Fast, Flat, Cold and Windy 3k on the Green

Unfortunately I've not made it along to the 3k on the Green nearly as often as I would have liked. In fact, I've only actually raced the charity event a total of five times:

5 Nov 2010 – 11:50

25 Feb 2011 – 11:59

28 Oct 2011 – 12:21

27 July 2012 - 12:46

27 Sept 2013 – 12:53

I was a bit surprised to see how steady my decline has been since my first race, my times have consistently got longer (worse) as the months and years have passed. It was maybe just as well that I didn't check my times before heading along to take part in the increasingly popular event for the sixth time. There were a few friends there that had also took part on 5 Nov 2010, including: Al Maclachlan, Clare Barr, Graeme Aitken and Tony Quinn and also a number who were participating in the flat, fast and accurately measured race for the first time, including John Softley.

It was a lot colder than I was expecting and very windy too but some 61 runners lined up at the Start, an increase of 11 on last month and 25 on last year! There were a number of pre-race announcements, which drew well deserved applause, although some of this may have also been the runners warming their hands prior to the race. I started quite near the front and shot off with some of the faster runners right from the go. I knew that I was running faster than usual and just hoped that I could retain a decent pace for the 3k. I found myself around or within sight of runners who are usually well in front of me but took some confidence from a couple of less athletic looking runners who were running at the same pace, although I've learned over the years never to judge a runner by their appearance or running style.

I heard the footsteps of a female runner closing in on me and dug a little deeper as I approached the turn point. I thought it might have been Erica Christie but I noticed that she was a bit further behind me after I turned. I caught a few runners in the second half and was closing in on another when a runner sprinted past me as we entered the final strait. I was working hard and was appreciative of the shouts of encouragement from my friends as I sprinted over the line in a time of 11:58, to place 25^th.

After getting my breath back, I exchanged mutual congratulatons with loads of other runners before thanking the volunteers and warming down. My records were later to reveal that I had run my second fastest ever 3k on the Green and I had achieved a WAVA of 73.72%, my best in 40 months and one of my best ever.  

Many thanks to all involved.

Full Results

Mar 14			3k Race on the Green
Runner	Category	M/F	Club			Race Time
1	Peter Avent	Senior	M	Lasswade	00:09:08
2	Ciaran Dougherty	Senior	M	Bellahouston Roadrunners	00:09:42
3	Steven Prentice	Senior	M	Bellahouston Harriers	00:09:46
4	Bob Reid	Senior	M	Bellahouston Roadrunners	00:09:48
5	Graham McCabe	Veteran	M	Kirkintilloch Olympians	00:09:57
6	John Denovan	Senior	M	Westerlands	00:09:59
7	Andrew White	Veteran	M	Greenock Glenpark Harriers	00:10:05
8	Sean Reid	Senior	M			00:10:11
9	Shazad Hakeem	Senior	M	Ronhill Cambuslang	00:10:19
10	Andrew Wright	Senior	M			00:10:21
11	Euan Craig	Senior	M	Kirkintilloch Olympians	00:10:28
12	Chris Marsh	Senior	M	Giffnock North	00:10:29
13	Alastair Andrew	Senior	M			00:10:39
14	James Grieve	Senior	M	Athelite Triathlon Club	00:10:59
15	Chris Watson	Senior	M	Greenock Glenpark Harriers	00:11:02
16	Anthony Quinn	Super Veteran	M	Cartha Harriers	00:11:05
17	Mark Ashby	Super Veteran	M	Victoria Park	00:11:12
18	Christopher McKiddie	Senior	M			00:11:14
19	Alastair MacLachlan	Super Veteran	M	Bellahouston Roadrunners	00:11:23
20	Mike Donohue	Super Veteran	M			00:11:27
21	Craig Torgersen	Senior	M			00:11:32
22	Steven Robertson	Senior	M			00:11:36
23	Jordan Jeffrey	Senior	M			00:11:55
24	William Martin	Veteran	M			00:11:56
25	Ian Goudie	Super Veteran	M	Bellahouston Harriers	00:11:58
26	Rob Gallacher	Senior	M			00:12:05
27	Allison Simpson	Veteran	F			00:12:08
28	Lee Cameron	Senior	M			00:12:12
29	Niel Taylor	Senior	M	Stirling Triathlon	00:12:14
30	Russell Paton	Senior	M			00:12:18
31	Jeremy Deveney	Senior	M	Greenock Glenpark Harriers	00:12:21
32	Graeme Aitken	Veteran	M	Sweatshop Glasgow	00:12:22
33	Clare Barr	Veteran	F	Motherwell AC	00:12:26
34	Sharon McKinley	Senior	F	Bellahouston Harriers	00:12:27
35	Graeme Pert	Super Veteran	M			00:12:32
36	David Kelly	Senior	M			00:12:34
37	Erica Christie	Super Veteran	F	Bellahouston Harriers	00:12:50
38	Andy Brown	Senior	M			00:12:55
39	Marco Porelli	Senior	M			00:12:57
40	Stephen McKee	Super Veteran	M			00:13:01
41	Scott Fergus	Veteran	M			00:13:02
42	Keith MacKenzie	Veteran	M			00:13:08
43	Stephen Fitzgerald	Senior	M			00:13:13
44	Margaret Hutchinson	Veteran	F			00:13:27
45	Morag Casey	Veteran	F	Garscube Harriers	00:13:33
46	Tony Hamilton	Senior	M			00:13:34
47	Alasdair MacKay	Veteran	M	Garscube Harriers	00:13:46
48	John Softley	Super Vet	M	Bellahouston Harriers	00:14:04
49	Sharon Malloy	Veteran	F		00:14:20
50	Colin Aylot	Super Veteran	M		00:14:30
51	Gael McCallum	Veteran	F	Bellahouston Harriers	00:14:37
52	Naomi Watt	Senior			00:14:54
53	Michelle Morrison	Senior	F		00:14:56
54	Carol Keenan	Super Veteran	F	Bellahouston Harriers	00:15:29
55	Victoria Devoy	Senior	F		00:15:40
56	Kirstie Barton	Veteran	F		00:17:03
57	C Kelly	Veteran	M		00:17:03
58	Lynne Malcolm	Veteran	F		00:17:13
59	Lynsey McFarlane	Senior	F		00:17:34
60	Caroline Hunter	Senior	F		00:18:02
61	Paula Petersen	Senior	F		00:18:02