After making the commitment, the race in Stretford nearly didn't happen. Day off secured and hired car picked up, I was cruising down the M74 when, between Lockerbie and Ecclefechan at about 10.45am, I came to a standstill. An overturned caravan and 4x4 had closed the motorway completely. Stuck between exits, I couldn't turn off and as time went on, I seriously considered cancelling and turning back. At 1pm when the traffic started moving again, I decided it was worth continuing so hammered it down the motorway to within 50 miles of Manchester before stopping briefly to eat. I got to a warm, sunny Stretford at 4pm, 6 and a half hours after setting out, still enough time before my race at 6.45pm. After a wee wander into the town, I returned to the track at Longford Park to submit my entry, optimistically predicting a 3000m time of 8:35. Personal best going into this was 8:41.27. I met Charlie Thomson who had left home at 12 noon, avoided the tailback and arrived around the same time as me!
I'd known of these meetings for a while without taking the step of going to one. The host club, Trafford AC, hold 7 of them every second Tuesday in the summer with distance and throws only. Every other Tuesday, they have meetings with sprints, hurdles and jumps. Perhaps such event specific meetings could be an idea to rejuvenate the open graded scene in Scotland?
The main attraction is the quality of race. Big fields dotted with people to pull you along. I lined up in the first of 2 heats with 23 others. From the gun, I tracked the leading few. After a couple of laps, I moved through just behind a leading group of 5. I tried to ignore the lap times being shouted and the clock at the finish and to concentrate, to get out the comfort zone I feel I've sloped into recently. I felt pretty strong as I went through 1500m in 4:16. A personal best was there for the taking.
The leaders in the group in front seemed to crank up the pace a bit, pulling the others with them so I now had a gap in front. I focused on trying to close it without surging but was aware of others catching me. A small glance at the clock showed 6:23 with 2 laps to go. A personal best would be tight. I've done many a long rep in training so made a long burst for home. On the back straight, Charlie urged me to get in tight in lane one. Lewis Millar had got past me on the inside in the recent Mens League 5000m so I heeded the warning. It worked as the guy behind didn't overtake and a final 800m in 2:17 got me 6th place in 8:40.13 and the personal best I had travelled down for.
Charlie won the second heat with 9:20.44 with another Scottish athlete, Elspeth Curran (Kilbarchan) 5th in a personal best of 9:30.12. As much as I would have loved to have seen more of the meeting, I had to get back for work the next day so, following a warm down and shower, managed to get some grub and left at 8pm. An incident free journey got me back just before midnight. I think I'll try to do an overnight in future!
So, the kickstart I wanted but plenty work still to be done.
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