Whit’s the possibility?

Two ugly sisters went doon

to Kilmarnock looking for a dance.

Their likes, you’d never seen.

One dressed in Royal Blue,

the other, in Emerald Green.

 

They laughed and joked,

and lifted their froaks.

Flashed their legs, and purses too.

Identical twins, through and through,

though one was green, and the other blue.

 

The local lads, they weren’t impressed,

at how they spoke or how they dressed.

and although they twisted the night away,

they danced alone. All night long.

 

The Killie DJ, played Paper Roses

but he refused to play Please Stay,

that smooching song by The Crying Shame,

so empty handed they went hame,

those two ugly sisters who looked the same.

 

Ian Goudie

 

©Ian Goudie 2023

 

Alloa Half - depression run

My original intention was to make Alloa my main race of the year but getting called up from the waiting list for both of the energy sapping Strathaven Half Marathon and Hillbilly Cross Country races had put that in doubt, on top of this a recent calf strain had derailed my training plan. In the end it was a last minute decision to run the race.

I’ve also been unwell for over six months now, during which time my weight has continued to decrease. I’m now less than 12 stone for the first time in memory.  Last Wednesday. my Doctor doubled my Temazepam dosage and the week before she upped my Venlafaxine, so it’s perhaps not too surprising with these chemicals running around my brain that things didn’t go quite to plan.  Which was now just to get round the 13.1 miles without too much damage.

It was  good to catch up with loads of running friends prior to the race, including Toni McIntosh who was making her running comeback.  The weather conditions were almost ideal for racing  and, stupidly, I lost focus and started way too quickly, running the first mile in 7:02 and the second in 7:03!  My PB is 96mins, which equates to 7:20 pace.

The hill at mile three helped to slow me down and the next two miles took 7:45 and 7:25 respectively but by now mydepression was now kicking in and I was mentally struggling and seriously thinking of pulling out of the race.  I convinced myself that if I could keep going to mile six, that would be almost half way and I would then need to finish the race. Miles five and six took 7:08 and 7:24. 

I knew that I was still running well but my mind was playing tricks with me and I continued to battle against the demons but, at least, I’d now passed the half way point.

However things were put into perspective around the seven mile mark, where the route goes out and back. As we turned left, I saw a fellow runner being treated by the medical staff and clearly heard one saying “he’s stopped breathing”.  I’m glad to say that, Dr Allie Chong, realised that the man was having a heart attack, and stopped to give him CPR before the ambulance arrived (hospitalised now but reportedly doing fine).

The Course

I kind of lost it over the next few miles, negative thoughts were flooding my mind and a my focus was now on getting to the tenth mile, when I’d only have 5k to go.

I continued to struggle, whilst a number of friends and running buddies overtook me. The field this year was a lot bigger than my last outing in 2010, when some 977 completed the course, this year 1661 finished. (Although I’m sure the commentator said that 3,200 had registered). I did try to hang on to other runners and it worked for a while but then I’d suddenly realise that they were no longer visible.

I was glad to get the tenth mile under my belt but I knew that the most physically challenging part of the race was still to come as we turned left up the Menstrie Brae to Tullibody.

I’m afraid that I resorted to walking a few steps up the hill and again a bit later. I’m pleased to say that the other racers encouraged me to keep on running.  By this stage my legs were also starting to stiffing up and my calf was hurting, so I knew that it wasn’t all in my mind.

Really Struggling….. pic by Gordon Donnachie

The last 5k seemed to go on for ever but I convinced myself to keep going, no matter how slowly.  From somewhere, I found enough strength to sprint along the final strait.

Final Sprint

I crossed the Finish Line and, all of a sudden, I felt my legs turning to rubber as I collapsed in a heap. The medical team took care of me.

I hadn’t stopped my Garmin and I had to wait for the results to be published before realising that I had placed 428th out of 1661 finishers, with a time of 98:42. Not a PB but the second fastest of the seventeen Half Marathons that I’ve done. Let’s hope that the eighteenth one is less eventful than the previous two.

On a more positive note, it was great to see so many friends,  thebefore, during and after the race.  Although I didn’t hang around too long at the end.

As usual, many thanks to everyone associated with the event, not least of all the medical teams.

Mucho Mass Bellas as Bernie Bolts to Victory

Some of the 49 Bella Harriers at Pollok parkrun

Jack Arnold

As luck would have it both Bellahouston running clubs had a 'mass' parkrun at Pollok Park on Saturday. The 49 Harriers and 24 Road Runners, helped to squell the ranks to 451 participants, one of the largest ever. 

 Whilst there were no records broken, there were some decent runs in both the men's and women's races. Cambuslang's Gordon Robertson crossed the line first, with a time of 16:24, ahead of Bellahouston Harrier Jack Arnold in 16:37 and Bella Road Runner Ciaran Dougherty in 17:00.

Bernie O'neil

In the women's race, it was a clean sweep for the Harriers, who not only placed 1,2, 3 but also 4,5,and 6 as well. Bernie O'neil led the female Harriers home with a huge PB of 20:21, just ahead of Jennifer Clark (also 20:21), Susan MacRitchie (20:40) placed 3rd, Erica Christie (21:26) 4th, Caroline Cochran (21:43) 5^th and Janine Dickie 6^th with a PB of 21:49.

For my part, I wan't feeling great and had set myself the task of having a steady run, however when Erica Christie overtook me, I immediately increased the pace and returned the compliment, we played leap frog a total of four times before Erica broke away at the 4k point. My strong finish just wasn't quite good enough to catch her for the fifth time and she crossed the line one place and one second ahead of me.  I was happy enough to place 71^st in 21:47, my second fastest time since May 2011 and my eighth fastest time, out of 115 at Pollok.  I also managed a rare victory over Road Runner Keith Gibb for only the fourth time this decade¬

Erica in hot pursuit 

Once again many thanks to all my fellow runners and the volunteers too for making my Saturday morning run a little more fun. A special mention to Bellahouston Harrier Christopher Steward who completed his century of parkruns on Saturday and Dan Maher who ran his 250^th!

Full Results Here

Pics by Brian Douglas

I had a black dog, his name was depression..................................

and the follow up living with a black dog

Super Volunteers Ensure Victoria parkrun 62 Takes Place

Runners listen carefully to an explanation of the amended route

It was 50/50 as to whether Victoria parkrun would take place on the last day of January. The ice had taken its toll on the course, particulary on the route through the floral gardens. However the volunteers excelled themselves by not only braving the cold weather but quickly amending the Start and Finish and rerouting the course along the side of the pond, rather than through the gardens. They even managed to grit some of the worst parts of the path before 176 runners descended on the west end park. Whilst the conditions may have deterred a few regular runners, a number of others had made their way westward from the cancelled Pollok parkrun.

After the route changes had been explained to us and we had been warned of the icy undefoot conditions, we reassembled at the amended Start and were set on our way at 9:36am. It wasn't a day for PBs so I settled into a steady pace. I still had to work hard, particularly in the long sections which ran into the Arctic headwind. After three laps, I sprinted down the rerouted final strait, overtaking, sub 20min runner, Chris Furse to cross the line in 21:14, although this was 30secs slower than my PB but I did manage to place 27^th, my highest ever at Victoria park. I was happy enough with my race in two days, considering the conditions. However one person who performed even better was my fellow Bellahouson Harrier, Derek Shand who ran a PB of 21:00 to place 23^rd.

Results

Up front, Stewarton's Andy McGhee completed the 5k in a time of 18:00 to take Gold, ahead of Keith Wall (18:18) and Iain Littler (18:22).

Antrim's Jo Patterson

In the women's race, Antrim's Jo Patterson ran to glory in a time of 20:16, ahead of Garscube's Aileen Wilson (21:07) and Westerland's Karine Salin (21:46).

In the Super Veteran Category, John Gilhooly's time of 18:28 was enough to beat his Bellahouston RR club mate Al MacLachlan (18:49) with myself (Ian Goudie) placing third.

In the women's 50+ Cat, it was Maggie McKeith who took the honours with a time of 25:30, ahead of Elaine Chellew (26:24) and Jane Scullion (26:35).

Well done to all runners and huge thanks to the volunteers who braved the elements to allow us to run.

Pics by Mary Senior and Ian Goudie Photography

Full Results here  

1,2,3 on the icy Green

1,2,3 for 123 year old Bellahouston Harriers

The inclement weather, which comes with January in Scotland, has made running difficult over the last few weeks and has led to the cancellation, or re-routing, of a number of races, including parkruns. It was no surprise then, that there were concerns as to whether or not the first 3k on the Green of 2015 would take place on the last Friday of the month.

Snow and ice had affected much of Glasgow on the run up to Friday 30^th January but a 9:30am inspection of the 3k course stated: The course is quite icy. The parts that have seen the sun are OK. Turnaround is OK as it's mostly mud and sticks preventing any sliding. Looks like it should mostly clear up for the 12:30 Start of the race. The decision was taken and the race was on!

A number of Bellahouston Harriers had made arrangements, in order to allow them to participate, some for the first time, in the 3k race. They and the others were pleased to get the opportunity to get a race, although a couple of runners decided not to risk the course.

Brrrrr.........

Some 61 runners assembled under the McLellan Arch on Glagow Green and after being reminded that they “run at their own risk” were set on their way at the allotted time.

These were not the conditions for going for a PB, the main target was to get around the course in a reasonable time, without being injured. With a number of runners taking more than 30 seconds longer than usual to negotiate their way around the course, I was happy enough to cross the line in a time of 12:09 and place 29^th. That said, I did have to fight off a strong challenge from the real John Cunningham, particularly around the turning point. I also managed to beat Cambuslang's Eddie Carr for the first time ever.

Up front, Eddie's club mate Shaun Butler placed first with a time of 9:29, ahead of Garscube's Christopher Devine (9:32) and Bellahouston RR Craig Reid (9:40). 

In the women's race, it was 1, 2, 3 for Bellahouston Harriers, with Bernie O'neill, on her debut, taking the honours in a time of 11:44. Fellow debutante, Clare Macaulay, earned Silver with her time of 12:03, with Caroline Cochrane, ensuring a clean sweep for the 123 year old club, with a time of 12:19.

Well done to all the other runners and volunteers for making the event such a success. So much so, that the Herald had it listed as one of the Top 10 things to do this Weekend.

Pics by Darren Murray here

Full Results here

First Again! This time at a wind swept Tollcross parkrun

Victories are like buses you wait for ages then two come along one after another. I had waited 155 parkruns to win my first age category last week at Ayr and then I repeated my success today at Tollcross.

I hadn't done a hill session for a while, so I decided to return to the hilly east end of Glasgow parkrun for the first time since May 2014. I ran a course PB of 22:18 in my last outing and was hoping to do the same today but the elements were against me. Gale force winds and rain hadn't helped my insomnia and the signs, were quite literally ominous with Transport Scotland warning of snow as I made my way along the M74.

Tollcross Bandstand

I was aware that a number of parkruns had been cancelled due to the weather but thankfully Tollcross was on, although there were a couple of slight detours across the grass, to avoid large piles of earth on the path. It was good to see some old friends both volunteering and running and to exchange New Year greetings with them before the race. Most people were sheltering from the wind and snow in the bandstand before Christopher McKiddie sent us on our way into the hills and the strong wind. 

 It was tough going and I was working hard, I found myself playing leap frog with a younger runner in a blue top for the first 3k but then pulled away from him and caught a couple of other runners in the last 2k.

A sprint over the grass on the final strait took me over the line in 14^th place, with a time of 22:26. No PB but only eight seconds off of it, many runners were well over a minute off their PBs today, so I was happy with that and I don't think I could have performed much better in the conditions. The icing on the cake was when I received the results to see that I had, for the second week in succession, placed first in my age group category and second in the overall Age Grade score with a WAVA of 69.69%, only being beaten by the event winner Shaun Butler, who crossed the line in a time of 18:22 and a WAVA of 70.60%.

Fellow Bellahouston Harrier, Darren Murray placed 11^th with a time of 21:54.

Lesley McArdle won the women's race, placing 23^rd overall, in 24:05.

A total of 79 runners braved the elements in this the 89^th Tollcross parkrun, well done to all of them and also to the volunteers who made the event happen.

Full results here

Post Race Note

Great to see that Saturday's performance  was good enough to take my handicap down from 9.0 to 8,9.  The race was given an SSS of 4.0 and my time earned a vSSS of -0.6.  Early 2015 progress.