After having a decent run on Christmas
Day, I wasn't sure if I was going to race on Boxing Day. It would be
good to close the year on a high and I had a slightly dodgy stomach
but I remembered last year, when I was confined to my bed and decided that a
bad run would be better than no run and I headed down the A77 to the
town of my birth.
Parking was a bit of a nightmare, which
was the first indication that a record turnout would be participating
in the annual Ayr Turkey Trot 10k and 5k races. I had been reminded
recently that I had done both races in 2011 but this year I was
hoping for a decent 10k to end 2013.
After exchanging seasonal greetings
with loads of running buddies, some of which I haven't seen for a
long time, I headed out to the promenade, where a fresh wind welcomed
me as I took part in my pre race warm up, stopping for a wee while to
hand out some photography tips to a friend. It was then a dash to
the Start line, where I joined another 350 other runners for the mid day race.
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| Tucked in a Group in the First Kilometre |
The first kilometre was quite packed
and I was happy to be running along in a group, although the pace was
probably a bit fast for me and I must have then slowed as I started
to get caught by a few familiar faces, including Motherwell's Clare
Barr and Kirkintilloch's Ada Stewart. I knew there was little chance
of beating either but thought that it would be good if I could keep
them in sight for most of the race, although I realised that doing so would be far from easy.
Whilst, by her standards, Clare has had
a difficult season, she recently completed the Victoria parkrun in
21:26, whilst my best time there is 22:24. Ada, on the other hand, is
in great form and she beat me at Strathclyde parkrun on 9th
November, finishing in 21:34 to my 22:43.
I watched the two of them increasing
their gap on me over the next three kilometres, where just after
watching the leading runners on their way back, we turned left into
Auchendoon Crescent and I lost sight of them, until I noticed out of
the corner of my left eye Clare had pulled over off the road. I know
that she has been suffering with stitches during her runs and hoped
that she would rejoin the race. My only task now was to try to get
Ada back in sight and to close the gap on her but I know that she's
an Ultra runner and there would be no chance of her slowing in the
second half. The only option was for me to run a faster second 5k.
I caught sight of her again on Doonfoot
Road and started to overtake the runners between us, by the 8k mark,
I was thinking that it would be possible to catch her but it wouldn't
be easy and I'd need to keep on slowly digging into her lead, with
the hope that I could out sprint her.
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| Strong Running in the Final Kilometre |
With support from the
sidelines, I found some extra pace with about 500metres to go and
managed to cross the line in a time of 44:42 and placed 127/351. I was shattered
and took a few seconds to fill my lungs before thanking Ada, who finished in a time of 44:48 in 129th place, for
pulling me round and congratulating her and other running buddies,
including Clare who had overcome her stitch to complete the race in 45:26 and
my training partner, who had taken a leaf out of my book and had ran
the 5k and 10k races.
Back in the hall, a quick change of
clothes and we were rewarded with an excellent selection of
sandwiches and home baking. Despite the record numbers, which saw the
organisers running out of t-shirts, there was plenty of food and hot
drinks to go round.
My training log, indicates that the
performance was my best in 30months, with a wava of 72:16%, it sees
me ending the year on a high and hopefully sets me up for a good
2014.
Many thanks to everyone involved in
organising, supporting and participating in this great event.
Results here
Photos by Kenny Phillips
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