Up until the conclusion of my hill session two days before, I doubted whether to race the National at all. Even as I had my usual pre-race meal on Friday night and went to bed before 11pm, I was still swaying. I woke up on Saturday morning feeling like doing anything but racing, even after over 10 hours sleep. We had a few call offs among our men and women for various reasons. I surmised another one was the last thing the club needed. In addition, I wasn't willing to give up the club championship trophy so soon after winning it. Double points were on offer at the National. Having suitably convinced myself, my Dad drove me through to Callendar Park.
I arrived in time to see some earlier races but, to be honest, felt a bag of nerves and barely noticed how they were unfolding, preferring to check out as much of the course as possible. I lined up with no game plan other than to see how it went and to try to develop a strategy as the race developed.
Resisting to urge to dash up the first hill, I settled into a rhythm on the downhill stretch to the boating pond then along the trail towards the first climb in the trees on the opposite end of Callendar House. On my pre-race recce the previous week and that day, I seemed to miss all the muddy bits since I encountered thick, sticky mud through the trees. I found some firmer ground as I approached the ditch taking us across the Antonine Wall past Callendar House into the final kilometre or so loop leading to the home straight and the next two laps. Position wise, I guessed I was probably in the high teens/low 20s. I felt strong but had lingering doubts whether I could sustain things. During the lap, a number of runners made their intentions clear by giving Derek Hawkins company. I had seen Paul Sorrie alongside him playing a high risk strategy. He looked to be suffering as I overtook him after the ditch though he hung on gamely for 25th place.
So far so steady going into the second lap. I had worked my way into a group including, among others, Lewis Millar, John Newsom (both Central), Ben Hukins (Aberdeen), Thomas Fay (Shettleston) and Mark Pollard (Inverclyde). It was a topsy turvy race. Ross Houston (Central) and Jethro Lennox (Shettleston) were among those passing through on their way to 3rd and 8th respectively.
Running round the boating pond again, fellow Cambuslang runner Chris Wilson overtook me, encouraging me to keep with him. Despite all the swimming/aqua jogging training I had churned out, the lingering doubt of blowing up wouldn't go away so I remained cautious, staying in my ever evolving group. I was ticking off every landmark- hills, turnings, etc- knowing conquering each one was a step closer to the finish.
The race is on: athletes from Corstorphine, Hunter Bog Trotters, Cambuslang (me, number 612), Aberdeen, Inverclyde, Shettleston and Central slog it out. Photo courtesy of Scottish Athletics.
Into the home straight towards the final lap, I was still in this group. It splintered a bit at the top of the hill. I nudged ahead of Mark Pollard, Thomas Fay, John Newsom and Ben Hukins only for them to pull level on the downhill to the boating pond. I bided my time to the mud fest hill at the other end, finally deciding it was time to take a risk. If it fell apart, at least it wasn't long to suffer. I was adrift of Lewis Millar and a few others, including Kilbarchan's Chris Devenney, but pulled away from Pollard, Fay, Newsom and Hukins on the hill and attempted to negotiate a path through the mud and run hard off the top. It seemed to work and I negotiated the ditch safely, entering the final kilometre or so suffering but not to the extent I had expected. Positions mattered for the team competition. Chris and myself were the first two Cambuslang counters. Less than 5 minutes of running to hold on. The legs were suffering.
I clung on down the home straight without dropping a place, nearly catching Michael Crawley (Corstorphine) in the process, to take 13th place in a time of 41:47. I knew Michael had run a good race at the Alsager 5 so was happy to finish only 2 seconds adrift. Much further ahead of me, Derek Hawkins (Kilbarchan) burned off Andrew Douglas (Inveclyde) to win the race in 38:52 by 51 seconds.
The race drained me considerably but a second consecutive team bronze made the sacrifice worthwhile. Chris Wilson (6th), Iain MacCorquodale (17th), David Munro (28th), Robert Gilroy (32nd) and Stephen Wylie (33rd) completed our counting 6. Such was my tiredness, it took 4 days for my legs to recover fully. After struggling through a 10 mile jog the following day, I returned to the pool on the Monday since I was too sore to run. Normal pre-injury training has since resumed, with necessity since selection for the UK Cross Country in Birmingham on 4th March subsequently came my way. Happy days again.
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