Cracker of a Race @Strathclyde Park

I had a good night at Sammys on Saturday, revelling in Killie’s win against Rangers last Sunday and being entertained by The Strangers, who put on their usual great show.  I probably drank too much of Arthur Guinness’s famous Stout during the night and I couldn’t resist topping the night off with a warming glass of Glayva.  Not surprisingly, I slept well but woke in plenty of time to make my way to Strathclyde Park for the Jogscotland 2011 Christmas Cracker 5k Challenge.  My thinking being that I’d need to run a minimum of three miles anyway to fulfil the requirements of the Marcothon. 

Festive Jammy Henshite

I was a bit surprised, when I arrived at the race, to find that Jim Buick and John Owens had travelled through from , snow bound, Edinburgh for the event but not at all surprised to see that, fresh from his 50^th parkrun, John Smith was in attendance, as was his lovely partner Moira Nicol and a number of other Jammys. I, of course, had my Jammy Henshite t-shirt on.  It was good to see Gerry Gallacher and Sarah Whalen, who had replaced their moustaches, of two weeks ago, with Santa outfits.  

 I hadn’t pre-registered and although the organisers had extra race chips, they didn’t have any extra numbers.  Instead they wrote my number (359) on a piece of A4 yellow paper, with a felt tip pen.  I fitted the chip to my running shoe and pinned the number on to my Jammy vest before doing my usual pre-race warm up routine.  I then made my way with the others to the Start Line, which was about 1k around the loch.  I said to Moira that although I had heard that the route had been changed due to some flooding, the weather conditions were almost perfect for running. 

Unfortunately the race didn’t kick off at the scheduled 11am but at 11:10, by which time the sky had darkened and a cold wind had appeared.  One minute into the race, things got worse as a heavy fall of sleet greeted us as we ran into the headwind.  “It will be behind you on the way back” cried a marshal as I tucked myself in behind another runner. 

The first kilometre took me 4:22, which I was happy enough with, as I usually shoot off too quickly.  I thought that it would be quite good to place first M50 but when I saw John Owens up ahead; I decided that I wasn’t going to race against him today.  I overtook a tiny lass, who later returned the favour, but she looked that young that it just didn’t feel right to race against her.  Instead I settled into my own pace and ran, rather than raced around the loch.  The wind died down and the sleet abated, there were a few puddles to negotiate and a bit of an incline around 4k but nothing severe enough to decrease my enjoyment.  Not surprisingly, the conditions had a bigger impact on my impromptu number.  Initially the ink had started to run but that wouldn’t matter much as the wet sleet took its toll on the thin paper and finally the wind blew it off my chest, leaving the naked safety pins in place.

Decent Goody Bag

A fairly young lad caught me with about half a kilometre to go, I increased the pace slightly and managed a bit of a sprint in the final strait, to cross the line in a time of 22:35.  The volunteers removed my chip for me and rewarded me with a decent goody bag and t-shirt.  I shared congratulations with a Clydesdale Harrier, who had finished behind me, before joining in with the other finishers.  I was wary of catching another cold, so I didn’t hang about too long after the race but got changed into some dry clothes and trainers and warmed down on the way back to my car.  As I left the park, I could see a number of others making their way along their final few hundred metres.  My friendly car horn beeps were met with smiling faces and waves of appreciation.  I had fulfilled day four of the Marcothon, had run a reasonable race, my 62^nd of 2011, had met up with some old and some new friends and had supported a worthwhile cause, all before noon.  It’s great to be a runner! 

UPDATE: Chip Time 22:31
It transpires that the 'tiny lass' was Heather Fawcett U13, who runs for Kilbarchan AC; the fairly young lad was 'Rory Harkins'; John Owens is younger than he looks and is only a M45, meaning that I was the 1st M50 (22nd overall); and the Clydesdale Harrier was Al Kerr.

Full Results here

Jammy Billy's Photos here

Marcothon, Mojo and Music

 My cold(s) and injury, combined with the terrible weather and demands of my new job had curtailed my running in November.  In fact I hadn’t run, cycled or swam since the Movember Run on Sunday, 20 November.  This isn’t a disaster as I’ve had a good year and I probably needed a rest before starting my London Marathon Training Schedule on 18 December.   

I wasn’t able to do the Marcothon last year as I was in transit between Thailand and Glasgow for over 24 hours and wasn’t able to run whilst flying.  The challenge being to run a minimum of 3 miles or 25 mins every day in December.  I’m not sure if I agree with the whole Ron Hill concept of running every day, arguing instead that rest is an important part of any training plan.  However I had lost my mojo in late November and was prepared to use anything to motivate me to get the trainers on and head out for a run in the dark and wet winter nights of old Glasgow toun.  So on Wednesday 1 December, after returning from a meeting at Ayr College, I donned my trainers, leggings, long sleeved vest and gloves and headed out for a slow 3.63 mile run in 32:23.  Of course I rewarded myself on Thursday night with a few pints in Sammy Dowe's, where I had the pleasure of chatting with percussionist legend RayWeston after he performed two numbers with host band Independence. 

Unassuming Ray Weston @sammys

Friday was a holiday to mark St Andrew’s Day and I headed out for a similar run, although this time I increased the pace for the middle kilometre and completed 3.74 miles in 31:30.

I had wanted to support the Glasgow University Hares andHounds 5 mile race on Saturday but didn’t feel that I was ready for it and settled for the Glasgow parkrun’s third anniversary instead, my 75^th .  I didn’t want to push myself too much but found myself sandwiched for much of the race between Martin Myant and Killie Women’s captain, Liz McDerment, Bella Harrier Jennifer Clark, having overtaken me at the 3k mark, much to my relief as she was making me work too hard. I took the foot off the gas for the 4^th k but increased it slightly in the last kilometre to cross the line in 68^th position, with a time of 22:42. 

After sharing mutual congratulations with my fellow runners, I introduced, first woman, Paula Wilson to Jennifer, who plays in the band Horse, which Paula is a big fan of and was actually going to see on Saturday night.

A short warm down and I made my way to a packed Burrell to get changed into some dry clothes and enjoy some post race chatting, a hot cup of coffee and some birthday cake.  Congratulations to John Gilhooly, who won the men’s annual points league and his female counterpart, who’s name I didn’t catch.  In fact I didn’t catch much of, Race Director, Richard Leyton’s speech and I’m sure that I’m not the only one, as although he is a self confessed geek and does a power of work for parkrun, I’m afraid that public speaking is just not one of his strengths.

I would have loved to have gone to Garscube to support the 5 mile racers, or even make the trip to Rugby Park to watch the famous Ayrshire Killie, I thought it was probably better that I headed home for brunch, a hot bath and a well earned siesta.

I had run my third run of December, my 61^st race of 2011 and my 87^th parkrun and, of course, I have another run tomorrow.