Easter Sunday. What better way to spend the morning than have a stroll in the park. Walk the dog. Feed the ducks. Have a cuppa afterwards. Such tranquility was spoiled for many at Strathclyde Park as I and almost 300 others perched up for the Tom Scott 10 Mile Road Race and Round the Loch 6k. The 10 miler is the Scottish 10 Mile Championships. The race has a degree of history, detailed more fully than I can give on the race website. Until 2003, the race was run from Law Village where Tom Scott lived firstly to his place of work then latterly Strathclyde Park, seeing the race sometimes billed the "Law to Motherwell." I ran the old route twice, each time in 62 minutes. On police advice, and despite the intervention of then First Minister Jack McConnell, it has been run in the confines of the park since 2004. My previous appearance in 2010 brought a time of 52:54.
Before my last 10 mile race, Brampton in November, I had some red and white war paint applied to my face by Calderglen Harrier Joanne McEvoy. I said hello to her and one or two other Calderglen folk pre-race but resisted temptation to ask for a repeat performance. A tip off from Robert Rossborough that I was standing in the pre-registration queue saw me pay and collect my number instantly while a load of pre-entries waited. Advance entry is meant to be an advantage. Given the length of queue, I was surprised that the races were starting on time. Assuming there would be a delay, I was still wearing my club jacket 5 minutes before the advertised time which I hastily discarded before taking to the start line.
Starting off round the loch, I was not of a mind to bound away too quickly and let a leading group of Andrew Douglas (Inverclyde), Ross Houston, John Newsom (both Central), Tewoldeberhan Mengisteab, Lachlan Oates and Michael Deason (all Shettleston) forge ahead. I briefly ran with then pulled away from previous Tom Scott winner David Millar (Irvine AC) then ran with a group including Mark Pollard (Inverclyde) and another Cambuslang man, Kerry Wilson. Moving ahead of this group in the first 2-3 miles, a sense of deja vu descended as Thomas Fay (Shettleston) came beside me. Deciding that 8 miles was too far to have someone sitting on my shoulder, I sat on his for a little while. Together, we were keeping close to the leading group. I could see one or two dropping off who I felt we could catch in due course. We each gained a place without passing anyone though as Deason turned off to complete the 6k race.
We weren't exactly slouching as we completed 3 miles in 15:05. My aim was more for scalps than times and I focused on drawing in those dropping off in front. The course lead on to the road round the perimeter of the park towards the theme park where, amidst the early screams of weans on the big dipper, I seemed to pull away from Fay then overtook John Newsom. Fay rallied on a downhill stretch though and caught me up before we turned back on to the path around the loch.
Fay and I ran more or less side by side for a spell then, just after 5 miles, he opened a small gap, overtaking a struggling Lachlan Oates in the process. At 5 miles, the watch said 25:20 something so, worried the pace was slipping a little, dug deep to inject a little pace, catching Fay and passing Oates myself. At 6 miles, we passed the start/finish area where some spectators and 6k finishers had gathered. I also got a shout from club coach Mike Johnston around there which I needed at the point I got it.
And so it continued round the loch, spoiling the peace for many of the aforementioned dog walkers. At 8 miles, I felt the same scenario of 8 days before developing and tried to work out a strategy on the move.
Above: myself and Thomas Fay between 8 and 9 miles. Photo courtesy of Gillian Scott.
Mengisteab, Houston and Douglas were visible but I couldn't get close enough to make an impact on the medals. 4th, best of the rest, would be alright. I felt relatively fresh. By that I mean "fresh" in comparison to how I've felt at this point previously in 10 milers. In a sprint, Fay would only do the same as the previous week. I decided to gamble and try to run the finish out him. At 9 miles, I checked the watch (46:10-46:15 I think) and immediately surged for several seconds then pulled the pace back. Fay closed in. I then saw an electric meter box and a pole 50m or so in front of it. I surged again between these two points. A little while later, one more surge. The sudden changes in pace really drained me but I could no longer hear him. Touch wood, I only had to hang on until the finish outside the watersports centre which I did to take 4th in 51:04. Fay came through 16 seconds later with John Newsom and Lachlan Oates both also under 52 minutes. The last mile took me around 4:50. Maybe I shouldn't have been strong enough to do that after 9 miles but I did say it was about scalps. Tewoldeberhan Mengisteab won the race in 49:55 followed by Ross Houston (50:08) and Andrew Douglas (50:17).
After a lengthy warm down with Kerry Wilson and Andrew Douglas, I briefly kept watch on Kerry's youngest son Kalle as I waited for the prize giving. £50 for 4th and a team silver (myself, Kerry and Robert Gilroy) represented a worthwhile shift. I had just enough time to feed the ducks before heading off for a lazy afternoon of two Premiership matches on Sky with an Easter egg.
Cambuslang Results
4th: Stuart Gibson, 51:04
8th: Kerry Wilson, 52:40- first vet 9th: Robert Gilroy, 53:47
20th: Alan Ramage, 57:41
65th: Robert Rossborough, 64:44- around a 6 minute improvement from Millport in September
132nd: Sandy Eaglesham, 1:12:55
Full race results
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