Glasgow Uni 5 Mile Road Race - Nov 7 My 60th Race of 09

I’ve struggled on this course and it’s slightly longer version, the Nigel Barge Memorial 10k, on a number of occasions but this year I was more confident that my training would pay off and that the hills wouldn’t be as challenging as in previous attempts. It’s a Bella Club Championship race and although it clashes with the Tinto Hill Race, there was a decent turnout from the purple posse with four Bella Belles and 13 Bella Fella participating.

I lined up somewhere in the middle of the pack and noticed Tom McMillan overtaking me on my left hand side. However there was a repeat of the ‘gate problem’ which marred the race last year as we found ourselves having to stop and queue up to make our way through a single pedestrian gate as the road double gates were closed. After I had negotiated my way through the gate I set off with a new gusto ahead of Tom and hopefully ahead of Norman Boyle too. The route continued uphill past the Vet School before making its way down through residential Llay Road to Bearsden Road, where a sharp left turn took us onto the narrow leaf strewn pavement of Temple Road. With branches and bushes hanging over the pavement I stuck to running on the road for a while before reaching a less congested bit of pavement. I could see Shona Donnelly, Ewan MacDonald and Louise Gray ahead of me, “what the hell is she doing there?” I thought to myself, “She’s running too fast and won’t be able to keep up this pace”. It was at this point that I noticed that Garscube’s Jill O’Neil was running on the road, shoulder to shoulder with me. I don’t know what it is about this course but I always seem to race against her here. As we turned left up Dawsholm Road I pushed in knowing that there was a wide downhill section next. “It’s all downhill from here, Ian” cried Scott Johnson astride his bi-cycle. I overtook a number of runners on this part of the course, including Louise. I thought about commenting to her but decided to say nothing. I kept running over a narrow bridge and then up a challenging double hill, where another left turn took us onto Maryhill Road. I was just starting to think how well I had done on the hills compared to previous years when both Jill and Louise overtook me! Although this part of the course is a long a busy road, the plus point is that the pavement is nice and wide and I accelerated along overtaking Louise first and then catching Jill as the route turned left and downhill back into the Garscube Sports Centre. A runner pushed me on the back but I didn’t object as it made me run that wee bit faster.

We then passed the throng of supporters and officials around the finish line as we entered the second part of the race. It’s not quite two laps as the start is quite a bit further along. I knew that Jill was close behind me as I kept on hearing cries of support for her from friends. I was determined to hold her off as we crossed another narrow bridge and headed up past the start line and through the gate. Of course, now that the race was spread out the gate was no impediment to us. I had noticed that a guy I had met in the dressing room was running along with us but I wasn’t concerned about him (Newton Keenan) as my race was against Tom and Norman who I presumed to be not far behind us. I knew that I was a bit slower than in the first lap but I figured that if I could keep in front of Jill I’d be doing well. I could see Billy Reid, Ann Marie McCafferty and Christopher Craig of Kirkintilloch ahead of me and I concentrated in trying to keep them in my sight. I overtook Newton and Edinburgh youngster Rebecca Hannah before catching Billy Reid as we made our way along Temple Road for the second time. However I now noticed that A Westerlands runner, Hamilton Semple was racing against me. I overtook him on the Dawsholm Road hill and he returned the favour but I had the better of him by the time we had reached Maryhill Road. My legs were like jelly at this point but I knew that the course was flat and downhill and it was a good part of the route to catch up with those in front. I managed to up the pace to pull away from Newton, Hamilton and Jill and gave it my all as I overtook a few more runners before reaching the finish line in a time of 33:27. I had completed my 60th race of 2009, had run the course some 108 seconds faster than last year and finished first Bella Super Vet. It’s a hard wee course but it was an enjoyable race, pleasantly surprised to see that I was so close to young Sarah Munn at the end.

Selected results are below, indicating impressive performances from, in particular, Mary Senior and Louise Gray.


110 425 33:24 Shona Donnelly F vet Bellahouston Road Runners
113 280 33:36 Ewan McDonald M senior Bellahouston Road Runners
115 271 33:57 Ann Marie McCafferty F vet Kirkuintilloch
117 326 34:08 Christopher Craig M vet Kirkintilloch
118 469 34:10 Sarah Munn F junior Glasgow Uni
121 344 34:27 Ian Goudie M super vet Bellahouston Road Runners
124 419 34:33 Hamilton Semple M vet Westerlands
125 283 34:34 Newton Keenan M vet Unattached
127 303 34:38 Jill O’Neill F vet Garscube
129 253 34:48 Billy Reid M super vet Kirkintilloch
139 376 35:18 Mary Senior F vet Bellahouston Road Runners
141 356 35:28 Louise Gray F vet Bellahouston Road Runners
144 352 35:33 Keith Gibb M vet Bellahouston Road Runners
147 327 35:37 Tom McMillan M super vet Bellahouston Road Runners
155 373 35:55 John Sandbach F vet Bellahouston Road Runners
157 324 36:05 Norman Boyle M super vet Bellahouston Road Runners
167 408 36:46 Lynne Andrew F senior Bellahouston Road Runners

Scottish Running Guide Report Here

Allan Scally Road Relay

Saturday, October 31 the last day of a successful month and a chance to try out another new race. This time it was the Allan Scally Road Relay, although this was actually the 40th staging of the event, it’s the first time I’ve participated in it and it was a held using a brand new route. Bella had a great six teams entered, three men’s and three women’s. I was in Team C and running in the third of four legs.
The race is held by Shettleston Harriers and starts near to the Bannerman High School in Baillieston. The start itself was scheduled for 2pm but was slightly delayed to allow runners to make their way to the new start line.
Over two hundred runners had assembled at the little park which was being used as the start/finish and as well as those participating elite runners Casey Morgan and Lindsay McNeil were in attendance. The race is also the Scottish University Championships and a large proportion of teams were made up of students.

The race is 4.8 miles long, which is quite far for a relay however the weather was kind to me as I waited for the first leg and then the second leg runner to appear before heading off into the sun. Unfortunately there were three runners warming up/down in front of me and I ended up colliding with one as I made my way on to the road. A quick right turn and an easy downhill part of the route was next. As I turned right along the straight a Hunters Bog Trotter went shooting past me and disappeared in to the distance. The route now made its way through a housing estate and as I entered it I could see other runners exiting. A little further on I was aware of someone behind me and when I eventually was overtaken by a Kirkintilloch Olympian he commented “good running big man”. Although I kept him in sight for longer than the HBT it wasn’t that long until he too had disappeared. When I eventually exited the estate I could see Struan from Bella entering. As I ran up the first hill I thought I could see someone ahead of me and as time went on I finally caught up with and overtook Tommy Gore from Glasgow Uni. I kept up the pace to get away from the student but couldn’t see anyone else in front of me. However as I entered another housing estate I noticed the Lead Bike overtaking me and for a few seconds I was running behind it wondering what was happening…. until I was overtaken by one of Shettleston Eritrean runners completing the fourth and final leg. Not surprisingly he too disappeared from my sight. As I made my way up another hill I noticed another runner behind me and as I heard words of encouragement I looked to see that it was Iona, Bella’s fastest woman runner completing the third and final leg of the women’s team race. I managed to keep Iona in my sight for most of the rest of the race. I thought I heard the marshal saying that the 4 mile mark was just around the corner but I missed it as I had missed all the previous ones. Although to be fair one of our first leg runners had told me that there were no markers on the course. One other hill and I could see supporters and marshals ahead shouting me on. Only 200 metres to go they shouted as I made my way up the last incline encouraged by the other Bellas, a sharp right and I sprinted over the finish line with a time of 33:58. Fetch calculates this as a wava of 72.95% which I’m a bit surprised at.

I had completed my 59th race of 2009 but I could have run faster, not knowing the route and not being aware of the distance markers had held me back as did the lack of anyone around my ability to race against. As it was Iona had giving me an incentive and my time would have been slower without her to chase and the support of the Bellas in the final straight.

After the post run chat and the completion of the race by the fourth legers it was back to Bannerman High for some tea and ham rolls before heading home for a much deserved siesta.