This is the first of two parts about my races on Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th November.
The races in question were the Glasgow University 5 Mile Road Race and Strathaven Striders "Run With the Wind" 10k Road Race. Why race twice in the same weekend? Well, I had entered Strathaven first because it is a local race and it has a 350 runner limit and if I wasn't quick off the mark, I would miss out. I later found that Glasgow was the same weekend. Last year, the races were 6 days apart. I like Glasgow because it attracts a good quality field. There is also a tinge of sentimentality since it was Glasgow University where I studied and I am a former member and secretary of the Glasgow University Hares and Hounds club. I really wanted to do both so did.
Above: running for Glasgow University Hares and Hounds at the Isle of Man Easter Athletics Festival in 2006.
I had a fairly stressful time of it in 2005 when I organised the road race. It attracted around 280 runners that day. "The Uni" was one of my earliest road races in 2000 when I was 17. The route was testing, including a nasty hill early on up a street called Cleveden Drive. I remember groaning and wheezing my way round to 217th place out of 292 finishers in a time of 36:07. I think I nearly cried at the top of Cleveden.
Sadly (or happily if you aren't a lover of the Cleveden hill), police concerns have seen the route altered to a two lap course round Garscube Estate, by the Forth and Clyde Canal, through Dawsholm Road and Park, onto Maryhill Road and back into Garsube. That's one lap. You do it twice. Each lap has a couple of testing climbs though not of Cleveden proportions.
The drive to Glasgow's West End was a battle through strong winds and rain. This had subsided by the 2pm start but had an effect on the numbers with only 178 runners lining up. It was a good quality field though.
We set off and much to my surprise I found myself in the top 10 at the top of the first climb. I ran alongside 2007 Scottish Cross Country Champion Mark Pollard. I had two of his Inverclyde team mates, Chris Mackay and Andrew Douglas, ahead of me as well as Edinburgh Uni's Michael Gillespie and Central's Alistair Hay who was clearly returning to training and racing following his 1500m exertions at the Commonwealth Games in October. As the first lap wore on, I was astounded to pull away from Pollard into 5th and be hanging onto Gillespie's coatails. As we entered Garscube Estate for the second lap, my efforts to keep in touch with Gillespie were bringing me closer to Alistair Hay who had dropped off the leaders and looked to be struggling.
As we ran along the canal, I started to entertain notions of catching the Scottish Cross Country Champion. While working hard, I was bounding along well with good knee lift and arm movement. There were around 2 miles to go. I thought "it's too early. Catch him gradually. You'll get him on Dawsholm Road." At the aforementioned Dawsholm, the gap between myself and Hay was down to around 40-50m. Confident of my hill training, I felt I could pass him on the hill leading onto Maryhill Road. Going up the hill, the gap shrunk again. A steward cheered me on there. This proved a catalyst for both Hay and Gillespie who each found a second wind on Maryhill Road and pulled away. Gillespie overtook Hay and disappeared into the sunset. I gave it everything I had left all the way along Maryhill Road back into Garscube. The gap to Hay didn't grow but it didn't shrink either. I was only holding on to him.
I finished 5th in 25:07, a personal best by 1 minute 14 seconds. Chris Mackay won in a swift 23:57 followed by Andrew Douglas (24:09), Michael Gillespie (24:49) and Alistair Hay (25:00). Mark Pollard came through 6th in 25:44. Further back, clubmate David Fairweather was 104th in 34:42 and former Calderglen colleague Charlie Steven returned to his former university clocking a commendable 42:02 having also run the Glasgow Parkrun in the morning in an effort to retrieve some lost fitness.
Post race I felt very satisfied and spent some time at Garscube Sports Complex enjoying the Hares and Hounds' hospitality of sandwiches, cakes and tea. I met two old university clubmates, Michael Pugh and his cousin Kevin Farmer. Michael was club treasurer when I was secretary. He was doing a thesis then and has only now finished it. I admire his tenacity. He also lectures in history and politics at the University of the West of Scotland. Kevin now runs for Clydesdale Harriers and, like me, works in the law, for the Crown Prosecution Service. While contact has been infrequent since uni, I consider both very close friends. We have vowed to keep in contact and get together a bit more often.
Someone else I consider a friend is a man called Des Gilmore who was also present. He has been Hares and Hounds President for a LONG time. About 30 years worth of members know Des. It was good to see him again. Returning to the uni is always a pleasant experience in many ways. It gives me great pleasure to see the Hares and Hounds go from strength to strength.
As we ran along the canal, I started to entertain notions of catching the Scottish Cross Country Champion. While working hard, I was bounding along well with good knee lift and arm movement. There were around 2 miles to go. I thought "it's too early. Catch him gradually. You'll get him on Dawsholm Road." At the aforementioned Dawsholm, the gap between myself and Hay was down to around 40-50m. Confident of my hill training, I felt I could pass him on the hill leading onto Maryhill Road. Going up the hill, the gap shrunk again. A steward cheered me on there. This proved a catalyst for both Hay and Gillespie who each found a second wind on Maryhill Road and pulled away. Gillespie overtook Hay and disappeared into the sunset. I gave it everything I had left all the way along Maryhill Road back into Garscube. The gap to Hay didn't grow but it didn't shrink either. I was only holding on to him.
I finished 5th in 25:07, a personal best by 1 minute 14 seconds. Chris Mackay won in a swift 23:57 followed by Andrew Douglas (24:09), Michael Gillespie (24:49) and Alistair Hay (25:00). Mark Pollard came through 6th in 25:44. Further back, clubmate David Fairweather was 104th in 34:42 and former Calderglen colleague Charlie Steven returned to his former university clocking a commendable 42:02 having also run the Glasgow Parkrun in the morning in an effort to retrieve some lost fitness.
Post race I felt very satisfied and spent some time at Garscube Sports Complex enjoying the Hares and Hounds' hospitality of sandwiches, cakes and tea. I met two old university clubmates, Michael Pugh and his cousin Kevin Farmer. Michael was club treasurer when I was secretary. He was doing a thesis then and has only now finished it. I admire his tenacity. He also lectures in history and politics at the University of the West of Scotland. Kevin now runs for Clydesdale Harriers and, like me, works in the law, for the Crown Prosecution Service. While contact has been infrequent since uni, I consider both very close friends. We have vowed to keep in contact and get together a bit more often.
Someone else I consider a friend is a man called Des Gilmore who was also present. He has been Hares and Hounds President for a LONG time. About 30 years worth of members know Des. It was good to see him again. Returning to the uni is always a pleasant experience in many ways. It gives me great pleasure to see the Hares and Hounds go from strength to strength.
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