Nicola

nicola_0373©, a photo by Heilster Hieroglyphics on Flickr.

First of many photos from a shoot with Nicola.

A Race of Two Halves @ the Brian Goodwin 10k

Pic by Scott Photography

There was a great turnout of some 217 runners for the popular Bellahouston Harriers’ Brian Goodwin 10k.  I think I knew most of them and it was good to see so many familiar faces at the Pollok Park race.  The weather had improved from the heavy showers, during the day, but unfortunately my health hadn’t and I struggled from the off.  I knew this would be the case and I started slower than I normally would, with the 1^st mile taking me 7:15.  However by that time I was physically and mentally shattered and my pace slowed as I struggled through Pollok Park and along the perimeter roads with the acceptance that, for the first time ever, I would throw in the towel at the 5k.  It was a hard decision to make but sometimes such decisions are the bravest ones to take.  However when I pulled over at 5k and took a drink of water, my friends, who were marshalling, encouraged me to complete the race, “even if I had to walk/run the second half”.  This and my respect for those runners who were behind me was enough to convince me to re-start the race.  Although I was still feeling shattered, I managed to find some mental strength and decided that: I would beat last week’s Men’s Health time of 50:06; I would try not to let anyone overtake me; and I would pick off runners as I made my way around the second 5k.  

Flying Finish - he looks as bad as I felt! 

I was actually surprised that Louise Couper hadn’t overtaken me in the first half of the race but it transpires that she had been close behind me and had been confident of catching me in the second half.  I managed to catch three runners before a Greenock Glenpark Harrier sped past me.  Unfortunately I couldn’t keep up with him but I did keep my discipline and slowly worked my way up the field.  By the time I was approaching the last kilometre, I had caught another two runners.  Jimmy Irvine encouraged me to pick off some more of the runners in front of me.  I caught another three, including Graeme Pert.  I had a Hamilton Runner (Ross Bickerstaff) in my sights but I thought his lead was too great to catch him, however I surprised myself to find a last minute sprint and catch him just as we were approaching the Finish line.  I had caught nine runners and been overtaken by one, not too bad a result.  Of course I was shattered but in a happy way, despite the fact that it had taken me 47:37 (Gun time 47:45) to run a 10k.  I’m sure if I had pulled out of the race, I would still have been shattered but in a sad, depressed way, which would have taken much longer to recover from.

Mike Deason and Robert Gilroy

I placed 134^th out of 215, Lou finished in 141^st place with a time of 47:46 (Gun time 48:00) and thanked me for pulling her round the second half of the race.  Her younger twin, Claire continued her great form by winning the women’s race in a time of 36:55, Jaqui Thomson placed second in 38:19 and the host club’s Louis Warren earned Bronze with a time of 39:29.  In the men’s race Robert Gilroy pressed Michael Deason all the way but had to accept runner-up spot, in a time of 31:52, just behind Michael’s winning time of 31:51, with third place going to Paul Sorrie in 33:16.  

Take Two- Louise Couper crosses the Finish Line

Although the BBQ had to be cancelled because of the weather, the runners mingled together in bar at Cartha Queen’s Park Rugby Club, where a few beers helped to wash down the burgers and pakora as we chatted before and after the prize giving.  There was a healthy scattering of prizes, with age related competitions and host club runners all being well rewarded for their efforts.  It was after 10:30pm by the time the Couper Twins and I left.  Congratulations to every one who took part in the race, even if you were one of the couple who didn’t finish, and many, many thanks to Bellahouston Harriers and all the volunteers for organising, yet another, great event, especially those that kept me going.
It’s great being a runner in Scotland!

Pic s by Chris Quinn 

Results

Nuffield Health jogscotland 5k Challenge Glasgow

To be honest, I’ve been shattered since the Men’s 10k on Sunday.  Whilst others celebrated their successes, I returned to my kip for most of the day. I did surface in time to catch The Angel’s Share at the cinema though, a thoroughly entertaining and thought provoking film, as you would expect from the Paul Laverty/Ken Loach partnership. The award winning film* even had an unexpected cameo role for former Killie favourite Andy McLaren thrown in for good measure.

Andy McLaren

Although I was fortunate enough to take some leave on Tuesday and catch a few of this year’s all too rare sunshine, there’s no hiding the fact that I am still well below par.  I grabbed a quick nap, after visiting the Commonwealth Games Village with work, on Wednesday before cycling down to Glasgow Green, where I hoped that an energy drink would transform me from my fatigue into an athlete.  Unfortunately my hope was in vain and it was clear as I warmed up that my get up and go has gone for the meantime.  With the Jog Scotland Glasgow 5k no longer being part of the Stewarts Grand Prix, the quality and quantity of this year’s field was not as strong as previous ones.  I had decided to run in my Jammy Henshite vest and chatted with the other Jammies and numerous other running buddies prior to the Start.  A number of friends commented on how well I was looking but I can assure you looks can be deceitful. 

Pic by Scott Photography

At 7pm, three hundred of us were set on our way along a zigzag 5k route round Glasgow Green.  I found myself running behind Gerry Gallacher and Angela Campbell and just in front of Linda Kennedy.  I was a bit disappointed when I looked at my watch as we passed the 1k mark to see it reading around 4:30.  I can only assume that the mark was in the wrong position as when my Garmin bleeped at 1mile, it revealed that it had taken me only 6:48.  (Garmin later revealed that the 1^st k had actually taken 4:06).  I was struggling, so I decided to ease off the pace a bit and as I did Linda Kennedy passed me on the way to smashing her 5k PB.  I battled against the negative thoughts for the middle part of the race, with only the knowledge that, if Gerry and Angela were still in view, I must be doing better than I thought, keeping me going.  At the 3k mark, I decided to try to finish the race with a better average pace than I had run at the recent East End ‘5k’.  Garmin bleeped to reveal that the second mile had taken 7:15.  A fellow Jammy gave me some words of encouragement as he overtook me.  I reached the 4k point in 17:41 and climbed the wee hill, shortly after this I was overtaken by a Bellahouston Harrier (Darren Murray).  As we turned right, Daren and Angela kept to the pavement but I decided to avoid the overhead branches and took the, very slightly, longer road instead.   I saw Darren overtaking Angela and I realised that I was closing in on her too. As we reached the right turn into the final strait, I made my move and ‘sprinted’ down the middle of the road, overtaking another couple of runners before crossing the line in 56^th position with a watch time of 21:57. (Gun Time 21:59).

Women's Winner Lesley Chisholm

I congratulated Cambuslang’s Jacqueline McLew, who took 22seconds off of her PB to finish just behind me in 22:01 and then Angela, who had taking 13seconds off of her PB, to place 8^th female (59^th overall) in 22:02.  Gerry had placed 48th in 21:46, with Linda ahead in 42nd place (6th woman) in 21:29.

There was no photo finish for Bellahouston Road Runner Keiran Docherty today as he won the Men’s race by almost half a minute, in a time of 16:27.  Derek Govan was runner-up in 16:56 and Inverclyde’s Thomas Jamieson placed third in 17:04.

In the women’s race it was Garscube’s Lesley Chisholm who earned Gold with a time of 17:42, Glasgow based Inverness Harrier Lesley Clarkston changed down from her Marathon runs to 5k for the first time and claimed runner-up with a time of 19:12, with the ever improving Jennifer Clark taking a further 12 seconds off of her PB to earn third place in 19:25.

Another great event and, although I’m way below par at the moment, I did manage to take more than 30 seconds off of me comparable time for the East End 5k, and I’m still enjoying being part of the wonderful Scottish running community.


Results

*The Film won the prestigious Jury Prize at this year's Cannes Film Festival.

Men's 10k

Pic by Alan Peebles

I joined in with nine Bellahouston Harriers to act as pacers for this year's Men’s Health 10k race.  I had performed the same role last year, supporting runners around the route in 55minutes.  I must have done something right, as this year I was asked to do the 50min slot.  Despite still recovering from my London Marathon experience, I was therefore guaranteed to improve last year's time by five minutes. Not too many can say that.

To be honest, I felt terrible on Sunday morning as I made my way along to meet my fellow pacers.  However with the delayed Start, friendly banter with my running buddies and some much needed coffee, supplied by Claire Couper, by the time the event started, I was feeling a lot better.  

Amongst the many that I chatted with was Irvine's David Millar, who is a regular winner of the Men's Race, although he had been injured of late, I was still confident that he would do well.

As women members of Bellahouston Road Runners led the runners around to their particular starting waves I joined in with Brian Barr to lead those seeking to average 5min/k.  At 10:25am we started downhill, through the fantastic support and turned right towards Bellahouston Leisure Centre, on to the road and up the hill on Bellahouston Ave took us to our 1st k, in a perfect five minutes.

Pic by Kellyann McIsaac

The race was still very crowded as we turned left along Mosspark Boulevard, where Marshals kept us to the left and the crowds cheered us on our way.  We were still on target as we past the 2k mark and were soon turning right and making our way along Dumbreck Road.  As we approached the 3k marker, we could see the leader of the race making his way back, after completing 8k of his race.  Although our start was in the second wave, which meant that he had a start on us, their was no doubting that he was having an impressive run.


We turned left at Haggs Road into Pollok Country Park and away from the supporters.  A number of runners reverted to walking but I weaved through them as I led my band of followers along.  Unfortunately Brian was delayed by the congestion.  I was a few seconds late at the 4k point, so I couldn't wait for him but encouraged those around me to maintain their pace.  "Runners coming through" I shouted a few times and those struggling in front moved to the side.  I congratulated my runners as we reached the 6k mark in a time of 30:00.  Up a wee hill and then down along the first part of the Glasgow parkrun we ran.  We reached the throngs of supporters on Haggs Road but some runners where starting to drop off the pace by the time we reached the 8k mark.  I encouraged them to take on water at the drinks station and maintained my pace back along Dumbreck Road to the Bellahouston Park entrance opposite Nithsdale Road.  We entered the park, with one kilometre to go and the crowds cheered us on our way.  With a few hundred metres to go Brian reappeared and we stood to the side, encouraging our runners to push in for the final strait before we crossed the line in a time of 50:06.  A good job well done.  We congratulated each other and our runners before collecting our medals and goody bags.
Some of our runners had achieved their targets, whilst others just couldn't maintain the pace for the entire race but all where extremely appreciative of our role in assisting them.

The Battle of the Bellas

The race itself was won by a newcomer to the running scene in Scotland, Wegne Tafese, who finished in a time of 30:28. David Millar was runner-up and first MV40 in 32:02 and perhaps the race of the day was between Bellahouston Harrier Tom Mcdonald and his Road Runner rival Kieran Docherty, who both crossed the line in 33:10.  Bellahouston Harriers  won the team event, with Steven Prentice; Crispin Walsh and Tom Lauckner all joining Tom Mcdonald on the rostrum.


All on all a great day out, made all the better by all the organisers and volunteers who had assisted in making the event such a success and all the supporters who cheered us around the course.    


As one runner said to me: "This is great, not only do I get paced by you but I get all your support as well!"

Results

Kids Portrait

I had the opportunity to do a studio photo shoot with the children of a friend.  Taking photographs of children is always a bit of a challenge, especially when trying to get them to sit down in the same place at the same time.  That said, I was quite happy with this shot.

Dark Den

rim01a, a photo by Heilster Hieroglyphics on Flickr.

A studio shot portraiture using rim light for effect.

Five More Years!

 

 

Bearsden and Milngavie Highland Games

I ran the hot, humid, hilly and hard Bearsden and Milngavie Highland Games 10K Road Race on my 50th birthday in 2007. I had been injured and it was my first 10k race in 18 months but it was the only race that I could find to celebrate achieving half a hundred years. I recorded a PW of 53:59.

Five years on and I returned to the East Dunbartonshire event but with my camera, rather than my training shoes.

The intervening five years had witnessed me run 6915 miles, an average of 1383 per year. In that time I have taken part in 245 races, an average of 49 per year and also cycled some 3652 miles, so I reckoned that I was due a day off.

There were 83 finishers in the Bearsden and Milngavie Highland Games 10K in 2007, sadly only 45 runners took part in this year’s race. It wasn’t quite as hot or humid as it had been in 2007 but it was still hilly. There’s not much support along the country roads around Milngavie and Baldernock, so the runners all seemed pleased to see me as I gave them a few words of encouragement around the 8k point. I managed to catch them all on camera as they made their way uphill after crossing a ford.

The race was won by Garscube’s Dave Robertson in a time of 38:18, with Clydesdale’s Pamela Mccrossan winning the women’s event in 43:34.

My photos

Despite or perhaps because I was a bit hung over from my birthday celebrations, I decided that I would take part in the Glasgow East 5k fun run on Sunday morning. I had run it in 2009 and had enjoyed joining in with a mass of white t-shirts, as they made their way around the closed roads around Tollcross Park. A flat car battery, the result of leaving my side lights on, meant that I had to cycle to the start this year. A field of yellow t-shirts met me as I made my way to join the end of the registration queue. With the commentator announcing that the event was about to start, I collected the last race number of the day but unfortunately there was no safety pins left to attach it. Back on the bike and down to the assembled masses, chained up the bike, took off my top and spotted Katie Smith waving near the front of the hordes. Thankfully the event didn’t start on time and I joined Katie, Suzanne McMahon, Graeme Aitken (new slim version), Amanda Charles and others, who kindly gave me two of their safety pins and I was ready to go.

Graeme points out the route

It was pandemonium as hundreds of youngsters adorned in their yellow vests sprinted from the off. However it wasn’t long until their youthful enthusiasm had taken its toll and I weaved my way through them as the stopped or looked over their shoulders for their friends. I had recently improved my natural running pace from around 8:10 min /mile to around 7:30 and was hoping to maintain that pace today, despite being somewhat under the weather. Brian Burnett passed me, followed a bit later by Joe Chambers, who had been one of the 45 at yesterday’s race. Another runner (Brian) had spotted Jammy Henshite on the back of my vest and asked if I was the famous blogger. We ran along chatting for a bit, with him telling me that he was looking forward to doing the Kilmaurs 5k, after reading my description of the event.

I was a bit surprised when my Garmin bleeped to inform me that the first mile had taken 7:01. The second was more in line with my training pace, at 7:28. I could see Graeme and Suzanne, first woman, a good bit ahead of me. Brian told me that he thought that he could get an unofficial PB, so I encouraged him to increase his pace. The 4k mark appeared in Braidfauld Street and I stepped it up a little. I found myself running alone as I ran passed the all female band and into the park, uphill to cross the Finish line in 20:02!! Of course, closer scrutiny of my Garmin revealed that the 5k had actually been 4.45k. That said, I was still happy with my performance, the fastest since 1st April and almost 2:30 faster than in 2009.

My average pace for the first mile had been 4:22, the second mile: 4:38 and the remainder 4:31, giving an average pace of 4:30 min/k, which would have equated to a 22:30 5k.

I collected my impressive medal, banana, water, goody bag and t-shirt, very impressive for a free event, before sharing congratulations with my running buddies. I made my way back to my bike and cheered on some of the other runners before cycling back home. Not a bad start to my 55th year.

Ha Ha Said the Clown

The Thai word for five is pronounced "ha" so when something is funny they say 55 or "Ha Ha".

Bearsden and Milngavie Highland Games 10K 2012

Bearsden and Milngavie Highland Games 10K 2012, a set on Flickr.

One of the hilliest 10ks in the country. I ran it five years ago but decided to support and take some photos of the hardy runners this year.

Let me know if you want any of the photographs with the copyright removed.

Muti

Muti, a set on Flickr.

I had the pleasure of working with Muti of Superior Model Management on Tuesday 29th May 2012.

I wanted a different type of shot than the one I had recently with Rachel Loughran so, rather than using a 'beauty' ring light, I used two soft boxes located at a 45 degrees angle and set at F11. I over exposed the background by using two barn doors set at F16.  If you look into Muti's eyes in the main photograph above, you will be able to see the soft box lights.

I  followed the style of David Bailey by cropping off the top of Muti's head  and converting some of the photos to Black and White.

I used my Canon 1000D, with an 85mm lens and shot at ISO 200, an aperture of F8 and a shutter speed of 1/125 of a second.

Photos