Back Home to Three Races

It’s a long journey from Jomtien to Glasgow but it’s one that went as smoothly as possible for me. I’d booked a ‘limousine’ taxi for the 120k journey to Bangkok, which took about 90 minutes and cost 1200 Bhat, or about £24. I thought that I’d got my flight times mixed up when I arrived at the KLM Check-in Desk at 21:30 to discover that there was no queue. Once relieved of my luggage, I made my way to the appropriate Departure Gate, just in time to board the aeroplane. I was pleased to hear that the plane wasn’t full and even more so when I discovered that the adjoining two seats to mine where unoccupied and that I would be able to lie down, after a fashion, and get some shut eye. The process was just as efficient when I reached Amsterdam airport. I made my way to the appropriate Departure Gate, just in time for boarding and a smooth flight to a dark and wet Glasgow, where my brother was waiting at 7:35 to take me home.


The flight had taken its toll though and I was shattered for the rest of the day, I ventured out to Sammie’s, for a wee while, in the evening to see Independence and their regular Thursday night Jam Session. Although the welcome I received was as warm as ever, it was nothing like the “Welcome” that you get when you approach any bar in Thailand.


3K on the Green

I headed down to Glasgow Green on Friday for the second of the 3k Run on the Green Series of Races. It was a beautiful, sunny day, albeit a little cooler than what I was used to recently. It was good to see so many running buddies, many of whom had kept in touch during my holidays through Facebook. My warm up only helped to confirm that I was still shattered and jet lagged but nevertheless I still lined up, with the other 30 runners, under the McLellan Arch for the 12:30 start.

I started near the back of the field and stayed there as my initial pace of 3:44, slipped to 4:08 and then settled into a pace of 4:18, increasing it slightly to 3:54 for the last 0.5k. My time being 12:21, 22 seconds slower than my last outing in February, but I was still happy enough with my performance. I could have worked harder and I could have increased the pace a bit more in the final strait but it wouldn’t have made too much difference. I enjoyed the run and meeting up with so many running buddies, it was also good to meet ex Kilmarnock Harrier, Allison Simpson nee Higgins. The former Commonwealth Game’s athlete was making her return to racing, after retiring through injury three years ago.

After my warm down, I bumped into another Killie Harrier Harald Bartl as I headed to the Winter Gardens with Tom Keenan to sort out the world’s economic woes, over a cup of coffee and slice of carrot cake.

Results

parkrun 84

On Saturday morning I made my way along to Pollok Park for my 72nd outing at the Glasgow event and my 84th parkrun. It seemed a lot quieter than usual. I knew that the Big Fun Run was on at 11am and that many club runners would be competing at the Allan Scally Road Relays, later in the day, but it still seemed very quiet. However there was no need for concern as, with around ten minutes to go, the numbers swelled to a healthy 264 runners, including at least four who had raced the previous day’s 3k on the Green.

After my warm up and pre race catch ups I joined the assembled ranks in time for the 9:30am Start. I was right about the lack of some of the regular club runners but despite the attraction of earning some decent points, I decided that I would be taking it relatively easy. I knew that Tom Keenan was looking for a decent run and I noticed that he set off quickly as I trundled down the first part of the course. I kept my eye on him for much of the race and he was looking very determined as he battled it out with Watson Jones around the two lap 5k course. I was content to settle for getting another race under my belt, although I did step it up a bit for the final kilometre and gained a few places to finish 62nd with a time of 22:50. Tom had placed 52nd in 22:31, with Watson two places behind in 22:34. I didn’t realise that Jennifer Clark had used me as a target and had taking 55 seconds off of her previous PB to finish one place and one second behind me, earning runner up spot in the women’s race, with a new PB of 22:51.

As for me, again considering everything, I was happy enough with my run and, as usual, enjoyed the post race coffee and chat.

Results



Southside Six



Andrew Wright

With its close proximity to my holidays, I had decided not to enter the inaugural Southside Six 16 mile undulating race around six parks in Glasgow’s Sou’side. However I did want to get a decent cycle in before the end of October. I was amazed at the lack of bicycles in Thailand, and I hadn’t been on a bike since 28 September. My initial intention was to do a few miles, get a Sunday newspaper and watch the Great South Run as I enjoyed my brunch before supporting the finishers of the 16 mile race. However I decided to cycle to Queens Park and follow any arrows indicating the route of the race. When I reached Stewarton Road, I looked at my watch and worked out that I could get back to Queens Park just about in time for the Start. I cycled along with the 220 runners to Linn Park and then made my way back to Stewarton Road to provide some more support as the runners exited Rouken Glen Park.

Jenny MacLean

At this stage the main places for the first runners were already settled, with Carnegie’s Andrew Wright having established a significant lead over his closest rival, Grant Baillie of East Kilbride, with Bellahouston Road Runner Bruce Carse in third place. Likewise in the women’s race Edinburgh’s Jennifer MacLean was well ahead of Bellahouston Road Runner, Deborah Gray although at this stage there was a bit of a battle for third spot, with little to choose from between Deb’s club mate Katie Padgham and the evential victor, Giffnock’s Mary McCutcheon. 

I then cycled down to Nithsdale Street and guided the runners onto Pollockshaws Road towards the Finish back at Queens Park before peddling to the Finish and enjoying in the post race banter, soup and cakes.

By the time I had stopped off for a paper and reached my home, I had cycled a total of 39.71k, not too bad for my first cycle of the month. My total for the year now stands at 1560k, with a target of 2011. My other targets of swimming 10k, has been achieved (12k to date) and I’m well on course to reach my running target of 2011k, having already run 1920k.

Results

Thanks

In summary, three great races , which all relied, almost exclusively, on people volunteering their services and doing a heck of a lot of hard work in the background to ensure that the races run smoothly and incident free.  My thanks to each and everyone of you!


Work

It was back to work today, after being on annual leave since 28th September, a bit of a shock to the system but all good things etc

3k Run on the Green Race 2 of 3, 28 Oct 2011- Full Results

	Runner	Category	M/F	Club	Race Time
1	Thomas McDonald	Senior	M	Bellahouston Harriers	0:09:40
2	John Denovan	Senior	M	Westerlands	0:09:41
3	Darran Muir	Senior	M	Unattached	0:09:52
4	Matthew Brown	Senior	M	Bellahouston Harriers	0:10:03
5	Steve Gray	Senior	M	Arbroath Footers	0:10:06
6	James Cassidy	Senior	M	Unattached	0:10:11
7	Robert Rossborough	Senior	M	Ronhill Cambuslang	0:10:31
8	Shazad Hakeem	Senior	M	Ronhill Cambuslang	0:10:33
9	John Gibbons	Senior	M	Kelvin Runners	0:10:34
10	Robert Rogerson	Super Veteran	M	Kirkintilloch Olympians	0:10:42
11	Mark  Ashby	Super Veteran	M	Victoria Park	0:10:50
12	John Gilhooly	Super Veteran	M	Unattached	0:10:51
13	Barnie Gough	Super Veteran	M	Ronhill Cambuslang	0:11:03
14	Allison Simpson	Senior	F	Unattached	0:11:06
15	Gordon Gallacher	Veteran	M	Unattached	0:11:07
16	Alasdair Murray	Veteran	M	Kilmarnock Harriers	0:11:11
17	Christopher McKiddie	Senior	M	Unattached	0:11:22
18	Paul Viola	Veteran	M	Unattached	0:11:27
19	John Murray	Senior	M	Garscube Harriers	0:11:34
20	Cameron Ferguson	Super Veteran	M	Unattached	0:11:41
21	Clare Barr	Veteran	F	Motherwell AC	0:11:42
22	Tony McGale	Veteran	M	Springburn Harriers	0:11:44
23	Mark Alexander	Senior	M	Kilmarnock Harriers	0:11:48
24	Alan Dempster	Senior	M	Unattached	0:11:58
25	Scott Howie	Veteran	M	Unattached	0:12:11
26	Victoria Semple	Senior	F	Ronhill Cambuslang	0:12:18
27	Ian Goudie	Super Veteran	M	Kilmarnock Harriers	0:12:21
28	Neil McTavish	Veteran	M	Unattached	0:12:34
29	Greg Dimmer	Veteran	M	Unattached	0:12:35
30	Tom Keenan	Super Veteran	M	Bellahouston Harriers	0:13:01
31	Alan Sim	Super Veteran	M	Unattached	0:14:04

A Hash of a Race in Pattaya

Hash House Harriers pride themselves as being for ‘drinkers with a running problem’, so some of my readers might be surprised to know that I’ve never enjoyed one of their events until now.  I Scroogled for running clubs in Pattaya and came up with PH3, a quick look at their web site and I found the invitation: When in Pattaya come join us for a little running, then a drink in one of our hash bars. How could I refuse?   A couple of emails later and on Monday at 3pm I was on the local Bhat Bus to Pattaya Soi 13 and the meet-up point for the Harriers.  I had been informed that the run would take about an hour and had loaded my rucksack with a change of clothes and water, both for drinking and a post race wash.

Parks of Pattaya

Despite, their reputation for being heavy drinkers, I found them to be a rather subdued lot as we boarded their, less than luxurious, coach to take us to the race location.  Numbers were lower than I had expected with their weekly newsletters indicating that they usually have about 50 participants.  We stopped outside of Tesco on Sukhumvit Road and picked up some others and when we reached our destination at the Chinese Graveyard, there were others, who had arrived either by motorbike or car, awaiting us.  I joined in a queue behind a pick up, which, as I had deduced, was for registration.  I paid my 350Bhat and then joined with the others in a circle as the Ring Master, a 6’4 bald German, who looked like a cross between a Sergeant Major and a rugby lock, introduced me and the other two Hash virgins to the others.   

The pre-circle team talk.

A short briefing on how the route could be identified by looking for pieces of white paper, either tied to tree branches or bushes, or simply strewn on the ground and we were sent on our way.  Well we might have been, I wasn’t sure, as the ring master pointed to his left and said ‘I believe the start is over there somewhere’.  Those around me started to walk towards where he was pointing but I could see that there were others ahead who were running.  I started my Garmin and chased after the front runners, still not sure if I was now racing or warming up.  Not much later we stopped at a ‘check point’ and I reset my Garmin, thinking that this was the actual Start.  Two paths lay ahead and although I initially thought that those running down them were looking for a last pit stop before the race, I soon realised that the runners had lost their way and were trying to decide which route to take.  A cry from the right, indicated that a runner had spied a paper marker and we headed after him accordingly.  However within a minute we were lost again and I followed a tall athletic looking guy as he made his way through the long grass and bushes.  He cried out “Bees” and those behind me asked what the cry was.  “Effin’ Bees”, I replied, as I led them on a slight detour away from the offending honey makers.  The next obstacle was, what appeared to be a dried out Well.  As I climbed down and up the other side, some others, perhaps correctly, decided that this was not the route and headed back towards the check point. 

I continued behind the front runners and we soon found the elusive white markers again.  The route took us through long grass and between young trees and bushes as we headed towards the edge of a small airfield.  I copied the front runners, yelling out every so often, so that those behind could follow me.  We got lost a couple more times and at one point had to retrace our footsteps and join the others, many of whom were walking.  The fable about the tortoise and the hare came to mind, as I made my way past the majority of participants, as I tried to keep the front runners in sight.  We were on an undulating narrow path, when the guy immediately in front of me tripped and fell.  I helped him to his feet and returned his cap to him, before taken my opportunity to overtake him, of course.  

The route continued through some heavy undergrowth, where I managed to catch another runner before hearing a cry of “barbed wire”.  The person who had laid out the course, had warned us of the barbed wire but not only did he said that it was well marked with white paper but he also said that it was near the end of the run.  Garmin revealed that we had been running for about 20mins, rather than the 60mins that I had been informed about.  Once over the barbed wire, the route joined an old dirt track and headed back towards the Start.  I presumed that to add some distance to the course, the route would head straight up the hill and then turn left back to the Start/Finish.  However a cry came from behind me, which I took as telling me that I was going the wrong way and I cut back and headed for the more direct path to the Finish.  I arrived at the finish some 22mins and 39secs after starting and had covered a total of only 1.94miles.  Apparently the run was supposed to be much longer.  I placed 4^th out of 66 and waited to thank the runner behind me before heading over to the drink station.  Another pick up with about half a dozen crates of ice containing a mixture of water, iced teas, soft drinks and of course ice cold beer.  I restricted myself to the non-alcoholic options, accompanied by fresh fruit, until the sweat had stopped pouring out of my body.  I headed behind the bus and used my water for a shower before changing into my dry clothes and rewarding myself with some San Miguel Light.  I chatted with my new running buddies, who came from Germany, Norway, Australia, New Zealand, France, England, Scotland, the USA drinking beer, as the light faded and the Ring Master assembled us into circle formation. 

I’m afraid that the next part, which seemed to drag on for ages, was all a bit too Public School/Rugby Club for me, with overtones of Land of the Flies, as various Hashers took their turn in the centre of the circle, in true Jack like manner, and nominated their fellow Hashers to pull their trousers down and sit ‘bare assed’ either on one of the blocks of ice, or in the bath tub of melting ice cubes.  For their humiliation, they would be rewarded with a free glass of beer as and as they sat with their cheeks freezing, their buddies sung about “how they were no use to anyone”.  It was this kind of behaviour, which had made me avoid the more traditional rugby clubs, during my playing days and my distaste for it had not changed over the years.  Of course the newbies were not to be spared from the ritual and I, like the others, took my initiation without complaint, as for the umpteenth time the others recited their little ditties.

Time to try the bucket for 'Dodic'

I must admit that I was pleased when the beer ran out and we made our way back to Pattaya.  That said, there is a lot of work that goes on in ensuring the transport; the course; the beer and other refreshments; a raffle, with some excellent prizes, including a microwave oven; and of course in providing two ice blocks and an ice bath.  Indeed if you are into that particular form of post run entertainment it would be hard to beat and to be honest all of the guys seemed to be decent enough blokes.

Some of the 'Blokes'

    

Going Back to my Roots

I thought I'd take the opportunity for a bit of a change during my time in Thailand.  My ancestors were Vikings and my name Goudie or Goldie referred to the colour of their hair, in the same way as the most common name in Scotland, Brown.  So I've gone blonde for a while, it was a bit of a shocker when I first looked in the mirror but hopefully it's toned down a bit now.

Jomtien and Pattaya Night Photos

Just a few pics I took the other night in Jomtien and Pattaya  - photos

My Midnight Race in Bangkok

I decided this year to combine my holidays with running the 14^th Amari Watergate Midnight Race in Bangkok, which raises funds for: the Chalerm Prakiat School, which supports the education of children whose parents have died from HIV infection; Baan Gerda, a children’s village project in Lop Buri province that supports HIV-infected children; and the Baht for aBetter Life Project.

I had loads of annual leave left, so I took a month's lease on a condo in the seaside town of Jomtien.  The resort is fairly laid back just next to all the attractions of Pattaya.  About 10mins and 10Bhat on the extremely frequent Bhat Busses which peep their horn as they drive along seeking your custom.  As well as the Bhat Buses there are numerous taxi ranks and motorbike taxis stationed every 200m or so along the road.  I took a motorbike taxi one night when the rain was pouring down.  For an agreed price of 100 Bhat he got me home in the rain in a few minutes.  Although we must have been some sight, as I gripped the back of the bike with one hand and held my brolly above me with the other, the driver steered the bike with one hand and held the front of the brolly with the other.  Public transport in Britain could learn a thing or two from their Thai counterpart! 

As far as running is concerned, I tried to acclimatise by running every day, either in the morning or evening, when the temperature was slightly cooler at about 28C.  I gradually built up my distance, with the plan of doing a rehearsal at Midnight on Wednesday.  There’s a choice of two races a 6k and a 12k, given that I had ran 10.5k in last year’s Bangkok Mini Marathon, I wanted to do further this year and was aiming to do the 12k.  However the effort required for my training runs, along the local Beach Road, made me wonder if I was being over ambitious and if the 6k would be a more realistic option.  At around 9pm on Wednesday, I checked the local weather forecast and discovered that, rather than getting cooler as the night went on, the temperature was set to climb! 

A quick change into my training gear and I was heading out on the balmy night.  One hour six minutes and 28 seconds and 12.71k, I was cooling down with a 250m swim in the pool.  Although my pace was admittedly slow, I had run further than the 12k required for the race and my confidence had been boosted.  A 5k ‘recovery run’ on Thursday and a rest day on Friday saw me prepared for my race.  The only problem was the flooding, which had reportedly reached Bangkok, however an email to the race organisers confirmed that everything was OK and that the race would be held.

I thought that even the ‘special rate’ for runners at the Amari Watergate Hotel were a bit steep and decided to book somewhere through Agoda instead.  As it happens, I ended up booking the race venue’s sister hotel, the Amari Boulevard instead.  I took a taxi to Bangkok and imagine my surprise to discover that the hotel I had booked into was on the same small road, Soi 5, that I had stayed at last November.  This meant that I could put my local knowledge to good use and I wouldn’t have to search the many eateries for somewhere suitable for my pre race meal.

Pre Race

Registration on the day was available from 7-11pm.  At around 10pm, fed, watered and rested, I agreed a fee of 60Bhat with a motorbike taxi and arrived at the race venue in plenty of time.  The atmosphere was great, as some 4,500 happy face mingled in eager anticipation of their race.  I had chosen to wear my vest with ‘Scottish Veterans’ emblazoned on the front, rather than my Kilmarnock Harriers vest, which doesn’t have the club name on it.  Of course it doesn’t make hat much difference, as although most Thais can speak some English, they can’t read it.  Likewise I know a few Thai words but have no idea how to comprehend the hieroglyphics used in their writing.

There was still along wait until the start and whilst my adrenaline was high, I tried to conserve my energy by sitting on the hotel steps along with hundreds of others.  There was a good mixture of club and fun runners, including a large contingent from the local 1144 club.  With 30 minutes to go, I joined in with some of the club runners as they warmed up along the road to the hotel’s car park.

As the midnight hour approached, I found myself near the back of the massed runners.  Rather than negotiate my way through their ranks, I returned to my warm up area and made my way along the road and directly under the official Start point.  Some of the local runners were complaining about the heat (ron) and I was feeling it more than most.  After drinking my water, I had replenished the bottle with tap water and, taking a page out of Mo Farah’s book, I dowsed my head, arms and legs with the water prior to the off.

Race Report

Although I was standing on the official Start line, there were still loads of runners in front of me and, as I found out as the gun fired, even more waiting in the wings.  I wasn’t too upset at having to walk the first few metres but I was wary of getting sucked into ‘fun run mode’ so I weaved my way through the walkers before moving out to the right hand side and finding some space to run along Thanon Phetchaburi.

The route was on the road, which was still open but traffic policeman used their torches to cordon off a lane or two to allow us to make our way along the course.  Even at this time of night the Bangkok roads were jammed with their usual nose to tail traffic.  It was pitch dark and the lights from the many cars and motorbikes helped to lighten the route.  I heard my Garmin beep to indicate my 1^st k but it was too dark to see what my pace was.  It wouldn’t have made much difference though, as my target was to have a ‘good race’.  Of course, it would be great to finish in under an hour but my training runs had shown me how difficult that would be to achieve and I’d rather enjoy the occasion than blow up trying to get a specific time.  I had also decided that I would stop and take some water at each of the five drink stations, even if I wasn’t thirsty.  My first stop was about 2k and I could see a couple of runners, presumably participating in the 6k race, making their way back along the other side of the road.  ‘Wimps’ I thought to myself, if they were real runners they’d be doing the 12k event!

Just before 3k the races split and I almost followed the 6k Route, as most of the runners around me took that option. However I noticed the sign, just in time, and switched to the RHS lane.  There was a gap of at least 20m between me and the pack in front but, as the route took us up the bridge over the Expressway Chaloem Mahanokhon, I managed to catch them and overtook a few on the downhill part. 

I found myself running along beside a Japanese runner for a while but overtook him at the turn point.  We made our way back along Thanon Phetchaburi before turning left, past Strinakharinwirot University and down Road Ratchada Phisek.  A right turn took us on to one of the busiest roads in Bankok, Sukhumvit.  A right hand turn and we were on the narrow but bustling Soi 5 and right past my hotel.  I was relieved that I had no thoughts at all about stopping.  In fact, quite the opposite as the cheering crowds gave me a lift.  We were directed left, through a connecting road, and on to Sukhumvit Soi 7, where we passed a night market.  The enthusiastic support from the crowd was welcomed and needed, as, although I felt that I was doing OK, I was tiring badly.  Garmin continued to bleep every so often but I didn’t kt now how far I had run and more importantly how far there was to go.

A left turn took us back onto Thanon Phetchaburi, where the bridge over the Expressway greeted us.  As we reached it, I noticed that there were a number of local club runners walking.  I decided then that my target would be to complete the course without resorting to walking. 

Once over the bridge, we remerged with the 6k Route and I found myself surrounded by walkers.  I thought for a moment that I might have taken a wrong turn but I then noticed another runner, wearing a green vest, and decided to hang on to his tail as he weaved his way through the 6k walkers and slowing 12k runners.  ‘Green vest’ was running a bit slower than my pace but it was worth the sacrifice of a few seconds for me to let him do all the thinking and navigating.  A woman runner overtook me and I sat behind her and ‘green vest’ as we made our way along the latter stages of the race. 

We turned around at the junction with Road Phayathai and Garmin bleeped, I thought about throwing caution to the wind and going for ‘it’ for the last kilometre but the road was packed with walkers and as it happened ‘green vest’ increased his pace. 

The woman runner dropped of the pace a bit and I overtook her as we approached the noise coming from the Race HQ.   We also caught some of the club runners that I had seen warming up before the race. 

We turned left at the hotel and, as the marshals ushered us into the 12k Finish lane, I was absolutely delighted to look up and see that the clock was reading 57:33.  I had achieved all of my targets of: helping to support some good causes; running a ‘good race’; not resorting to walking and, the one that I thought I wouldn’t achieve, running a sub 60min race. 

I congratulated green vest and waited for the woman runner to finish, she was delighted to be informed that she had placed second woman.  I collected my medal and headed to the post race area, the sweat was pouring out of me, so I decided to give the hot soup a miss in favour of fresh melon and loads of water, cola and various fresh fruit juices.  After milling about a bit with the other runners, I reclaimed my belongings, had a quick wash and change in the toilets and caught a tuk tuk back to the hotel.

A quick shower and I was heading out for a few well deserved beers, unfortunately it was just before the official closing time of 2am.  I still managed to get a couple of drinks though.  On my way back to the hotel, the skies opened up and I had to take refuge under the tarpaulin of one of the tiny but numerous street bars, which appear on the pavement every night and stay open until about 4am.  I stopped a roaming band of troubadours and paid them a few Bhat to entertain me and the other revellers with a few songs as I enjoyed a few more post-race beers with the locals.