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| Me with my yellow vest and balloon! |
It’s been a while since I took part in either of the Great Scottish Races, last completing the 10k in 2009, whilst it's now 7 years since I ran the ‘Glasgow Half.” The unusually warm conditions on the 2005 race day were too much for me and I struggled to keep going, eventually crossing the line and collapsing with exhaustion shortly after.
My experience was almost enough to put me off of distance racing and I’ve never got round to running in the popular event ever since. Initially this year was to be no exception, as I hadn’t entered either the 10k or the Half, but when the organisers put out a call for Pacers, I couldn’t resist the opportunity to assist some of my fellow runners chasing after PBs or completing their first ever Half.
The organisation of the Pacers was less than perfect but I
ended up with lots of running friends in Glasgow City Chambers on Sunday
morning mixing with the elite runners and preparing to play a small role in
assisting in the success of the race.
At about 10:50am I joined the ranks of the assembled masses,
with my brightly coloured t-shirt and my helium filled balloon with ‘1:55’
written on both, indicating the time that I would assist runners in
achieving. As it happened there were a
lot of running buddies around me at the Start who wanted to run sub 1:55.
I set off at around 11:05, up the hilly St. Vincent Street
at a pace of 8:45 min/mile and it took a while for a lot of runners to find
their pace. By the first mile marker I
had attracted a band of runners. Some
of which were quite chatty, whilst others reserved their energy but stuck close
by. The route had changed slightly
since 2005 but we were still soon heading over the Kingston Bridge, and the
2mile mark, to Glasgow’s South Side.
After about 3.5 miles we were on Paisley Road West and the
race was starting to settle down a bit.
I was feeling great as I handed out encouragement to my runners whilst
onlookers and fellow runners passed on their support to me. One of my blog readers introduced him self
and shook me by the hand as we made our way southwards towards Bellahouston
Park. I was making a point of taking on
water at the drink stations and encouraging my runners to do likewise. There were loads of supporters in the Park
and it wasn’t long until we were on Mosspark Boulevard, where I had acted as a
pacer for the recent Men’s Health race.
We reached the 10k marker around noon and it was starting to feel pretty
warm. I briefly recalled how bad I had
felt at this point in 2005 but kept it to myself, choosing instead to encourage those
around me.
A left turn took us into Pollok Park and up the gradual hill
that I know so well, having raced up it more than 100 times, usually as part of
the Glasgow parkrun route. I saw
someone receiving medical treatment as we ran through the Park, a lot of people were starting to struggle at this point and the wee climb up towards the Burrell
didn’t help. “Keep your heads up, this
is the last hill” I shouted as we neared the 9mile mark. I know that I usually run a negative split,
so I was taking extra care to stick to my pace but even at 8:45 a number of
those around me couldn't maintain the pace. Others who had started too quickly welcomed me passing them and joined
in behind me as I encouraged them to keep going. “Last 5k!” and “It’s all downhill now!” I shouted to cheers from
my other runners. I was soon on
Nithsdale Drive, where I’m normally stationed with my camera but I couldn’t see
myself there this year.
Down Pollokshaws Road and through the Gorbals towards
Glasgow Green I ran reminding those that were struggling a bit that they were
almost at the Finish Line.
I would have loved to have upped the pace and sprinted along
past the cheering crowds but I stuck to my task, waving to friends and enjoying
the experience. I had pointed out to
those around me that I was actually going for a time of 1:54 and Garmin
indicated 1:53:52 as I completed my 13.1miles.
Someone on the left hand side shouted my name and I was immediately led
along to the VIP area, despite wanting to stay and cheer on the runners behind
me.
After watching the presentation ceremonies and changing back
into my cycling gear I joined the others in collecting my medal before walking
back to the City Chambers and cycling homeward for a cold bath and a hot meal
and sleep. After staying in on Friday
and Saturday it was good to meet up with some Bellahouston Harrier friends over
a BBQ and a couple of beers back at Cartha Rugby Club in the evening.
I had a great time pacing in the race and meeting so many old and new friends along the way. I was pleasantly
surprised to see that I had actually improved upon my time in 2005, which had
taken me 1:57:28. Huge congratulations to the 24,000 runners who had
taken part in either the 10k or the Half. If you ran then I hope that you enjoyed your experience. I loved it!
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