Scottish National Cross Country Race

It was strange not participating in a parkrun on Saturday, February 20 but as I had volunteered to do the web report, I couldn’t resist the urge to go along and watch the event. As I drove along I noticed a few early morning runners which put me in the mood for a run. It was good to see the winners of the parkrun finishing for a change and to see the efforts of those that normally finish around the same time as I do. I maid my way home, passing other runners and decided to go back to bed. Unfortunately I then lost the enthusiasm to race and thought about having a day off, before telling myself that I would still need to put in a training run anyway.

I made my way to Callander Park, Falkirk where I supported the Senior Women’s race before, eventually, meeting up with the other Killie Harriers. Although there were nine names down to run, only six of us had turned up on the day which meant that my performance would be one of the top six that count for the team points.

It was a cold but beautiful winter’s day, the sun was shining but the ground was a bit hard and I wasn’t sure if my spikes were the correct choice of footwear for the day. After a short warm up, I decided to wear my long sleeved vest under my Killie vest and headed to the start line in front of Callander House, where I joined around 450 other runners.

With little ado we were off and a mass of runners headed up the first hill. There were loads of excellent runners who raced away whilst I worked hard to settle into a decent pace. As we turned right and headed towards the frozen pond, I recognised a few runners that I knew were slightly better than me and was happy that we seemed to be running along together, however it wasn’t long until they left me behind. I tried to hang on to John Hagemeister for a wee while but he also left me. The route left the pond and followed the perimeter of the golf course on our left before a very steep fall down to a dry burn and back up the other side and along to our right back towards Callander House. My Garmin read 12 minutes so I knew that the first lap still had a lot more to endure as we veered off to the left and back uphill.

A sharp right turn and we were running along Antonine Wall, before a left turn took us down the mud bath which headed towards the finish line. Someone shouted “only another five miles to go” as I turned left and headed back uphill. It was a bit of a struggle but I managed to keep running and continued on my second lap. I could hear someone gasping for breath behind me and I wondered how he would keep going for another two laps. He was right behind me and tried to overtake me a couple of times but I held him off, using his work rate as motivation. Someone shouted “you’re doing well, work together” but as we left the frozen pond for the second time he overtook me and ran into the distance. I threw myself down to the dry burn and my momentum almost took me back up the other side. As I made my way back along towards the House,

I could hear people shouting “C’mon Cammy” repeatedly and although I didn’t know who was behind me, he did appear to be one of the most popular runners in the field as his support continued along the route before overtaking me and I recognised him as Inverclyde’s Cammy Spence.

As I ran along Antonine Wall towards the end of my second lap I could now hear calls of “C’mon Ali” and I thought “oh no not someone else.” I pushed it in and tried to pull away but the calls continued. I then noticed Shettleston’s Tsegezab Woldemichael passing by me on my left hand side, immediately followed by Ali Hay on my right hand side. It wasn’t long until they were joined by Derek Hawkins, Chris Powner and Dan Mulhare. As they sprinted towards the finish line, I veered to my left to ascend the hill for my third and last time. I knew that I would finish the race now and I was hoping to make up some time and catch a few runners. I could now hear people shouting my name and as I made my way around Claire McCracken, the Bella girls, Toni McIntosh, Jimmy and Sandra Irvine, Jim Buick, Chris Upson and others all provided vocal support.

I caught up with a brown shirted Hunter Bog Trotter who cried out “on you go” as I passed him.
A little further on and I caught a short guy who said “well done” as I past bye.

I’m not sure if I would have been as supportive to others but I was impressed by their courtesy.

I tried to run faster but my legs were heavy and I just couldn’t run as fast as I would have liked. As I turned right, I glanced over my shoulder and observed that there wasn’t anyone close to me. I focussed on catching up with those in front and as I narrowed the gap I could hear the calls of “C’mon Cammy”, so I targeted the Inverclyde runner as I made my way around the remainder of the course. He was racing against a Portobello runner and I was catching them albeit slowly. Any hope of catching the pair was scuppered with the mud bath which passed as the final straight. I did try really hard but it was heavy going underfoot and the gap was just too great. They crossed the finishing line together, some eight seconds ahead of me. My time was 59:04, which was far from great but I had guestimated that it would take me about an hour.

The Killie Captain, Connell Drumond, was waiting to congratulate me as I made my way to the end of the line of officials. I then noticed Bella’s Dougie McGregor crossing the line and we congratulated him before heading back to the other Killie Harriers for a quick chat before making our way home.

The published results revealed that I had placed 400th out of 447 finishers, not everyone had finished. As the sixth Killie Harrier my place actually counted and the team placed 20th, five better than the year previous. Although this was of course mostly due to the faster times of the other team members, my endeavours did help and I got a mention in the Kilmarnock Standard. There was no chance of me counting as a Bellahouston Road Runner

There was no medal, no goody bag, no fruit and no water but where else do you get the opportunity to join with the elite and compete in the most prestigious event of any sport. Would I do it again, you bet I would!


Pics by Kenny Phillips and Chris Upson

Video

Glasgow parkrun 60

Another week, another Glasgow parkrun. The good thing about doing the same run so often is that you can experiment with your tactics. A couple of weeks ago Erica had pointed out that my pace fluctuated and that her’s was consistent. As she beat me on that occasion and on every other occasion that we have participated in the same road race for more than a decade, I decided that I would follow her around the course this week.

I noticed her standing at the front as I positioned myself a couple of rows back, Graeme Aitken approached me and advised me that as I was a better pacer than he was that he was going to follow me around the course! As we set off I maintained my place a few steps back from Erica as we were overtaken by what seemed to be hundreds of runners. I kept my patience though and it wasn’t long until Graeme, Erica and I were running along shoulder to shoulder.

 Myself, John, Erica and Graeme starting patiently - pic by Gill Williamson

However the pace did seem to be slow and Graeme broke away as we reached the top of the glade. A bit later and I also decide to increase the pace and left Erica behind. I was reeling other runners in as I ran down the glade and up the hills. After climbing the last hill in the first lap I was just behind Graeme and he shouted “C’mon Ian” as he sped away downhill. I maintained my pace and as I turned the corner I looked over my shoulder to see that Erica was a good bit and about four places behind. When I reached the glade again, I could see that John Hagemeister was in sight but a good bit in front. I increased my pace and worked hard at catching up with the other runners, including Graeme. Near the bottom of the hill, I decided to push it that bit more and overtake the guy in a yellow top in front of me. I turned left and started my final approach to the hills. I could hear someone breathing just behind me and presumed that yellow jersey had chased after me. I was working hard as I started to lap people struggling up the hill. The competition was on my shoulder though and I had to keep working hard. Over the top of the brae and at the top of the downhill section, I could sense someone on my left trying to overtake me. “No way” I thought, as I increased my speed to hold them off. There was still about 400 metres to go as we raced down hill and towards the finish line, where a final sprint saw me reaching the line just in front. I turned to see not a yellow vest but Stewart McCardle.

Holding off Stewart near the finish - pic by Gill Williamson
As we exchanged congratulations he advised me that he thought that he would have caught me and that he was being pushed all the way by a youngster on his shoulder. I initially thought that the youth would have been James Stanley (one of Mhairi’s sons) but the results indicated that it was another 14 year old, Robbie Barr of Giffnock and that James was even further behind.


The results confirmed that I had completed the course in 21:44, an SB of some 21 seconds and if Garmin is to be believed a final km in 3:32! (4:21, 4:30; 4:57; 4:24, 3:32). I don’t know if that was accurate but I do know that I was shattered and had really pushed myself during that last km. I had also beaten Erica for the first time on a road race, although she is obviously not at her best and I had maintained my third position in the individual points table with 588.

There was yet another new record of those taken part with some 286 runners.

Selected Results:

65 John GILHOOLY 21:08 VM50-54 69.79 % M 59 New PB! 12

66 Marie MCCHORD 21:16 VW50-54 79.55 % F 7 Kirkintilloch Olympians PB stays at 00:21:12 9

70 John HAGEMEISTER 21:28 SM35-39 62.19 % M 63 Bellahouston Harriers PB stays at 00:20:42 27

74 Ian GOUDIE 21:44 VM50-54 68.94 % M 67 Kilmarnock Harrier & A.C PB stays at 00:21:18 36

75 Stewart MCCARDLE 21:44 VM55-59 72.55 % M 68 PB stays at 00:21:15 4

76 Robbie BARR 21:45 JM14 68.35 % M 69 Giffnock North AAC PB stays at 00:21:00 8

77 Dan MAHER 21:48 VM40-44 63.07 % M 70 Bellahouston Harriers PB stays at 00:21:30 43

82 Graeme AITKEN 22:01 VM40-44 62.00 % M 75 Lomond Hill Runners AAC PB stays at 00:21:45 28

87 James STANLEY 22:20 JM14 66.57 % M 80 Garscube Harriers PB stays at 00:22:02 6

90 Erica CHRISTIE 22:25 VW50-54 78.44 % F 8 Bellahouston Harriers PB stays at 00:20:06 28

95 Ros O'SULLIVAN 22:39 VW45-49 72.92 % F 10 Kirkintilloch Olympians New PB! 7

99 Richard LEYTON 22:43 SM35-39 58.40 % M 89 Bellahouston Road Runners PB stays at 00:21:30 11

107 Debbie CONSANI 22:53 SW30-34 65.11 % F 12 Garscube Harriers New PB! 3

108 Campbell JOSS 23:04 VM55-59 67.20 % M 96 Bellahouston Harriers PB stays at 00:18:24 20

Killie Standard

I advised friends that one of my reasons for switching to Kilmarnock Harriers was to get some publicity in the local press.  Little did I know that my first outing in a Killie vest had indeed made the news on Jan 22, 2010.  Although the headline of  Athletics: Junior Kilmarnock Harriers win medal treble gave nothing away, within the article which went onto talk about postponed races was the following mention:

AL Murray and Ian Goudie did manage a race at the weekend as they took part in the Park Run.


The standard route was still too icy and all credit to the organisers who recognised the efforts of almost 60 runners turning up and set out an alternative off-road course of three loops around playing fields in the park.
It was still icy in parts and more like cross-country but made for a good workout. Al finished in 22.58 in 18th place and Ian in 20th place in a time of 23.39.

The Demon Drink

I've noticed recently that my propensity to enjoy a small libation of an evening has been increasing to such an extent that there have been weeks when I've partaken the demon drink seven nights out of seven. Not a good sign for a man from the west of Scotland. I seem to recall years ago hearing that drinkers should not have alcohol more than three times a week and never two nights in succession. Seems like a good adage to me and one that I will try to follow for the foreseeable future. It won’t do me any harm and hopefully I’ll see the results in my running performances.

New Tactics on Display at the Glasgow parkrun

There were even more runners at the Glasgow parkrun this week, a new record of 269 runners took part however with this being the start of the new bar code only regime a number of participants were recorded as 'unknown runners'.

I had noticed that although I had been starting the last couple of parkruns at the pace which I was hoping to keep, I had slowed after the initial 1k. I had therefore decided this week that I would start slower and hopefully maintain my pace throughout the race. After my one mile warm up, I joined the mass ranks at the front and made my way back a bit. There was no way I was starting shoulder to shoulder with Jethro Lennox and Robert Gilroy! Graeme Aitken was behind me and shouted that he would overtake me this week. “That will be the first time this year” I replied before another runner quipped “Don’t you slag Ian Goudie, he’s third in the men’s league”. Are you John Gilhooly I asked but he was not. Before I knew it the race had started and I pressed my Garmin in, as I made my way conservatively down the main drag, I could see Christopher Craig and Annmarie McCaffrey of Kirkintilloch speeding off. Stuart McBeath was standing on the grass verge marshalling and shouted encouragement as I passed by him and then steered left. A runner ran up to my shoulder and said ‘hello’ but I’m afraid I didn’t recognise him. There was no Erica or Martin running from last week but I did notice Frances Maxwell from Calderglen running ahead of me and in front of her Westerland’s Ellie Homewood. As I ran down the glade Graeme overtook me but I resisted the temptation to chase after him, confident that I would catch up with him before the finish. As it happens I didn’t have to wait long as I overtook him on the hills just before hearing Chris Upsons words of encouragement as he took my photo. I put on a smile for him as I ran past.

Pic by Chris Upson/Gill Williamson.  Frances Maxwell leads me at the end of the first lap with Graeme Aitken behind.


After a while I could hear the heavy footsteps of 14 year old James Stanley behind me but I managed to hold him off for most of the course as I cut into Frances lead on me. I made one big push at the final hill on the second lap and although I overtook her right at the top, young Stanley passed me. I was shattered but I increased my pace slightly only for Erica Christie to shout “C’mon Ian Goudie, you’re not trying hard enough!” There was a group of three to four runners making their way down towards the finish line and as I chased after young Stanley I managed to catch most of them but not the Garscube junior, who clocked up a new PB with a time of 22:02.

 

Pic by Chris Upson/Gill Williamson showing me in front of Frances as we head for the final stretch before the finish line.

I was shattered and as I struggled to get my breadth back, I noticed that my Garmin hadn’t been on. Frances informed me that she had finished in 22:10 and that I was a good wee bit in front of her. I didn’t know what my time was but I knew that my token number was 81, a bit down on last week’s 76. As we queued to hand in our barcodes, a number of other runners informed me that they had been chasing after me but just couldn’t catch me. It’s hard enough trying to keep an eye on what’s going on in front of you, never mind behind but every runner is participating in their own race.

I handed out copies of the Scottish Running Guide and chatted with the other runners, including Carolyn Boyd who had recorded a new PB and was delighted about it Tom Keenan who had equalled his PB and was upset about it!

I completed another mile warm down and headed to the Burrell Café for coffee, bacon roll and chat. The volunteers, who do such a marvelous job, didn’t have my time yet but they told me that I should be able to decrease my token number by three places due to a technical error. When the results were published I discovered that I had just dipped under last week's SB by one second, nowhere near where I would like to be but every little bit helps.

In the real races Jethro Lennox had won in 15:31 and Ellie Homewood had placed first woman in 20:03.

Selected results:

60 Annmarie MCCAFFREY 21:00 VW40-44 73.49 % F 3 Kirkintilloch Olympians New PB! 5
65 John GILHOOLY 21:13 VM50-54 69.52 % M 62 11
66 James BOYCE 21:14 SM30-34 60.91 % M 63 Kirkintilloch Olympians 5
67 John HAGEMEISTER 21:15 SM35-39 62.82 % M 64 Bellahouston Harriers 26
74 Harry O' DONNELL 22:01 SM30-34 59.05 % M 71 7
75 Richard MCAVOY 22:02 SM30-34 58.70 % M 72 First Timer! 1
76 James STANLEY 22:02 JM14 67.47 % M 73 Garscube Harriers New PB! 5
77 David SHAW 22:03 SM35-39 60.54 % M 74 First Timer! 1
78 Ian GOUDIE 22:05 VM50-54 67.85 % M 75 Kilmarnock Harrier & A.C 35
79 Robert B SMITH 22:06 VM40-44 63.20 % M 76 First Timer! 1
80 Frances MAXWELL 22:10 VW45-49 72.03 % F 4 Calderglen Harriers First Timer! 1
81 John MONTGOMERY 22:14 VM40-44 61.84 % M 77 7
82 Dan MAHER 22:20 VM40-44 61.57 % M 78 Bellahouston Harriers 42
87 Hugh B BROWN 22:37 VM40-44 62.20 % M 83 Bellahouston Road Runners 3
89 Graeme AITKEN 22:43 VM40-44 60.09 % M 85 Lomond Hill Runners AAC 27
91 Stephen POPE 22:54 SM30-34 57.28 % M 87 12
95 Murdoch RODGERS 23:07 VM55-59 68.78 % M 91 Bellahouston Road Runners 24
97 Ros O'SULLIVAN 23:09 VW45-49 71.35 % F 5 Kirkintilloch Olympians 6
110 Tom KEENAN 23:47 VM55-59 64.61 % M 104 22
119 Tom ROSS 24:39 VM65-69 68.02 % M 111 24
121 Carolyn BOYD 24:44 SW30-34 60.11 % F 9 New PB! 9
123 Veronika JURANOVA 24:46 SW25-29 59.76 % F 11 19 123
134 Angela CAMPBELL 25:34 SW30-34 57.95 % F 15 3
140 Susan CLARK 25:57 VW40-44 59.47 % F 18 Greenock Glenpark Harriers 22

A look at the men’s points table revealed that I had held onto my third place and that the Scarlet Pimpernel who is John Gilhooly had been leaped by Al McLachlan.

runner num Runs num Volunteered Run Points Volunteer Points Total Points
Al MACLACHLAN 8 0 718 0 718
John GILHOOLY 10 0 686 0 686
Ian GOUDIE 8 1 508 100 554

One Month Done, So Far So Good!

The year has started quite well, despite the weather having a severe impact on road running and racing. I’ve still managed to keep on target for my aim of 2010 miles in XXM by clocking up a total of 178 miles in January, 22 more than the same time last year. My cycling is also up, having biked 36 miles, compared to 17 last January. Unfortunately I’ve not managed to do any swimming, which is on par with last year’s poor record.

As far as racing is concerned, postponements and cancellations have curtailed my activity but I have managed to complete four Glasgow parkruns, two of which were off road. My Seasonal Best is 22:06 – a wava of 67.83%. However last year I had only completed two races in the first month: the Nigel Barge and the Jack Crawford 10ks where my PB was 44:37, a wava of 69.36%. That said the Jack Crawford is a much flatter course than the Glasgow parkrun and a much more competitive race.

My cross training is also up with me spending some 8:05 hours doing yoga or gym work as compared to 4:39 last January.

I returned to work last June after a long period of sickness and I now do most of my training at lunch time. This has freed up my evenings for other leisure activities including: trips to the cinema where I’ve viewed at least six films; three trips to the comic club and a trip to the circus. I’ve also left Bellahouston Road Runners, where a couple of people were stressing me out, and joined my home club, the famous Kilmarnock Harriers which I look forward to representing for as long as possible.

Record Numbers for My 34th parkrun but no Record Time for Me

I was one of the record 267 runners who took part in the 58th Glasgow #parkrun on Saturday, January 30. I had had a quiet alcohol free Friday evening and my training plan for the day was to jog a mile, run a 5 mile race and jog a mile. My plan was to run the 5k and then add on another lap. I should have been all set for a good race but the temperature was sub zero and I felt a bit sluggish in my warm up jog which took me to the start line. I asked the wee guy from last week if he was the elusive John Gilhooly but he was not. After a long mumbled pre race announcement, the run finally got underway and we ran down the main road with a little pushing and jostling for places. After we turned around the first corner, the marshals were warning us to avoid the icy sections of the road. I thought that the course was going to be slow because of the ice but I wanted to run a little quicker than last week, so when I felt myself settling into a pace I pushed myself just that little bit more.

Me looking as if I'm struggling, this time with Martin behind me. Pic by Gill Williamson

A lot of people had shot off right from the start and as I caught some of them up on the glade, I had to take a wide berth to overtake them. At the next group I noticed a guy in yellow with a pronounced running style (Martin Myant) make his way through the runners rather than around them and I decided to follow him. We made our way down to the sharp left bend where John Hagemeister caught up with me. I pulled away and thought that I must be doing well if John and Erica were still behind me. However whilst I was happy to overtake Martin on the hills both John and Erica overtook me. As we ran down the glade for the second time Martin pulled away from me as I tried hard to keep ahead of the sounds of heavy footsteps from 14 year old Robbie Marr who also passed me.

I was however catching other runners and as we made our way up the last hill, I nearly caught Martin but not quite. A woman dressed in black shot passed us both and ran into the distance. I was shattered but I kept chasing and as I approached the final downhill section, I noticed Martin look at his watch and took the opportunity to give it my all and caught him as I made my final sprint. Although I was pleased to have won my ‘race’ against him, my time was no where as good as I had hoped, being 22:06 – just six seconds quicker than last week! A seasonal best (SB) though.

After handing in my token, I made my way around the course for another lap before jogging a mile and heading to the Burrell for a soya latte and chat.

Again a huge vote of thanks is given to the volunteers who did a great job as usual despite the increased numbers.


Selected Results
52 Lisa MOODY 20:59
56 John GILHOOLY 21:12
58 Susan ADDISON 21:14
63 John HAGEMEISTER 21:33
68 Erica CHRISTIE 21:44
72 Robbie BARR 21:55
75 Carole MUNRO 22:04
76 Ian GOUDIE 22:06
77 Martin MYANT 22:08
78 Stuart MCBEATH 22:17
128 Tom KEENAN 24:07
154 Carolyn BOYD 25:20
156 Gordon MCDONALD 25:22
157 Angela CAMPBELL 25:23
163 Susan CLARK 25:53

Good News
I later discovered that despite my disappointment with my time, it was good enough to keep me at third place in the Men’s Points Table for the second week in succession.

Glasgow parkrun Male Points Table 2010

runner num Runs num Voluteered Run Points Volunteer Points Total Points

John GILHOOLY 9 0 647 0 647
Alastair MACLACHLAN 7 0 636 0 636
Ian GOUDIE 7 1 482 100 528