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