3K on the Green - August 2013

Off they go!

A great turnout and some great performances at the windy 3k on Glasgow Green on 30th August 2013.

Results to follow but my pics are here

The 30th Perth 10k Race

I’m wanting to include some races in my recovery but I’m well aware that if I were to do ones which I’ve done before then I’d be in danger of achieving PWs (personal worsts), instead I’ve decided to do ones which I have participated in, therefore guaranteeing CBs (course bests) of course SBs (seasonal bests) would be good too.

Fiona Edwards

I therefore declined the opportunity to join with loads of club mates and running buddies in doing the Paisley 10k on Sunday, deciding to race the Perth 10k instead.  My friend Claire McCracken had also taking this decision and had offered to drive, unfortunately she had an accident on Thursday and was unable to travel.  She was gutted to miss it.  As we had been the only Bellahouston Harriers within the 600 registered for the race, there would now only be one starting the 30^th anniversary of the event.

However I still knew some of the other runners as Dumbarton AAC had registred for the race in some numbers. There was also a few from the local Perth club, Portobello, Kinross, Moray, Dundee, Aberdeen Metro, Edinburgh  and others that I’d met at various races during the years.  The very first person I met though was Fiona Edwards, who is well known in the east coast running scene for selling her home made tablet at races in aid of charity, as well as regularly being amongst the age grade prize winners.  

After much chatting, some warm up and numerous pit stops, I lined up with 525 others on the grass at the Fair City’s North Inch park.They seem to have a thing about Starting and Finishing on the grass in Perthshire as the Crieff race does the same.

The route had been amended to reflect, as much as possible, the original course of 1983 and race numbers had been doubled.  There was a special commemorative medal and running vest too. Well there would have been but they couldn’t find the Large size ones.  

By 11am it was a little warm and humid but other than that, almost perfect running conditions.  It was a bit congested as we made our way over the electonic timing mats and across the grass for the first 400m or so before joining the path and completing a loop and a half of the Inch.  

We then made our way northwards, along the riverside path, with the River Tay on our right hand side.  I had hoped that some of the course would be scenic and I wasn’t disappointed.  I was happy enough with my pace and was slowly picking my way up through the field.  On a few occasions, I had thought “I’ll just sit in with this pack” but I had then chased after the pack in front.  I was looking forward to my bottle of water just after the 5k point, I wasn’t feeling paticularly thirsty but I did have a bit of a drouth.  I took a wee drink and poured the rest over me, suitably refreshed the race was now about to begin.  However the path was congested as a group of ramblers were also taking advantage of the weather to enjoy the fresh air and scenery. After the very sharp turn, I thought I spied the black and red of a Dumbarton runner in the distance and set off to try and catch them but the trail path was narrow, the 6^th k was to be my slowest of the race.  The route was less scenic, with trees on one side and the back of the North Muirton houses on the other, I tried to negotiate my way past my fellow runners and I caught glance of the Dumbarton runner taking a slight wrong turn ahead, before we rejoined the riverside path and was unexpectedly handed another bottle of water.

I was narrowing the gap but was still a good bit behind, I wasn’t sure if I would catch her but she had helped me to run a strong second half of the race.  The 9k mark came to soon and I was a little confused to find myself dashing across the grass towards the finishing line so soon.

Job Done

I crossed the line in a time of 46:20, to place 184^th just two places and 2 seconds behind Dumbarton’s Helen Roxburgh.  I congratulated her on her PB and chatted to the other runners.  The general consensus being that the distance had been around 6:05miles, although GPSs are not great in the trees of parks, a later look at the route revealed that marshals should have directed us out towards Harley Place and then left back onto the route, prior to the 9k marker.

Of course, you can only run the race that you’re given and most people seemed happy with their ‘PBs’.  I was happy enough with my performance and had enjoyed the race, I’m glad it wasn’t a PB though.

 

RESULTS

Local club runner Greig Simpson was first over the line, in 33:08, followed by Craig Harvey, Squarda Porcini, in 33:15 and Gordon Barrie, Dundee, in 33:28.  Dumbarton pair Peter Currie and Jim Waters placed 4^th and 5^th in 35:15 and 35:17 respectively.

Strathearn’s Patrick O’Kane won the M50+ race, with a time of 36:11.

In the Women’s Race, Fife’s Sheena Logan placed first in 37:04; Dundee’s Louise (Lou Lou) Beveridge was runner up in 37:20 and Abroath’s Gillian Sangster earned Bronze with a time of 37:33.

Fiona Edwards won the FV50+ race with a time of 42:09.

Full Results

John Mill's Photos.

Tollcross parkrun 24 Aug 2013

Heilster's photostream on Flickr.

I recently purchased my dream camera, the Canon EOS 7D, and took the opportunity to try it out at the ever friendly Tollcross parkrun. Unfortunately my laptop is being repaired at the moment, so I haven't been able to crop or edit the photos but they look not too bad to me. I hope you like viewing them.
It was great to see so many friends and to make a few more too.

Parkrun 123

There were no sun glasses or photographers, for that matter, as I ran around Pollok Park with hundreds of others, in the pouring rain, to record my 123rd parkrun and my 105th at the Glasgow Southside location.

I was happy to use the weekly free 5k race as my recovery run and enjoyed myself.  An especially large vote of thanks to the volunteers who gave up their Saturday mornings to stand around in the rain to ensure the continuing success of the ever popular event.

Bella Belter 2013 Results

Pos	No	First Name	Surname	Club	Cat	Time
1	95	Stevie	Prentice	Bellahouston Harriers	MS	00:34:32
2	7	Cris	Walsh	Bellahouston Harriers	MV40	00:34:51
3	101	Scott	Mitchell	Westerlands CCC	MS	00:34:59
4	14	James	Callender	Westerlands CCC	MS	00:35:16
5	47	Alastair	Scott	Unattached	MS	00:35:32
6	75	Robert	O'Neill	Clydesdale Harriers	MS	00:36:09
7	104	James	Healy	Unattached	MV40	00:36:35
8	60	Craig	White	Maryhill Harriers	MS	00:36:56
9	29	Scott	McCulloch	Springburn Harriers	MV40	00:36:57
10	85	Peter	Gallanagh	Bellahouston RR	MV40	00:37:10
11	82	Scott	Hunter	Ronhill Cambuslang H	MV40	00:37:16
12	44	Alexander	Chisholm	Garscube Harriers	MV50	00:37:25
13	9	Andrew	Sutherland	Maryhill Harriers	MV40	00:37:42
14	33	Gary	Mitchell	Kirkintilloch Olympians	MV40	00:37:50
15	27	Kristaps	Kravcovs	Unattached	MS	00:38:05
16	12	Paul	Clawson	Bellahouston Harriers	MS	00:38:35
17	81	Andy	Law	Victoria Park CoG	MV50	00:38:53
18	8	John	Gilhooly	Bellahouston RR	MV50	00:38:53
19	22	Gary	Longhurst	Forth Valley Orienteers	MV50	00:39:15
20	78	John	Hagemeister	Fusion Triathlon	MV40	00:39:25
21	17	Deborah	Gray	Bellahouston RR	FV40	00:39:34
22	100	Gerard	Scullion	Bellahouston RR	MV40	00:39:35
23	16	Stephen	Cowper	Milburn Harriers	MV40	00:39:42
24	26	Arnis	Saltums	Westerlands CCC	MS	00:40:40
25	28	Robert	Kravcovs	Westerlands CCC	MS	00:41:05
26	19	David	Hay	Unattached	MS	00:41:28
27	91	Chris	Furse	Clyde Orienteers	MV40	00:42:08
28	37	Pamela	McCrossan	Clydesdale Harriers	FV50	00:42:22
29	83	Henry	Merriweather	Bellahouston RR	MV40	00:42:36
30	24	Erica	Christie	Bellahouston Harriers	FV50	00:42:47
31	93	Emma	Kay	Unattached	FS	00:42:59
32	4	Steven	Hill	Kilbarchan AAC	MS	00:43:37
33	97	Emma	Rogerson	Unattached	FS	00:43:41
34	18	Richard	Gray	Unattached	MV40	00:43:48
35	5	Robert	Young	Clydesdale Harriers	MV60	00:44:08
36	80	Keith	Gibb	Bellahouston RR	MV50	00:44:15
37	103	Alastair	Meek	Unattached	MV40	00:44:32
38	2	Andrew	Clugston	Kilbarchan AAC	MS	00:44:45
39	99	Jayne	MacNamara	Bellahouston Harriers	FV40	00:44:59
40	89	Ian	Anscombe	Bellahouston Harriers	MS	00:45:38
41	84	Norman	Boyle	Bellahouston RR	MV50	00:46:12
42	96	Heather	Thompson	Unattached	FS	00:46:14
43	34	Emma	Bryce	Bellahouston Harriers	FS	00:46:18
44	13	Ian	Davidson	Unattached	MV50	00:47:23
45	31	Ian	Goudie	Bellahouston Harriers	MV50	00:47:33
46	92	Fiona	Harrington	Glasgow Triathlon Club	FS	00:47:53
47	98	Gerard	Mason	Shettleston Harriers	MV50	00:47:57
48	88	Tom	Keenan	Bellahouston Harriers	MV50	00:48:11
49	10	Kirsty	Grant	Ronhill Cambuslang H	FS	00:48:34
50	23	Louise	Longhurst	Forth Valley Orienteers	FV40	00:48:45
51	1	Jim	McMillan	Bellahouston Harriers	MV60	00:49:31
52	76	Christopher	Steward	Bellahouston Harriers	MV60	00:50:01
53	77	John	Softley	Bellahouston Harriers	MV60	00:50:17
54	87	Carol	Keenan	Bellahouston Harriers	FV50	00:54:44
55	20	Deirdre	Hoyle	Bellahouston Harriers	FV50	00:55:08
56	102	Mary	Heraghty	Giffnock North	FV50	00:57:33
57	86	Stephen	McLean	Bellahouston Harriers	MV70	00:58:01
58	79	Joan	Morris	Garscube Harriers	FV40	01:09:16

parkrun 122

I sneaked in my 122nd parkrun on Saturday 10th August, using the 5k event as my post Bella Belter recovery run and was caught on camera by Chris Upson who recognised me, despite my sun glasses :-)

Bella Belter 10k

Happy to be Racing

After a long day, with an early rise and a trip to Aberdeen and back, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to run in the Bella Belter 10k, the final race in the Tour of Clyde side series but I managed to catch a nap and made my way along to Pollok Park in plenty of time for the 7:30pm Start.  

Road works on Haggs Road had forced a change of course for the 10K and the organisers were using the Scottish Masters route through Pollok Park, which consists of 2.5 clockwise loops through the park, starting at just beyond Lochinch playing fields and finishing back at Cartha.  The Master’s route is more undulating than the usual one but still a familiar one to me and it also includes part of the parkrun, Men’s Health and GSR courses.

There was a much larger turnout for the race, than for others in the Series, including strong contingents from both the host Club, Bellahouston Harriers, and their Road Running neighbours.  It was good to catch up briefly with so many running buddies as we warmed up on our way to the Start line and assembled for the 7:30 Start.  As well as the field being much bigger than Monday’s, at 58 runners, it was also broader, in terms of ability, and I knew that, barring a disaster, I didn’t need to worry too much about placing last tonight.  One target reached before I even started.  The other target was to finish in under 50mins.   I settled in near the back and was amused to see that the 1^st k had taking 4:36, exactly the same as Monday, however despite this race being longer and hillier, I decided not too slow down quite as much, as I had on Monday.  The 2^nd k, along Haggs Road, took me 4:48. 

Garmin tends to be inaccurate in the wooded sections of the park and my main strategy was to hang on to the runners in front of me and hopefully have a stronger second half.  I could see Kirsty Grant, tri-athlete Fiona Harrington and the tall figure of Ian Davidson, in front of me but Emma Bryce had shot off tonight, in the hunt for another PB.  I’d overtaken Tom Keenan and James McMillan but I knew that if I tired that they would soon catch me.  Up, down, up, down and around to our right and we were back on the flat section making our way back to Loch Inch.  I managed to catch the two girls but Ian was a good bit in front.  I was feeling the heat and was in need of some water by the time we reached Cartha for the second time.  I was so pleased to be handed a bottle of aqua, which was enough both to quench my thirst and cool me down as I poured the remainder over my head.  Suitably refreshed, I increased my pace, slightly, and set off to narrow the gap on Ian, who was a tall distant figure.  Having someone to aim at provided me with some focus and I was happy to use him to help me around the course.  I could feel my right leg tighten at around the 8k point and was a bit wary of doing anything silly, I was content to continue slowly eating into the gap and wasn’t too disappointed not to catch him by the time I crossed the line in 47:33, some 10 seconds behind.

 I had achieved my target and had run a negative split of around one minute.  Job done!  The only other 10k that I’d run this year was the Men’s Health when, acting as a pacer, it had taken me almost 55mins.

I thanked Ian for helping to pull me round and took the plaudits from my running mates who had already finished, before turning round to congratulate those coming in behind me.   

I had really enjoyed my race and it was good to share a pint with my running buddies as we waited for the results to be calculated and the Series prizes awarded.   Huge thanks to everyone involved in organising the events and to all the volunteers and fellow runners for making running such great fun.

Pic by Kenny Phillips
Text by Ian Goudie :-)

Congratulations to Crispin Walsh and Pamela McCrossan forwinning the Men's and Women's series of races.

Full Results to follow

Kibarchan Klassic - 5 August 2013

Final Strait -Pic by Kenny Phillips

Spurred on by feeling good at the Kilmaurs 5k, I decided to run the first race in the annual Tour of Clyde side, the Kilbarchan Klassic 5.5mile race.


Kilbarchan has a proud radical history, the local weavers having played a key role in the 1820 Radical War. The village is also the birth place of Mary Barbour, who led the Rent Strike in 1915 and became Glasgow’s first female councillor. More recently Kilbarchan has made a name for itself through its athletics club, whose members include Hayley Haining and loads of upcoming youngsters.

For some reason there wasn’t much of a turnout from Kilbarchan AAC, or many other clubs to be fair. Indeed the largest contingent came from Bellahouston Harriers. My targets were constrained and were to: run every kilometre in less than 5mins and not to finish last. Apart from being the tail runner at parkrun, I’ve never finished last. That said I’ve always encouraged fellow runners not to bother about placing last because “they are ahead of all of those who are not participating”.

However as the 7:30pm start time approached, the lack of ‘fun runners’ registering made me think that I could easily place last.

A disappointing 27 runners set off along the cycle path and I was happy settling in near the tail. The first kilometre took me some 4:36, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to keep the pace up, so I took the foot of the accelerator and slowed down. The 2nd k took me 4:52 and I found myself in second last place with 69 year old club mate James McMillan, who is also short of race fitness, right behind me. James stayed on my shoulder to the half way point, which took us 20:45 to reach. After the turn, I increased the pace a bit and focussed more on closing the gap on Kirsty Grant and Emma Bryce who were a good distance in front. I made up quite a lot of ground but any lingering thoughts of catching them were laid to rest when the pair of them sprinted the last few hundred metres, to record PBs of 40:49.

I was some 4 minutes off of my PB but was still delighted to have achieved both my targets, having completed the course in a watch time of 41:17 (official time 41:18), an average pace of 4:43, and having out raced James in the second half, I’m not sure if I could have done that if he had been 100% fit.

Congratulations to everyone for another great race, although I’m not fit enough to be competing in all four races this year, I hope to do at least one other.

Pos No Name Club Cat Time
1 35 Scott Mitchell Westerlands CCC MS 30:09
2 7 Cris Walsh Bellahouston Harriers MV40 30:25
3 27 Kristaps Kravcovs Unattached MS 32:06
4 29 Scott McCulloch Springburn Harriers MV40 32:16
5 38 Owen O'Neill Westerlands CCC MS 32:42
6 9 Andrew Sutherland Maryhill Harriers MV40 32:44
7 33 Gary Mitchell Kirkintilloch Olympians MV40 32:50
8 40 David Dickson Garscube Harriers MV50 33:10
9 8 John Gilhooly Bellahouston RR MV50 33:20
10 12 Paul Clawson Bellahouston Harriers MS 34:34
11 26 Arnis Saltums Westerlands CCC MS 34:59
12 32 John Hannigan Kilbarchan AAC MV50 35:02
13 28 Robert Kravcovs Westerlands CCC MS 35:46
14 39 John Sandbach Bellahouston RR MV40 36:24
15 37 Pamela McCrossan Clydesdale Harriers FV50 36:38
16 4 Steven Hill Kilbarchan AAC MS 37:39
17 24 Erica Christie Bellahouston Harriers FV50 37:42
18 2 Andrew Clugston Kilbarchan AAC MS 39:13
19 25 Iain Burke Bellahouston Harriers MV60 39:58
20 36 Gerry Kane Clydesdale Harriers MV50 40:07
21 30 Gregor Bijoch Unattached MS 40:13
22 5 Robert Young Clydesdale Harriers MV60 40:15
23 34 Emma Bryce Bellahouston Harriers FS 40:49
24 10 Kirsty Grant Ronhill Cambuslang H FS 40:49
25 13 Ian Davidson Unattached MV50 40:52
26 31 Ian Goudie Bellahouston Harriers MV50 41:18
27 1 James McMillan Bellahouston Harriers MV60 42:42