Turkey Trots....... Mine's a Double!

Despite having stuffed myself with way too much food and cheap plonk at my brother’s on Christmas Day, I didn’t sleep very well on Christmas night as the howling, gale force winds woke me up every two hours or so.  There’s no way that I was going to be able to run a 10k race with these preparations, I thought and checked my training plan, to discover that I had a 5 mile run scheduled.  I could maybe do the Turkey Trot 5k I thought and checked the Start time and the previous results, which revealed that the Start would be at 11:15 and that around 100 runners might be participating.  With my camera packed, so that I could take some photos of the 10k, which followed at noon, I made my way down the M77 to Burns Country.

I was surprised, to see that there were so many 10k runners arriving at the same time as me, including an early turnout from Kilmarnock Harriers.  Club mate Ken Wales informed me that he was also doing the 5k, as were Sarah and Emily Munn and Toni, running her second race in two days.

It was also good to see Douglas Alexander MP participating in the festive frolics.

Take One

I knew that the forecast had been for 25mph winds.  As I warmed up, I soon appreciated just how strong the winds would actually feel.  These were some of the windiest conditions that I had raced in, I thought as I joined the throng of runners on the wind swept esplanade. 

I was a bit surprised that I wasn’t able to stay with Ken Wales as he raced away from me from the very Start.  Toni started cautiously but it wasn’t long until she passed me quipping “you won’t beat me today Ian”.  I was then overtaken by a group of three runners, all dressed in black.  As they too opened up a gap on me, I recalled a previous year, when I was running the 10k, hearing Jimmy Irvine bellowing at me to catch up and run with the group.  I increased the pace and soon settled in with the threesome.  I knew that I could run faster than the pace that they were setting but it seemed like a daft thing to do, when I wasn’t chasing a time and the gap in front to Ken’s group was some 200metres or so.  Better, I thought, to conserve my energy and catch them in the second half.

There were times when had to close one eye and even both eyes, as the sand was blowing into my face.  A cheap way to get an exfoliation, I thought. 

5k pic by Kenny Phillips

We turned around a marshal at 2.5k and thankfully the wind was now behind us.  However I wasn’t the only one who increased the pace.  The pack of three split, when the female in the group (Christine Kling?) made her break, but the other two Chris McDermott, his personal trainer John Docherty and Ken, in front, were not for making it easy for me.  I managed to catch them at 3.3k and, just as I was wondering if I should pass them or not, a surge of wind caught me and I found myself in front of all three. 

I could see how strong Toni was running ahead of me and decided to focus on her, rather than the challenge of Ken behind me.  The woman in black (Christine Kling?) pulled over with a loose lace and then a runner with a GBR vest pulled up.  I was feeling good though and increased the pace with Toni in my sights.  I saw her looking over her shoulders and I knew that I had a chance, with the Ayr supporters screaming at her not to be overtaking by me, I sprinted down the last strait and crossed the line in front of her in 22^nd place, with a time of 22:12.

Splits: 4:43; 4:59; 4:35; 4:03; 3:52

Take Two

As I made my way back to the Citadel a number of people asked me if I was doing the 10k , “of course I am” I jokingly responded.  However as the hall emptied, I thought “Why not”, quickly filled in another entry form, pinned on my new race number and ran back to the Start Line just in time for the Off.  I joined in with the 10k runners as we battled against the head wind.  I hadn’t fuelled up for a 10k race, never mind a 10+5k race so I was happy to tuck in behind a slow pack and enjoy the race at a slower pace than normal.

 

The wind and the sand didn’t feel quite as bad the second time round.  As I reached the 2.5k point, Louie Plenderleith appeared over my shoulder and, knowing that I had run the 5k too, said “you’re mad, Ian” as he ran past me. 

The route then turned left, along the river path and gave us some respite from the wind. Another left, past the car showroom and along the road we headed.

Pic by Liz Mcderment

It wasn’t that long until we met the elites, making their way back, led by in form Stuart Gibson.  I applauded Stuart and shouted words of encouragement to the others as I ran along.  It wasn’t long though until a marshal directed me left and back into the wind.  A right turn and as I looked up to acknowledge Connell Drummond’s support, I could see Stuart flying along the esplanade with the wind in his back.

Pic by Andrew Scott

Another right turn took me past the 5k point and I was soon back on the road and heading back.  I was now offering support to the slower runners as they made their way towards the 4k mark.  I caught Louie at around 5.5k.  I was enjoying my race, increasing the pace slightly every kilometre and reeling in other runners as I did. We got the benefit of the wind behind us for the last 3k, or so.

I had another Killie Harrier (Brian McManus) in my sights and managed to catch him at 9k, I managed to get away from him as I completed the final kilometre in less than 4mins, to cross the line in 48:13.  I placed 127 out of 247 finishers and supported a number of other runners completing their final 200metres before heading back to the Citadel to shelter from the wind and enjoy some fine post race banter and an excellent Boxing Day buffet.

Splits: 4:51; 5:32; 5:06; 5:03; 4:55; 4:51; 4:49; 4:41; 4:27; 3:58

I really enjoyed both races and I think that my splits show that I ran quite intelligently.  I received loads of support in both races and in particular the 10k where Connell Drummond and Ken Wales kept popping up to offer me words of encouragement.  Huge thanks from me to my fellow runners, the marshals and the photographers who all helped for a great couple of races.

Races 66 and 67 in the bag, mine’s a double!

Results


Photos

Christmas parkrun

I was still feeling a bit rough on Christmas Eve, so I resisted the temptation to go out and settled for a couple of glasses of vin rouge before retiring.  I still wasn’t 100% on Christmas Day as the dreaded ‘second day hangover’ took control of my body but of course this wouldn’t stop me completing another parkrun.  I was surprise that over 100 other runners appeared at Pollok Park for the morning 5k, including speed merchants Luke Traynor and Jethro Lennox as well as Ayr’s Toni McIntosh making her return to running after a lengthy period out injured.

My VLM training schedule had me down to run 3miles, so a wee 5k would do fine and enable me to tick off day 25 of the Marcothon. 

The Finish  ...Pic by Chris Cue

I was feeling a lot better than the day before but didn’t want to overdo it, as I knew I was racing at Ayr the next day.  I thought about taking it easy and running at 5min/k pace but then thought that it would be good if I could take a couple of seconds off of yesterday’s time of 23:20.  I ran along chatting with Angela Campbell for the first mile, before she dropped off the pace a little.  I was surprised to see that Martin Myant wasn’t far in front as I made my way round the course at a constant pace.  Angela kept me in her sights and as I crossed the line in 34^th place, with a time of 23:18, I was pleased to see that she finished immediately behind me in 23:19.  Job done as far as I was concerned but Angela was upset, as she thought that she had worked hard and had hoped to take more than 4 seconds off of her time.  I did point out that the conditions were harder and in particular the strong wind would have slowed most runners.  It will be interesting to see if Run Britain confirms this or not.  Especially as Luke and Jethro didn’t seem to be too effected, crossing the line in an incredible 15:22 and 17:05 respectively.  Toni placed 40^th but her goal was just to make it around the course without any reoccurrence of her injury.

Post Race with Al, Toni and Jim

With the Burrell closed, many of the runners and volunteers had brought along hot drinks, cakes and chocolates to share.  It was just a bit of a shame that the cold wind didn’t make for amenable conditions for standing around chatting.

I had run my 90^th parkrun and my 65^th race of the year.

Results

Photos

Rough Running on Christmas Eve

It’s Christmas but I’m not a Christian……..which doesn’t really matter as the festival is actually an old Pagan one, which the Christians adopted and capitalism exploited.  Of course it’s always a good reason for families to get together, for better or worse, and the running family is no exception.  The kind volunteers at Glasgow parkrun put on their usual Saturday morning event and will follow up on Xmas Day with another, whilst my hometown of Ayr puts on the Turkey Trot races on Boxing Day.  Oh as well as running there are parties and other festivities too and of course holidays from work.

I’ve been on holiday since close of business on Thursday and put Friday to good use, running a steady state 10mile run as part of my London Marathon training and the Marcothon too.  This was the furthest I’ve ran since 22 September and I was pleased with my consistency as I maintained a 5min/k pace throughout the run.  I had to hit the shops later on in the day and the madness was enough to remove any doubts that I may have had about going to Sammy Dows.  I had an excellent night being entertained by the Dangerous Brothers.  However I must have had too many pints of the black stuff and I was feeling very rough on Saturday morning, I was nearly sick as I brushed my teeth, so the only thing for it was to head along to Pollok Park for my 89^th parkrun. 

Despite the overnight wind and rain, there were loads of running buddies participating with almost 300 runners, some of them dressed in their Santa outfits or hats.  I managed a warm up without being sick and settled in somewhere near the middle of the pack for the race start.  I found myself running along with former referee Kenny Clark for a while, before bidding him good luck as either he increased his pace or I slowed, at about 800m into the course.  “I’m sure you’ll catch me later” he said as he ran ahead.  I was then joined by, former Bellahouston Road Runner club mate, Louie Plenderleith and then Norman Boyle.  It was as if we had turned the clock back as we ran along together.  Norman took the lead, with Louie and then me.  However as we turned left and started up hill, just after 2k, I took the lead.  I was pleasantly surprised to be overtaking by, the much improved, Angela Campbell at this point. 

Angela, Norman and rough me......

I was feeling rough as Norman overtook me on the downhill section but with him, Angela and Kenny all ahead of me, I had plenty of targets to keep me going.  I caught Kenny at about the same spot as he had left me in the first lap.  I then found myself running at the same pace as a man and woman (Katrina Kynaston?) who were running together.  The three of us passed Angela on the downhill section just before turning left. I could see Norman ahead and the gap between us decreased as we ran the final kilometre.  I was quite happy to finish behind him until the final downhill 100metres, when I sprinted towards the finish.  Although I did catch other runners, Norman must have heard me and sprinted the last 10metres or so, holding out both his arms as he crossed the line just in front of me. 

I congratulated Norman and Angela before finding a tree to be sick behind and then making my way to the barcode scanning area where I shared congratulations with Louie and Kenny before doing my warm down and getting my daily mileage up to 5miles, as per my training schedule. 

It was good to see so many runners and volunteers in the Burrell for post race coffee and chat.   

I had placed 94^th with a time of 23:20, had completed the 24^th day of the Marcothon, and had run my 64th race of 2011.  Once again huge thanks to everyone for making it a great wee race and congratulations to Stuart Gibson for winning with a new course PB of 15:29!!

Results 

Photos

Blue Skies and Black Ice

‘Twas a gorgeous winter morning in Glasgow today, the sky was blue and the sun was shining, however these conditions are usually accompanied by low temperatures and today was to be no exception.  The temperatures had plummeted over night and yesterday’s melted snow had turned to black ice.  The attempted early morning inspection of the Glasgow parkrun course revealed that not only was the usual route too dangerous to run but that the roads into Pollok Park itself were also extremely hazardous.  The unusual decision to cancel the event was taken at about 8:30am and tweeted to the nation. 

View from my flat

My Plan B was to go to Strathclyde parkrun and congratulate Ross Goodman as he completed his 1000^th kilometre of the year.  However, despite my four wheel drive option, my car was unable to make it up the 200m of black ice which would have taking me to the relative safety of Pollokshaws Road and on my way to Motherwell.

Instead, I had to abandon the car, make my way home and opt for Plan C, a run along the road of at least 3miles to qualify me for day 17 of the Marcothon. 

The other view from my flat

I carefully negotiated my way over the ice and snow, the pavement being slightly less risky than the road, and was rewarded by a well gritted, and relatively quiet A77.  I made my way along through Shawlands, where I could use the salted pavements, towards the Pollok Avenue entrance to the park.  The safety of the pavement decreased between Shawlands and Bar 1901, where there was no option but to resort to running on the road.  My initial assessment of Pollok Ave was that it wasn’t that bad, however it didn’t take me long to realise that my feet were sliding as I reached the ice.  I heard a voice saying “Is it a bit slippy” and turned to see the only other runner that I would see this morning………………………..Jacqui Thomson!  I advised her that the parkrun had been cancelled but, like me, she was content to get a run under her belt.  Her trainers had more grip than mine, so I decided to return to the safety of Pollokshaws Road and head back towards home.  Whilst the run would have been about 4 miles and more than enough for the Marcothon, I decided to add another couple of miles and turned around at the junction with Moss-side Road.  This time as I ran down the road CatrionaGourlay, waiting in her car at the red light, called my name and we chatted about the cancellation and the underfoot conditions.  I, and thousands of others, are indebted to Catriona, Richard Leyton and the other core parkrun volunteers who give up so much of their time, in all weather, so that runners can have a Saturday morning 5k.

This time, I turned right and ran along Haggs Road, where the entrance/exit to Pollok Park was worse than Pollok Ave, with the road being covered by black ice.  Again, I turned around and rejoined the main road and ran back towards Shawlands, a detour onto Victoria Road took me over 10k, my target for the day.  A cagey warm down over the black ice and snow took me to the warmth of my home and an earlier than usual but no less deserved cooked brunch. 

Not a bad start to the weekend. It’s great being a runner!

Running in Holiday Mode

It was my office Xmas party on Friday so I wasn’t expecting to be in any great state for racing on Saturday.  With that in mind, I gave the West of Scotland Cross Country Championships a miss, deciding instead to bag another parkrun.  However, I felt surprisingly good on Saturday morning and was confident that I would improve on my last outing.  Unfortunately though, the weather was not conducive to fast times, with black ice and puddles making the course even more difficult than usual.  Race Director, for the day, Campbell Joss wisely advised the runners to “save our PBs for another day”.

Jacqui Thomson

I had a wee chat with Jacqui Thomson during my warm up and she advised me that as well as coming back from an operation, she was also suffering from a cold.  Despite her handicaps, I was surprised to find her running on my shoulder for the first third of the race.  She never said anything but she did seem to have a surprised look on her face when, rather than run around two runners, I shouted “runner coming through” and they moved out of my way.  We were running at 4:16 pace and on a very good day I might have been able to maintain that but running along side someone who has completed the course in 18:47 was a bit intimidating and rather than using Jacqui’s presence as a spur to a good performance, I did my usual and took my foot of the pedal a bit.  That said, I thought I was still having a good enough run and was making my way slowly up through the field.  I was just about to increase my pace for the final kilometre, when I noticed that the two runners that had let me pass them in the first lap were on my shoulder, there was no way that I was going to let them pass me.  I focussed on a guy in white in front and managed to catch another few runners before sprinting down the final 200m to cross the line in 22:31 in 39^th place.

As usual I shared congratulations with the runners around me.  The two guys had actually been father and son and they both complimented me, not only on my race but also my running style.  The dad, Graeme Pert, was delighted to have run a PB of 22:45, taking 8 seconds off of his previous best time and asked me if I could take a photo for them to mark the occasion.  For my part, I was disappointed with my time but delighted to have finished so far up the, albeit depleted, field of 162 runners.

My time was actually the same as my chip time last Sunday, which to be fair was on an easier course.  I had improved last week’s Glasgow parkrun time by 12 seconds but if I had worked a bit harder it could have been much more.  However I had chalked off another day in the 31 day Marcothon and my 63^rd race of 2011 not too bad given that I am kind of in ‘holiday mode’ with my London Marathon Training scheduled to begin on 18 December.  

Once again, huge thanks to my fellow runners, the supporters and in particular the marshals and other volunteers who seemed to be in fine fettle despite it being such a cold morning. 
Full results

Snow Photo

I've tried a few times to capture snow falling with the camera with little success to date but I think this one works quite well:

Cracker of a Race @Strathclyde Park

I had a good night at Sammys on Saturday, revelling in Killie’s win against Rangers last Sunday and being entertained by The Strangers, who put on their usual great show.  I probably drank too much of Arthur Guinness’s famous Stout during the night and I couldn’t resist topping the night off with a warming glass of Glayva.  Not surprisingly, I slept well but woke in plenty of time to make my way to Strathclyde Park for the Jogscotland 2011 Christmas Cracker 5k Challenge.  My thinking being that I’d need to run a minimum of three miles anyway to fulfil the requirements of the Marcothon. 

Festive Jammy Henshite

I was a bit surprised, when I arrived at the race, to find that Jim Buick and John Owens had travelled through from , snow bound, Edinburgh for the event but not at all surprised to see that, fresh from his 50^th parkrun, John Smith was in attendance, as was his lovely partner Moira Nicol and a number of other Jammys. I, of course, had my Jammy Henshite t-shirt on.  It was good to see Gerry Gallacher and Sarah Whalen, who had replaced their moustaches, of two weeks ago, with Santa outfits.  

 I hadn’t pre-registered and although the organisers had extra race chips, they didn’t have any extra numbers.  Instead they wrote my number (359) on a piece of A4 yellow paper, with a felt tip pen.  I fitted the chip to my running shoe and pinned the number on to my Jammy vest before doing my usual pre-race warm up routine.  I then made my way with the others to the Start Line, which was about 1k around the loch.  I said to Moira that although I had heard that the route had been changed due to some flooding, the weather conditions were almost perfect for running. 

Unfortunately the race didn’t kick off at the scheduled 11am but at 11:10, by which time the sky had darkened and a cold wind had appeared.  One minute into the race, things got worse as a heavy fall of sleet greeted us as we ran into the headwind.  “It will be behind you on the way back” cried a marshal as I tucked myself in behind another runner. 

The first kilometre took me 4:22, which I was happy enough with, as I usually shoot off too quickly.  I thought that it would be quite good to place first M50 but when I saw John Owens up ahead; I decided that I wasn’t going to race against him today.  I overtook a tiny lass, who later returned the favour, but she looked that young that it just didn’t feel right to race against her.  Instead I settled into my own pace and ran, rather than raced around the loch.  The wind died down and the sleet abated, there were a few puddles to negotiate and a bit of an incline around 4k but nothing severe enough to decrease my enjoyment.  Not surprisingly, the conditions had a bigger impact on my impromptu number.  Initially the ink had started to run but that wouldn’t matter much as the wet sleet took its toll on the thin paper and finally the wind blew it off my chest, leaving the naked safety pins in place.

Decent Goody Bag

A fairly young lad caught me with about half a kilometre to go, I increased the pace slightly and managed a bit of a sprint in the final strait, to cross the line in a time of 22:35.  The volunteers removed my chip for me and rewarded me with a decent goody bag and t-shirt.  I shared congratulations with a Clydesdale Harrier, who had finished behind me, before joining in with the other finishers.  I was wary of catching another cold, so I didn’t hang about too long after the race but got changed into some dry clothes and trainers and warmed down on the way back to my car.  As I left the park, I could see a number of others making their way along their final few hundred metres.  My friendly car horn beeps were met with smiling faces and waves of appreciation.  I had fulfilled day four of the Marcothon, had run a reasonable race, my 62^nd of 2011, had met up with some old and some new friends and had supported a worthwhile cause, all before noon.  It’s great to be a runner! 

UPDATE: Chip Time 22:31
It transpires that the 'tiny lass' was Heather Fawcett U13, who runs for Kilbarchan AC; the fairly young lad was 'Rory Harkins'; John Owens is younger than he looks and is only a M45, meaning that I was the 1st M50 (22nd overall); and the Clydesdale Harrier was Al Kerr.

Full Results here

Jammy Billy's Photos here

Marcothon, Mojo and Music

 My cold(s) and injury, combined with the terrible weather and demands of my new job had curtailed my running in November.  In fact I hadn’t run, cycled or swam since the Movember Run on Sunday, 20 November.  This isn’t a disaster as I’ve had a good year and I probably needed a rest before starting my London Marathon Training Schedule on 18 December.   

I wasn’t able to do the Marcothon last year as I was in transit between Thailand and Glasgow for over 24 hours and wasn’t able to run whilst flying.  The challenge being to run a minimum of 3 miles or 25 mins every day in December.  I’m not sure if I agree with the whole Ron Hill concept of running every day, arguing instead that rest is an important part of any training plan.  However I had lost my mojo in late November and was prepared to use anything to motivate me to get the trainers on and head out for a run in the dark and wet winter nights of old Glasgow toun.  So on Wednesday 1 December, after returning from a meeting at Ayr College, I donned my trainers, leggings, long sleeved vest and gloves and headed out for a slow 3.63 mile run in 32:23.  Of course I rewarded myself on Thursday night with a few pints in Sammy Dowe's, where I had the pleasure of chatting with percussionist legend RayWeston after he performed two numbers with host band Independence. 

Unassuming Ray Weston @sammys

Friday was a holiday to mark St Andrew’s Day and I headed out for a similar run, although this time I increased the pace for the middle kilometre and completed 3.74 miles in 31:30.

I had wanted to support the Glasgow University Hares andHounds 5 mile race on Saturday but didn’t feel that I was ready for it and settled for the Glasgow parkrun’s third anniversary instead, my 75^th .  I didn’t want to push myself too much but found myself sandwiched for much of the race between Martin Myant and Killie Women’s captain, Liz McDerment, Bella Harrier Jennifer Clark, having overtaken me at the 3k mark, much to my relief as she was making me work too hard. I took the foot off the gas for the 4^th k but increased it slightly in the last kilometre to cross the line in 68^th position, with a time of 22:42. 

After sharing mutual congratulations with my fellow runners, I introduced, first woman, Paula Wilson to Jennifer, who plays in the band Horse, which Paula is a big fan of and was actually going to see on Saturday night.

A short warm down and I made my way to a packed Burrell to get changed into some dry clothes and enjoy some post race chatting, a hot cup of coffee and some birthday cake.  Congratulations to John Gilhooly, who won the men’s annual points league and his female counterpart, who’s name I didn’t catch.  In fact I didn’t catch much of, Race Director, Richard Leyton’s speech and I’m sure that I’m not the only one, as although he is a self confessed geek and does a power of work for parkrun, I’m afraid that public speaking is just not one of his strengths.

I would have loved to have gone to Garscube to support the 5 mile racers, or even make the trip to Rugby Park to watch the famous Ayrshire Killie, I thought it was probably better that I headed home for brunch, a hot bath and a well earned siesta.

I had run my third run of December, my 61^st race of 2011 and my 87^th parkrun and, of course, I have another run tomorrow.