Moffat Gala 25th Anniversary 15k

I had a 9 mile in 75 minutes training run in my schedule for this week so the Moffat Gala 15k race seemed to be a suitable alternative.  I checked last year’s results to make sure that I wouldn’t be too embarrassed finishing in such a time and was surprised to see that Kirkintilloch Olympians Tom McChord and Gordon McDonald had completed the event in 74:11 and 74:51 respectively.  Both of them would be expected to run 15k quicker than that, so I presumed that they had also used it as a training run. 

Moffat is about 58 miles from Glasgow but it’s just off of the M74 so the journey would take approximately one hour.  I texted the organisers to finds out about time and place of registration and set off through Glasgow’s rush hour traffic shortly after 5pm.  I don’t think I’ve actually been in the 19^th century spa town before but first impressions were very good.  The kid’s races were already underway when I arrived and I parked my car and made my way up along the route of the kid’s races through the crowds to the Town Hall.  There was an impressive turnout from the local Dumfries Running Club as well as the claret and amber of Motherwell AC as some 316 runners assembled in the middle of the street for the start of the 7:15pm race.  I had been forewarned that it was a hilly course but hills no longer fret me in the way that they once did.  I had also had a pre-race drink of my new secret weapon: Your Sports Fuel, the sugar free nutritional drink for endurance and recovery that Mark Cooper had used to help him achieve his 50 marathons. 

We set off heading northwards out of the town and, from our start at 112 metres above sea level, we gradually ascended to 177m as we made our way along six kilometres of the Old Edinburgh Road to the farm at Ericstane.  I was pacing the race well and had averaged just under 5min/ks.  However here the route left the road and joined a farm trail heading up to the top of a proper hill.  Whose idea was it to include a hill walk as part of a road race?  Everyone in sight was walking, I initially ran but it wasn’t long until I had joined the ranks of the ramblers.  I was worried about hurting my ankle on the uneven surface and I was being careful.  I was also worried about my heart but I was still overtaking other walkers as we made our way up to a height of 345m at 7.5k.  Garmin had informed me that my 7^th k had taken 8:49!! I took a jelly baby and someone behind said “aha that’s your secret”.  I reached the half way point in 42:47 and knew that I would need to go some to reach my target of 75 minutes.  However the route joined the A701 here and I immediately felt great as I set off running downhill back towards Moffat.  I could see a long line of runners ahead descending, in single file down the open road.  As I chased after them I noticed a strong runner in a blue vest and decided then to focus on him.  I was overtaking runner after runner as I made my way down.  The 9^th kilometre took me 4:23 and the 10^th 4:20.  I had taken 53:52 to run 10k and I would need to run a 5k in less than 21 mins if I was to reach my target.  I continued to chase after blue vest and we both continued to overtake runners.  As we ran through the town past the cheering onlookers I managed to catch the last couple of runners between us.  However as we approached the finish line he managed to overtake a diminutive Dumfries runner and finished two places ahead of me.  I heard the announcer saying “Ian Goudie of Kilmarnock Harriers” as I crossed the line in a time of 74:15 in 119th place.  My last 5k had taken 20:23, splits: 4:17; 4:19; 4:09; 4:09 and 3:29!!  I had ran my third race in four days and I had ran my first ever 15k.

I congratulated the guy in the blue vest, who was Mike Mackay, a triathlete from Edinburgh who is used to running up hills as he trains on Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh.  We collected our goody bags with their impressive 25^th anniversary coasters and t-shirts in them and refreshed ourselves with the coffee and orange juice provided.  I chatted with loads of runners including the two Dumfries Jos and a lot of Motherwell runners before doing my warm down back to the car and driving home under one of the most beautiful skies I’ve ever seen.  Don’t you just love Scotland?

Results

Up the Campsies

Now that my marathon training is over I get the chance to try other activities so it was with a spring in my step that I and my flat mate Gunda headed up into the Campsie Fells on Sunday October 4. The route she chose was the one along the road, up the paths to Lecket Hill (547), across to Cort-ma Law (531) and back to the road via Lairs (518).

The initial bit of off road walking was fine, not too steep and became more gradual as we made our way up through a few bogs towards Lecket Hill. The day before had been very wet and windy but today was dry, cold but sunny. Good weather for walking and for appreciating the Scottish scenery.

However, as I looked at Gunda’s guide book I noticed that the stage between Lecket Hill and Cort-ma Law was described as ‘daunting’. Gunda, who is German, explained that she didn’t know what the word meant. I advised her that it meant ‘don’t do it!’ We met three walkers coming in the other direction, one of which was soaked through and they advised us not to do the next section, however we decided to give it a try. It was boggy, very boggy in some parts, the path disappeared a few times and we had to cross a burn as we made our way to Cort-ma Law. We both got wet but it was worth it and not too ‘daunting’ after all.

The next section was much easier and took us along the ridge and through a couple of bogs to Lairs and then down back towards the car park. We met an elderly couple, both with two walking sticks, making their way up towards Lairs. They asked us if the cairn ahead was Cort-ma Law and we explained that it was a further two kilometres away and that there were a few boggy parts on the way. The guy was in his 80’s and I was amazed that they had got that far. Well done to them!
The views back over Lennoxtown to Glasgow were impressive as we completed our days walk and headed for the local tea room and some Earl Gray and then homewards for a wee siesta.

It’s been years since I was up the hills and my vertigo and post viral fatigue had kicked in but today I had no problems what so ever and I’m looking forward to my next one already.