Clydebank Canal Bank Canter

Canal Canter 005, a photo by Heilster Hieroglyphics on Flickr.

Unfortunately I'm not able to run this year's Tour of Clydeside. I did manage a 15 mile, steady paced, run on Sunday but my hamstring is causing me some concern so I've decided on a few days of rest and ice. I did however pop along, on Tuesday 2nd August, to the second of the four race event, the Canal Bank Canter, to take some photos.

At least it gave me a chance to see the runners that are usually way out in front of me.

Photos here 

Oh Deer, Wild Coos and Coupers Two

Despite having way too much alcohol during the week, including Friday night after the Mark Cooper 24 Hour Treadmill attempt, I decided to run the Glasgow parkrun on Saturday morning. I say run, rather than race, as I obviously wasn’t feeling 100% and I’ve also been bothered with a tight hamstring for a few weeks. I felt it ‘go’ one evening cycling over the squinty bridge on the way home from work. However having witnessed Mark go through hours on end of pain, there was no way I was going to shirk a 5k race.

I arrived at Pollok Park in time for a warm up and chat, before lining up with another 312 runners to listen to the pre event announcements, which this week made a reference to some highland cattle who were roaming the park, having left the confines of their field.

Race
I started a wee bit further back in the pack than usual but had a decent start, down hill and into the woods. The 1st k took me 4:13, I watched Claire Wharton and Annmarie McCaffrey overtake me at this stage but resisted the temptation to chase after them and instead I concentrated on my own run. I worked fairly hard though and raised my game at the end to catch a couple of runners, including Alan Gibson who earned a new PB. I exchanged mutual congratulations with Alan and others as I queued to hand in my token, which revealed that I had placed 067. However Garmin was playing up and I didn’t have my race time.

Training Run with Coos and Deer
I then headed out to complete the remainder of my 8mile, at steady pace, training schedule. However it wasn’t long until I noticed Marianne Wilson and others making their way along to Haggs Road had been stopped in their tracks by a stray highland coo, well calf actually. The beast may have looked menacing with its long hair and horns but in actual fact it was terrified more than the runners. I used to work on a dairy farm and used my experience to herd it off the road and over a fence, out of harms way. As my training run neared completion, I noticed a young deer dashing past in front of me and disappearing into the woods. I had heard tale that there were deer in Pollok Park but this was the first one that I had seen.

Post Run
Training run completed, I changed into some dry clothes and headed into a packed Burrell for coffee and conversation. Sadly my post race training had curtailed the time for chatting but I still enjoyed it.

Results
It seemed to take an eternity for my result to be texted to me, however when it did arrive, it revealed that I had completed the 5k course in an acceptable time of 22:07.

Coupers Two
It was only when I looked at the Full Results that I noticed that , although a few regulars were absent, the Couper twins - Louise and Claire - had made the journey from Stirling to Glasgow to experience the joys of the Glasgow parkrun. They weren’t expecting wild coos though. I last heard that they were seen roaming around the Crossmyloof streets, the coos not the Coupers, I hope that they are all now safe and well.
Full Results

Coos report
NB There will be NO Glasgow or Strathclyde parkruns on Saturday 6 August 2011.

A Day on a Treadmill - Mark Cooper's 24 Hour Challenge

Some of you may recall that I spent a week last year in France supporting Mark Cooper as he ran from Amsterdam to Barcelona, the equivalent of 50 marathons, in 56 days.


Last Thursday, 28th July, Mark continued his epic running feats by attempting to break the world record distance, of 160 miles, on a treadmill over 24 hours. The event took place in the opulent surroundings of the Corinthian Club in Glasgow and commenced at 6pm.

I couldn’t believe the sight at 7:30pm, when I turned up to support him.  Rather than the relaxed runner that didn’t even break a sweat in the hills and heat of Southern France, here was someone working extremely hard with sweat pouring out of him.  There was no way that, even, Mark could maintain such a performance for 24 hours.  I couldn’t believe it when Mark advised me that he was running at 10 kilometres per hour and I was right not to, as it transpired that he was actually running at 10 miles per hour.  He had run 20 miles in 2 hours, the fastest he had ever run!  Knowing that this effort would have dire consequences, as time progressed, a normal person would have quit there and then but Mark is no normal person and instead of throwing in the towel, he placed it over the treadmill screen and continued on his courageous challenge.

Despite this set back, Mark was still in fine fettle when I popped in to see him on my way to work.  However by lunch time, I heard that he was really struggling and was in need of physical help.  I popped in to see him to discover that his right knee was clicking with every step that he made.  Thankfully Pamela Andrews was on her way and she administered some relief as we gave him words of encouragement.  Patched up he was back on the treadmill and somehow remained focused on the task ahead.  There were less than a handful of us supporting him at this stage but various people, including the fantastic Corinthian staff and local office workers would pop in during the afternoon to express their amazement at his endurance. 

I knew that his reappraised target was 120 miles but as the final hour approached, Mark managed to dig deep into his reserves and increase the pace. The number of supporters and media representatives increased during those last 60 minutes and by the time the clock counted down to 00:00:00, there was a great atmosphere in the room. To loud applause he finished his inspiring journey and was rewarded with an ice cool pint of Guinness.

He had run a total of 129.2 miles, nearly five full marathons or the distance from Glasgow to Sunderland in 24 hours! He had run though physical and psychological barriers that most of us couldn’t even begin to imagine and he deserves our utmost respect for doing so.

Well done Mark! 

Mark's Just Giving Page

My Photographs

Kilmaurs Gala 5k 2011 - Full Results

Emily and Norman Photo Finish

Posn No. Time   Name             Club                          Cat       Cat Posn
1st 264 15.32 Robert Gilroy Cambuslang Harriers Senior Male 1st
2nd 296 16.35 Cammy Wilson Kilmarnock Harriers Senior Male 2nd
3rd 301 17.05 Iain Connell Kilmarnock Harriers Senior Male 3rd
4th 273 17.16 Thomas McDonald Bellahouston Harriers Junior Male 1st
5th 277 17.35 Gavin Hogarth Killie Striders Senior Male 4th
6th 293 17.43 Kara Tait Kilmarnock Harriers Senior Female 1st
7th 312 18.47 Ruth Joss Giffnock North Senior Female 2nd
8th 287 19.06 John Gilhooly Unattached Vet +50 Male 1st
9th 315 19.10 Scott McKendrick North Ayrshire AC Senior Male 5th
10th 330 19.12 Colin Stevenson Unattached Senior Male 6th
11th 308 19.15 G Gallacher Kilbarchan Senior Male 7th
12th 274 19.18 Graeme Gemmell Bellahouston Harriers Senior Male 8th
13th 316 19.25 Leslie McDerment Kilmarnock Harriers Senior Male 9th
14th 289 19.47 Ruairidh MacDonald Bella Harriers Senior Male 10th
15th 299 19.51 Jim Sneddon Irvine AC Senior Male 11th
16th 298 19.55 Rachel Peters Jog Stewarton Senior Female 3rd
17th 325 20.13 Murray McDonald Kilmarnock Harriers Junior Male 2nd
18th 311 20.22 Campbell Joss Cartha Harriers Vet +50 Male 2nd
19th 303 20.26 Alistair Munn Unattached Senior Male 12th
20th 331 20.35 George Laird Unattached Senior Male 13th
21st 340 21.28 Alan Dempster SAL Senior Male 14th
22nd 304 21.33 Emily Munn SAL Senior Female 4th
23rd 323 21.33 Norman MacCooish Jog Stewarton Senior Male 15th
24th 286 21.46 Mark Neville Unattached Senior Male 16th
25th 314 21.59 Ian Goudie Kilmarnock Harriers Vet +50 Male 3rd
26th 292 22.16 Coleen Tait Kilmarnock Harriers Senior Female 5th
27th 263 22.19 Alan Fitzsimmons Jog Scotland Senior Male 17th
28th 295 22.33 Terry Mulholland Kilmarnock Harriers Junior Male 3rd
29th 337 23.13 Ian Johnstone Unattached Senior Male 18th
30th 291 23.17 Brian Mimanns Unattached Senior Male 19th
31st 266 23.46 Gerry Gallacher SPS AAC Senior Male 20th
32nd 294 23.50 Sylvia Mulholland Killie Striders Senior Female 7th
33rd 326 23.51 Graeme McCutcheon Unattached Senior Male 21st
34th 270 24.07 John Drummond Rons Runners Senior Male 22nd
35th 290 24.23 Jacqueline Neil Kilmarnock Harriers Senior Female 8th
36th 336 24.28 Craig Brown Unattached Senior Male 23rd
37th 302 24.30 Fiona Rawley Jog Stewarton Senior Female 9th
38th 276 24.33 Glen Snaddon Killie Striders Senior Male 24th
39th 285 24.35 Ian McAughtrie Kilmarnock Harriers Senior Male 25th
40th 313 24.42 John Goodenough Unattached Senior Male 26th
41st 279 24.46 Andy Waughmann Unattached Senior Male 27th
42nd 278 24.51 Evelyn Waughmann Unattached Senior Female 10th
43rd 284 24.52 Ian Logan Kilmarnock Harriers Senior Male 28th
44th 252 24.56 Neil Ash Unattached Senior Male 29th
45th 324 25.02 Derek Middleton Kilmarnock Harriers Vet +50 Male 4th
46th 328 25.56 Stuart McGowan Unattached Senior Male 30th
47th 329 25.56 John McWhinnie Unattached Senior Male 31st
48th 288 25.58 Jessica Gorman Unattached Senior Female 11th
49th 272 26.10 Brian McGaw Jog Stewarton Vet +50 Male 5th
50th 265 26.16 Sarah Jane Whalen SPS AAC Senior Female 12th
51st 327 26.26 John Gurney Unattached Senior Male 32nd
52nd 253 26.29 Graeme Aitken Unattached Vet +50 Male 6th
53rd 322 26.32 K Ann Mitchell Jog Stewarton Senior Female 13th
54th 269 26.58 Alan Cottingham Unattached Vet +50 Male 7th
55th 320 27.08 Heather Mair Unattached Senior Female 14th
56th 317 27.21 Kayley Januszek Unattached Senior Female 15th
57th 309 27.32 Alistair Kircaldy Killie Striders Vet +50 Male 8th
58th 297 27.38 Jane Moore Jog Stewarton Senior Female 16th
59th 333 27.40 Mark McLaughlan Unattached Senior Male 33rd
60th 339 28.33 Doreen Wales Killie Striders Senior Female 17th
61st 318 29.07 Adrian Januzek Unattached Senior Male 34th
62nd 300 29.15 Denise McMillan Killie Striders Senior Female 18th
63rd 271 29.17 Carol Drummond Rons Runners Senior Female 19th
64th 307 29.20 Barbara Stewart Killie Striders Vet +50 Female 1st
65th 338 29.29 Korina McIntyre Killie Striders Senior Female 20th
66th 305 29.42 Jennifer Simpson Killie Striders Senior Female 21st
67th 306 29.55 Margo Seawright Killie Striders Senior Female 22nd
68th 332 31.04 Emma Ballantyne Unattached Senior Female 23rd
69th 275 31.48 Heather Snaddon Killie Striders Senior Female 24th
70th 254 34.39 Alastair McGhee Kilmarnock Harriers Junior Male 4th
71st 319 36.48 Alison Gemmell Killie Striders Senior Female 25th
72nd 256 37.20 Iain Hamilton Beith Harriers Vet +50 Male 9th
73rd 257 41.31 Tommy Armstrong SAL Gold Member Vet +50 Male 10th
74th 310 Janette Kircaldy Killie Striders Vet +50 Female
75th 259 Andrew Patridge Kilmarnock Harriers Junior Male 5th
dnf Steven Cowan Troon Tortoises Vet +50 Male
dnf Anne Montgomery Unattached Senior Female
dnf Aileen Muir Unattached Senior Female

Red Wine, Red Face, Red Shoes, Red Arrows and .....Green Shirt



Red Face

I booked a couple of days annual leave to coincide with the gorgeous sunny weather. I knew it wouldn’t last. However as well as being in holiday mode and drinking too much red wine, I also had a Kilmarnock Harriers Club Championship Race to run in Kilmaurs on Wednesday night. I checked my records to discover that I had run the 5k Ayrshire event in 21:10 last year and 21:14 the year previous. There’s no way I was on for a time anything like these in this heat I thought to myself, as I prepared to take my sun burnt face down the M77. 

The Glasgow traffic was a bit heavy but I still managed to get to the East Ayrshire village by about 6:30pm. I was expecting to see a number of Kilmarnock Harriers; the Killie Striders; the Jog Scotland Stewarton Team – including Brian McGaw, who I used to race against at school- and others with a connection to the locality but I was a bit surprised to see a decent turnout from Bellahouston Harriers; Sarah Whalen and Gerry Gallacher from SPSA and Cambuslang’s Robert Gilroy. He must run as many races as me!

After paying my £4 registration fee, I changed into my racing gear. This would be my 101st 5k race and my 43rd race of 2011 but the 1st race for my new, bright red, Nike Lunar Swifts. (Only £35 at John Lewis). 


Red  Shoes

As the kids participated in their events, I participated in the pre race chatting.  After a decent warm up and stretch, I lined up on the track for the 7:30pm Start.  David Mitchell did his usual excellent Race Director job, even giving runners one last chance to have a drink of water before sending us out in the evening sun.  In order to keep the impact of the sun to a minimum, I had chosen to wear my cap and sun glasses.  The race starts with two laps of the track and I decided to discard my cap after the first one. The route then took us through a gate, where we turned left down a narrow path.  I recognised the sound of Alan Dempster breathing behind me but I wasn’t for racing against him this evening.  Instead, my task was to place as far up the Killie Harriers field as possible.   Alan overtook me a little after the 1k marker.  I had been a bit wary of starting too quick on the track, so I was fairly happy with my time of 4:14.  I also knew that the second kilometre would be a lot tougher, as we climbed our way out of the park and headed along to the Kilmarnock Road. 

 

There was no shade at all and my pace slipped to 4:37.  We continued along the A735 and I appreciated the mark indicating that we had reached the mid way point, which had taken me 11:11.  I could see Alan about five places ahead of me, as well as Alistair and Emily Munn and I think Bekkie.  I continued to lose ground on them as we tuned left onto Grindwell Road/Old Kilmarnock Road and the 3k mark, my pace hadn’t changed much as Garmin revealed 4:34.  A marshal, with his Stewarton Bonnet on, directed us leftwards onto a local farm road. 

I could see a young lass ahead (Coleen Tait) and thought that I would catch her on the climb.  I did but just as I was about to pull out to my right and overtake her she put her foot on the gas and raced to the highest point on the course.  Her inexperience showed then, as she visibly rested after reaching the peak, I immediately overtook her and quickly built up a lead by continuing to work hard on the downhill section.  That said, my 4^th k had still averaged 4:36 pace.  There was no-one else within range but I knew that the course was all downhill or flat and that I could make up some time.  There were a couple of tricky turns to negotiate before entering the park but back on the track I increased the pace and, to cheers from the faster runners - who had already finished - and the local supporters, I managed to cross the line in a time of 21:59, a 5^th k of 3:55.




Concentrating in the Final Strait!

 I then joined in the cheering to support the other runners completing their races. I received my runner’s medal, Goody Bag and soft drinks and enjoyed much post race chatting with runners and locals alike. I was brought up just along the road in Stewarton and we had loads to talk about.


Prize Giving
Just as the prize giving was getting underway, someone in a powered hang glider appeared over head and flew over the park, obviously, Kilmaurs’s version of the Red Arrows.


Robert Gilroy placed first with a new course record; Killie Harriers Cammy Wilson and Ian Connell were second and third, with John Gilhooley winning the Veterans prize and Bella Harrier Tom MacDonald the Junior prize


Local lass and Kilmarnock Harrier, Kara Tait won the women’s race and also set a new course record. Ruth Joss of Glasgow University placed second and Stewarton’s Rachel Peters earned third.  Killie Strider Barbara Stewart won the women’s Veteran race.

I placed 25th out of 75 finishers and 3rd MV50+.

Me in my new green vest

Team Prize
Rachel also led Stewarton to the joggers’ team prize, beating their friendly rivals from Kilmarnock in doing so.



Prize Guy

There were a number of other prizes, including ones for the fastest local runners and a spot prize of a green t-shirt for yours truly. Not bad for £4.

Conclusion

Another great event in Burns Country, huge congratulations to all connected with the, fast growing in popularity, Kilmaurs Gala 5k.

Only joking,  this is me with my green t-shirt on with Ian Logan, Gerry Gallacher, Jane Moore and Rachel Peters.

Photos by Fiona Crawford, Kenneth Philips and Sarah Whallen.


Great Scot Photos here.


Full Results

An Honest Man in the Honest Toun - Musselburgh 10k Race Report

I woke up to glorious morning on Saturday and headed eastwards to Musselburgh for my 42nd race of the year. I had heard reports about the honest toun event but this would be my first time running it. After a detour for a pit stop at the local Tesco, I found a car park in close proximity to the Race Start at Loretto School’s Playing Fields. I had no sooner switched off the ignition, when Garscube Harriers, uncle and nephew pairing, John and Keiran McLaughlin pulled up beside me. We made our way over the pedestrian bridge, which forms part of the race, as well as the Edinburgh Half and full Marathon, to the Race HQ. The first person I saw was Cambuslang’s Robert Gilroy, closely followed by Edinburgh AC’s Colin McGill, who hails from Kilmarnock.

There’s a cut off of 400 for the popular 10k but for some reason my name hadn’t appeared on the entrant’s list published prior to the event, however I had emailed the organiser pointing this out and was confident that there would be no problem. I was right. The organisers apologised for the mix up as they gave me my race number, ‘402’!

Why is my head shining at the Start?

I chatted with, amongst others, Bellahouston Harriers Suzanne McMahon and Tom Keenan; Ferranti’s mother and daughter, Betty and Claire Gilchrist; the unattached Couper twins; Hamilton’s Jim Breen; Motherwell’s Graeme Kennedy, HBT’s Rosie Smith and Kirkintilloch’s Tom Ross before warming up on the grass field and making my way to the Start line. I knew that the playing field would form part of the route but I didn’t know if it would be at the Start or the Finish, however as we assembled behind the Start line facing the playing fields, I deduced that it would be at the Start.

The event incorporates the East District 10k Road Race Championship and I knew that there would be a strong field from the local clubs. I was well aware that I had faded in the second half of Monday’s race in Irvine and that I don’t cope well with running in the heat, I had also been informed that much of the course was off road, so I decided that I would adopt a conservative approach to the race. Furthermore to protect myself from the morning sunshine I donned my running cap and my Polaroid Series sun glasses.


Race Report
At 10:29am we were set off in an anti clockwise direction around the School’s playing fields before turning right, onto Mountjoy Terrace, A quick left and we were on a narrow path heading southwards towards the promenade, with the Firth of Forth on our right hand side. Garmin indicated that the 1st k had taken 4:14, a little quicker than what I was aiming for. We joined the promenade and it wasn’t long until I could see the lead runners, led by Inverclyde’s Andrew Douglas, making their way back, after the turn at 1.5k.

Over the Bridge at 3k

The race was still settling down as I reached the 2k marker in 8:40. Back towards Mountjoy Terrace and a sharp left and right took us along the external perimeter of the playing fields. We reached the mouth of the Esk and turned right, along its path, we ran past the backside of the Race HQ and turned left over the bridge. The 3rd k had taken me 4:33. A left turn took us on to Goose Green Crescent heading eastward. This was the first actual ‘road’ part of the race and I started to increase my pace. However this ‘grey ground’ didn’t last long and we were soon back on the ‘green stuff’ but not for long, as we then joined a dirt trail heading northwards along the coast. The sea was to our left and the local horse race course to our right, the trail was narrow and I had a runner gasping for breadth on my shoulder, I did think about moving over and letting him pass but decided to increase my pace instead. I was a little disappointed to see that my 5k time was 22:19 but hoped that I could have a negative split. We turned right, away from the coast, and I heard a marshal supporting a Dunbar runner just behind me. I didn’t take long for me to work out that their club colours were white with a green diagonal stripe, as I was overtaken approaching the water station.

I was so glad to see that the volunteers were handing out decent sized bottles of water as this meant that I could have a drink, before removing my cap and pouring the remainder of the cool water over my head. Suitably refreshed I continued along the trail, where a right turn took us onto a country road and heading towards the race course. A left and then a right turn and we were back on the ‘green stuff’, a little further on and the route took us onto the famous Musselburgh Race Course. The going was good to soft, there were no runners in racing silks, although I did have my peaked cap on, as I galloped along past the 7k marker. The race course veered to the left but we were steered to our right and back towards Goose Green and the 8k marker. As we approached the bridge over the Esk, I noticed a disheartened Rosie Smith making her way back along the course.

I had caught the Dunbar runner but he wasn’t for giving in easy and he returned the favour a couple of times. I’d have gladly sat on his shoulder and let him do the work but he seemed to overtake me and then slow down. I decided that enough was enough and went for it at about 8.5k, as we retraced our steps back towards the Start. The Playing Fields were now on our left and the sea on our right as I increased the gap on him and caught the yellow vested runner in front. With 1k to go the route turned left back onto Mountjoy Terrace. There were arrows painted on the road pointing towards the promenade but there were no runners to be seen anywhere! “Shit” I cried as I stopped at the junction “Which way?” “Straight ahead” said yellow vest and I headed back towards the Playing Fields. Once there I discovered that the route now took us clockwise across the grass towards the Start/Finish. Encouraged by Claire Couper I increased the pace along the final furlong. However just as I approached the line, the Dunbar runner (Neil Jones) appeared. Accompanied by a Shettleston Harrier they sprinted up the inside rail, showed a good turn of foot, and got their noses in front, close to home, to beat me by ¾ length.

Post Race
I was a bit disappointed with my time of 44:38 (chip 44:34) but it had been an enjoyable race. I exchanged congratulations with the Shettleston runner, Andrew Kirkhope, as I collected my Goody Bag and water. I then cheered home a few of the other runners before joining the queue for the post race ice cream.


Much after race chatting over, one of the finest, post race spreads ensued before the prize ceremony. As expected, Andrew Douglas had kept his lead to win in a time of 31:04, Ray Ward earned runner-up spot with 32:32 and Robert Gilroy took Bronze with 32:39. Colin McGill placed 5th overall and 3rd in the East District Race. Whilst in the women’s event Central’s Lyndsay Morrison placed first, in 37:44, ahead of Claire Couper, in 38:10 and Ayrshire lass Janet Roxburgh, who used to run for Irvine AC, in 38:19.

I placed 126th out of 358 finishers and although the mix up with registration resulted in me being recorded as runner-up in the MV60 race, honest I’m not that old.  Being born in Ayr though I may have been the first Honest Man in the Honest Toun's race.

Summary
An enjoyable race, in gorgeous sunshine with loads of food and friendly running buddies, what else could you ask for?

Once again, well done to all concerned with the event.  Maybe see you next year, when I'm younger.

Full Results

Photos and More

Thanks to Keith Sambrook for the horse racing report idea and, of course, the photographers.

Irvine 5 mile Road Race

Almost Finished - pic by Kenny Phillips

I had a frustrating day on Monday spending most of it in front of my laptop whilst the Geek Squad tried to establish the reason why it wouldn’t connect wirelessly to my router.  Not the way that I had envisaged spending the local ‘Fair Monday’!  I wasn’t therefore in the best of moods to run a race however I had pre-entered the Irvine 5 miler and decided to give it a go.  I’ve never ran this particular race before, although I had run it’s predecessor the Round the Houses Race in Saltcoats, which I believe was initially held to give Glasgow folk a race during their annual exodus doon the watter for the Fair.  The attraction of the Ayrshire Coast has been superseded by the attractions of the Costa del Sol and rather than let the event wither and die, the decision was made some years ago to relocate it to Irvine, the home of the host running club.

I was feeling a bit better after a shave and shower and headed down the M77 to the land of my birth.  I was a bit surprised to arrive in plenty of time to see that the car park was almost full.  The change in venue had obviously been beneficial.  I collected my number and chatted with the hordes of running buddies from the Ayrshire clubs, as well as some from further afield, including a healthy turnout from Bellahouston Harriers.  Omens were good as there was plenty of competition from runners about my level, including: Natalie Fleming; Toast and Fiona Ramsay.

Race Report
During the pre race briefing, the organisers reported that bizarrely overnight someone had stolen all the manhole and drainage covers on Marine Drive!  To minimise the risk of runners injuring themselves, they had temporarily been covered with traffic cones.  We were set on our way at 7:30pm from the town’s Montgomery Street, where a quick left took us on to Cochrane Street and another had us heading towards the Firth of Clyde.  A further left turn and we were parallel to Harbour Road and making our way to the cycle path in Beach Park.  Gamin beeped to inform me that the 1^st k had taken 4:01, perhaps a little fast I thought.  I made my way along the rolling path and glanced at my watch at the 1mile marker to see that it had taken me 6:42.  At this point Natalie breezed past me, I tried to stick behind her but she opened a gap, someone, with a heavy foot step, was on my right shoulder and kept pushing me onwards.  We closed the gap on Natalie but at the 2mile marker he overtook me and I saw that it was Howie Scott of Bellahouston Harriers.  The second mile had taken 6:56, I’ve beaten Howie a few times and was confident that I would overtake him before the Finish.  A bit further on and the lead runners were on my left, making their way back along Marine Drive.  Lead cyclist, Jim Stevenson shouted words of encouragement to me as he led David Millar along the return leg.   A fellow Killie Harrier also gave me verbal support on his return leg but it was to no avail as my pace dropped to 7:14 for the 3^rd mile.  I had overtaken a young lass (Bethan Hand) but those in front were increasing the gap.  I tried to increase the pace on the way back but, even with Anthony Butler shouting support as he made his way out, my pace dropped even further to 7:23.  The sun was beating down on me, the sweat was pouring down my face and my legs were tiring but I was still feeling good.  Natalie and Howie were now well in front but I did manage to catch at least one runner as I maintained the 7:23 pace to cross the Finish line in 35:48.  My Garmin indicated that the course had been 5:03 miles long but it’s the same course for everyone, well nearly everyone.

Despite my lack of pace, I was still shattered and took a few moments to compose myself before congratulating Howie, Natalie, Fiona et al on their runs and then supporting the remaining field as they crossed the line.

Results

A recovery run of close to a mile took me back to the Club House, where, after a quick shower and a cup of coffee and biscuit, the prizes were handed out.  There were no real surprises with local athlete David Millar winning in 25:14, Kerry Liam Wilson being runner-up in 26:02 and Joe McKnight claiming third, with a time of 26:53. Billy Richardson was awarded the M40 prize, with his time of 37:49, Donald Petrie won the M50 race in 29:32, with Howie winning the M60 prize, with a time of 35:26. 

In the women’s race Jacqui Thomson took Gold in 31:37, with Laura McGarrity earning Silver in 31:39 and Alison Winship Bronze in 32:45.  Pam McCrossan was awarded the Vet’s prize with a time of 33:35 with Kate Todd being awarded the Super Vet prize in 36:54. Bethan won the Junior race, finishing in 36:26.

Fiona Ramsay placed 39^th in 34:23 with Natalie placing 41^st in 34:39, Howie placed 45^th, one ahead of me.   I think Toast must have dropped out, as he doesn’t appear in the results.

Reflections

There were a number of people disappointed with their performances but it didn’t take me long to get over mine, I had run my 41^st race of the year, my WAVA was over 70% and I headed back up the road to Glasgow with a smile on my face.

Full Results