Century Ian

Thanks to William 'Bellahouston Harrier' 

Well Plan B didn't last long. On my first night of my new training schedule, I jogged the mile along to Maxwell Park and then as soon as I increased my pace to start my intervals I felt the strain on my abductor and hamstring muscles. I hobbled home and took an enforced break from running.  The good news was that I refreshed my training by doing some cycling and resorting to working on my upper body and abs during the next week.

This meant that I had to postpone my 100th parkrun and had to pull out of the Inverness Half.  I managed a 5.5mile run on Thursday though and, with no real adverse affects, decided to run my 100th parkrun on Saturday 10th March.

The wonders of the Internet, social networking and good old-fashioned word of mouth, meant that when I arrived at Pollok Park, I was greeted with one good wish after the other. The acknowledgements continued as I did my warm up and by the time we lined up at the start of my 100th parkrun I was on a real high.  However I was wary of my leg and I didn't want to damage it again.  I recalled the old running adage: "Don't start like an idiot and don't finish like a wimp."

At 9:30am I set off with another 365 runners, spooky with this being a leap year.  I ignored my fellow runners who darted off, whilst I tried to restrain my pace.  Despite the large turnout, including some who had came along especially to join me in my centennial canter, some regulars were missing with: holidays, the Inverness Half and the local Jack Crawford 10k all attracting Glasgow parkrunners.

Martin Myant gave me a friendly pack on the back as he overtook me and marshalls and supporters smiled, waved and provided words of support and recognition of my century of runs.

In the race itself, I was a bit surprised to catch Martin up as he is one of the most consistent runners at the event.  He did reappear on my shoulder a bit later but he didn't have quite enough to overtake me as I stuck to my task of having a respectable, if not spectacular race.   I increased the pace a little in the final third of the 5k event and continued to make my way through the field.  I passed in-form Graeme Pert on his way to another PB.  With a kilometre to go, I felt my hamstring straining and, for a second, I thought about pulling over and walking for a bit.  "Don't finish like a wimp" I reminded myself and stuck to my task.  I finished strongly but resisted the temptation to go hell for leather on the last 200m.  I didn't want to do anymore damage to my leg and I crossed the line in 66th place with a time of 21:56.  I was happy enough with that, my fastest time at Glasgow since November 2011 and almost half a minute faster than my last outing two weeks ago.  I shared congratulations with those around me and others in the queue as they waited to hand in their barcodes.

This was my 86th Glasgow parkrun and I've run it in sunshine and in snow, in hail and in rain.  I've run at least six different routes in Glasgow and I've finished as high as 14th and with a fastest time of 20:50.  I've run it at the end of long run training sessions and I've run it in support of others, encouraging them on their way round.  Competitively, I've had some good tussles over the time, not least of all racing against my cousin Kenny Rae on his sole outing.

I've also completed 10 Strathclyde parkruns, on two slightly different routes, in my century of parkruns, placing as high as 12th, with a best time of 20:29.  I had the pleasure of acting as a pacer at one of the Strathclyde races, helping fellow runners to complete the course in around 21 minutes.  I've had three outings at the Edinburgh parkrun, on three, slightly different Cramond courses. My best Edinburgh place being 30th but my best time there was a PB of 20:19.  My single sojorn to Falkirk, saw me placing 44th in the inaugural event, with a time of 23:15, as I commemorated my 100th 5k race by tackling Callendar Park's now infamous Heartbreak Hill.
 
I've made a lot of friends as I've run my 500km through Scotland's parks, some of them were kind enough to help me celebrate my century of canters by joining me in the Burrell Cafe for some cake, chocolates and coffee to mark the occasion after Saturday's events.  Thanks to all of you for making each one of the hundred 5k races so special. 


Reagan's First
One special runner at the Glasgow parkrun on Saturday was Reagan Maliska who was tackling his first 5k to raise funds for The Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice, who had cared for his Grandfather Jack during the last few weeks of his life, which sadly ended in December 2011.  The youngster has raised over £1200, so far, for the Hospice and deserves all of

our respect and admiration.  Well done Reagan!

My Race with a Marathon Running Legend

Me with a real runner......and RLS in the background

Although it was supposed to be my second week at the photography class, I had pre arranged a meeting in Auld Reekie with Julia Armstrong and had cleared my absence with the course lecturer. Of course I arranged our meeting to coincide with the Edinburgh parkrun and encouraged local runners Jennifer Telford and Jill Knowles to participate in the free 5k event.

I arrived at Cramond in plenty of time to warm up and chat with all three and others before lining up at the new start line for my second time in a month. I had checked my previous time (22:42) and set off with the intention of beating but not going flat out as I was racing in the Vets Relay on Sunday. As usual, Jill shot off into the distance to win the women's race, whilst Jenny, Julia and I settled into our individual races. The first kilometre took me 3:53 and I was surprised to see so many people overtaken me, an indication of how strong the field has become. I slowed quite a bit in the second kilometre, taking 4:18, as Jenny, followed by Julia ran ahead and Ruth Johnston caught up with me. I pulled away from Ruth and we ran around the triangular shaped part of the course. I could see Jenny well ahead and Julia in front and I thought I was working hard when Claire Houston sprinted past me and ran into the distance. The third kilometre had taken 4:08. We were now running into the icy wind and unfortunately my pace slipped to 4:16 for the penultimate kilometre. I set my sight on a young runner ahead with a ‘10 race parkrun vest’ on, unfortunately as I closed in on him, he pulled over to the left and vomited.

Ron Russell's pic captures our sprint to the line

I could hear Carnegie’s ‘Key ring’ Morgan receiving a lot of support and knew that he was right on my tail. Jenny was already finished and was supporting me as Key ring and I sprinted towards the line to finish together. I stopped my Garmin in a time of 20:45 and congratulated ‘Key ring’ on his race. However I was gutted with my time, I’ve been training really hard and was confident that I would be able to improve on the time that I had recorded on 1st January. I was close to my time but just not good enough. Perhaps I had trained too hard during the week, my training is aimed at doing the Alloa Half but I was still confident that I could improve on my previous time.

You'll have had your tea - Gary Frater

I parked my disappointment and congratulated Jill, Jenny and Julia before handing in my barcode and heading off for my warm down. Jill and Jenny headed off to complete their day’s mileage, whilst Julia and I headed towards the Cramond Gallery Bistro. We were waiting outside for Julia’s brother to arrive, when we noticed someone speeding down the brae to the foreshore, it was last week’s Edinburgh parkrun winner and fellow Killie fan, Colin McGill. After a brief chat we left him to complete his 20 mile run, including 13 at marathon pace, and we headed for our ‘hard earned’ coffee and cake.

Thanks to Gary Frater and his team of hard working volunteers for ensuring that the, ever growing, Edinburgh parkrun is such a success.

Julia ran for England in the Commonwealth Games marathon in Edinburgh 25 years ago and will mark the anniversary by competing in this year's Edinburgh Marathon.

UPDATE …..UPDATE….UPDATE…..PB

When I received my email from Edinburgh parkrun advising me that I had completed my 66th event in a time of 20:44, I checked my previous results to discover that my previous time was actually 20:45 and not 20:42!! I had in fact run a course and season PB without realising it. It’s amazing the difference that a second or three can make to a runner.

Full Results



Ron Russell's pics here