “ten”. The 10th k had taken me 4:17.
 |
| Grin and Bare it |
Poor Times
I couldn’t fathom why a race that had taken me 42:30 last year had taken 45:10 this year but as I congratulated the other runners a lot of them informed me that their times were also slower than usual.
I managed a walk/jog back to the Sports Centre with Jim Breen, Sheila and Clare before showering and getting my biscuit and cup of coffee. Unfortunately Irvine is not one of those clubs renowned for its post race spread.
Winners
Winners
Derek Hawkins had, as expected, won with a new course record, whilst Robert Gilroy had out paced Kerry Wilson to earn runner-up spot. Kara Tait won the women’s race, with the departed Clare and Sheila winning the FV35 and FV45 races respectively.
Losers
Losers
With my leg growing more pain full and stiffer by the minute, I headed back up the M77 for an extremely late brunch and some painkillers before heading back to bed.
Poor Me
Today I can hardly walk, never mind run but I did manage the short cycle into work, hopefully I’ll recover soon as I have a number of races scheduled in the near future, including: the Glasgow Half; the Around Cumbrae 10miler and the Great North Half.
Full Results (to follow)
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