Photos courtesy of Paula Wilson.
As I got the train from Motherwell to Edinburgh on the morning of this race, I felt it was a litmus test. Consistent training in, at times, thoroughly horrible weather and an encouraging outing over 3000m on an indoor track suggested things were going the way they were supposed to but this would be my longest race since the West District Cross Country 5 weeks earlier and, indeed, only my second one at all since then.
A 7.30am rise wasn't ideal after a working week but represented a necessary evil to arrive at the capital's scenic Holyrood Park on time for the 11.35am race start. Sometimes you feel someone is looking after you since the weather was clear and dry and the underfoot conditions suited me. The 8km course comprised the same 4 laps as the previous year though with no log to hurdle this time. The part of the course however where the log previously lay was the windiest.
Generally, the race panned out with a satisfactory conclusion. I didn't quite have the pace to go with the rapid start but settled into a rhythm fairly quickly and slowly started picking off people who had been unable to maintain the initial pace.
Above: working through.
I could feel the benefit of training as, unlike the West race, I sustained a constant effort. I was being pursued by a group which included a previous winner, Murray Strain, and a new Cambuslang recruit, Kyle McLennan. Encouragingly I felt strong and, by the later stages, had pulled away, leaving me running in a bit of isolation with a gap in front and one behind.
Above: on the far right with a gap to the chasing pack lead by Murray Strain.
I maintained position and enjoyed the finishing straight to myself as I achieved a similar result to 2013, 12th (2 places down) out of 44 finishers in 27:01 (6 seconds quicker) and 3rd West runner (5th last year). After a tight battle at the front, Alex Hendry won in 25:50 with only 5 seconds separating the first 4 runners.
While still not quite where I want to be, I took a lot of positives from the race and enjoyed the day overall. Pass marks for the litmus test. I had moved forward from the previous month. With any luck, in another month, I'll have progressed again.
Some photos of all the days races (copyright protected) are here and results, including the international events, can be found here.
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