Tom Scott Memorial 10 Mile Road Race, 13th April 2014

Continuing my aims to race more often and recapture my enjoyment of running, I put in an entry for this 10 miler, the furthest I would have raced in the last 2 years with the exception of the biggest mistake of my running life on 28th October 2013. I've read back my report on the Dublin Marathon and note that I said the following:-

"I certainly don't regret having a go (the training was a worthwhile learning curve) but those of you who run marathons are welcome to them. I've been told by a few sources my time entitles me to an automatic place at the London Marathon. Absoloutely no thanks. Stuff it where the sun doesn't shine!"

 

The Tom Scott Road Race took place on the same morning as the London Marathon so you will gather that I did indeed send the opportunity of a guaranteed place in the UK's largest marathon to an area where the central star of the solar system cannot expose its hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields! Given a choice of 26.2 miles in London and 10 miles in Carluke, there was only one winner.

 

I knew the course would be no pancake but was hopeful of doing okay and, with the race doubling as a Scottish and West District Championship, carried some hope of slipping into medal territory. A field of 150 runners, 8.67% of whom were in Ronhill Cambuslang colours, were set off from the John Cummings athletics track at 10am. I aimed to get as far into the race as possible feeling as well as I could and joined a fairly large leading group. I was happy enough to take shelter in it as we headed out the town into the country roads. Hilly courses help me a lot since I can compensate for my lack of leg speed compared to others by grinding up the hills. By 3 miles, the group was down to 3, myself, Robert Gilroy and Tewelde Mengisteab. David Millar however stayed close enough to remain a threat.

Above: running alongside Robert Gilroy with David Millar in the background. In hindsight, I look like I got dressed in the dark. Photo courtesy of That One Moment.

 

The course was an out and back one and as we went through 4 miles towards the turning point, I felt strong. We turned halfway up a hill and I was confident enough to take the lead. My plan thereafter was to try and stride away towards victory. Little did I know about the galeforce wind so I changed tack and decided to stick with the other 2 guys. I didn't want them to hide behind me then ambush me with a sprint finish so was content for them to retake the lead while I sat on their shoulders. Driving wind and rain started to drain me. I knew the times wouldn't be quick and I wasn't going to trouble my personal best of 50:41 from Brampton in November 2011 but the race was a great one to be part of.

 

I stayed with Robert and Tewelde until between 6 and 7 miles when the weather conditions finally took their toll on me. They gained a few metres. I gritted my teeth and tried to battle back towards them. They were on their way to a straight shootout for both Scottish and West District gold. Exercising my golden rule of racing, I didn't look behind though as we took a right turn between 7 and 8 miles, I allowed myself a sideways glance to see there wasn't another runner in sight. This boosted me because it appeared all I needed to do was keep moving to earn myself two bronze medals.

 

Having turned out the wind and with the course flattening out, I summoned some energy through the streets of Carluke back to the sports centre. A rather cruel uphill took us back onto the track for a full lap to the finish. While out of contention myself, I got close enough to see Robert outgun Tewelde for the race win. I meanwhile realised Lachlan Oates had gained on me so had to find some extra effort to see him off by 13 seconds. Having taken District bronze and also my first ever podium finish in a Scottish championship, I finished a very tired but happy 3rd place.

 

An extensive prize giving saw me leave with District bronze, Scottish bronze, Scottish team silver (Kerry-Liam Wilson and Robert were the other team counters) and £60. The London Marathon played in the background which reminded me how much I hadn't wanted to be there. Mug's game!

 

The full list of Cambuslang performances is below and full race results are here.

1st: Robert Gilroy, 53:21

3rd: Stuart Gibson, 53:44

9th: Kerry-Liam Wilson, 55:04- 2nd V40

13th: Kenny O'Neil, 58:19

23rd: James Healey, 1:01:06

27th: Colin Feechan, 1:02:04- 1st V50

28th: John Macnamara, 1:02:07

30th: Shazad Hakeem, 1:02:38

34th: George Pettit, 1:03:25

39th: Robert Rossborough, 1:04:31

40th: Alex Lamond, 1:04:50- 4th lady

50th: Tony McCutcheon, 1:07:27

54th: Dave Thom, 1:08:12

Above: Colin Feechan (1st over 50), Robert Gilroy (race winner) and me (3rd place). The photo is my own.

Scottish Road Relay Championships, 30th March 2014

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and, based on recent happenings, I believe there to be a bit of truth in that saying. After my lowest ebb of the National Cross Country, where I stepped off the course with less than a third of the race done physically and mentally broken, I didn't run another step for a full 15 days. I kept away from the club as well, missing the post National social that night and another social event at the ten pin bowling the following week. I didn't intend to show up at all until the day of the National Road Relay but found myself missing the club so I returned to a training night one day after I had resumed running with a stiff and sore 5.5 mile jog. A few things did happen during my sabbatical. I cancelled a week's training holiday in Portugal (running was the last thing I wanted to do) and took the decision to resign from the responsibility of club captain. On the flip side, a few other things happened personally for the better. That's all I'll say for now. 

 

In the 3 weeks thereafter, which included the 15:25 clocking over 5km at Clydebank, I found myself building up a head of steam each day to the point where I felt confident of a good show in the road relay. I felt I would be most use on a short 3.15 mile leg so was duly allocated leg 1 in the A team. To recap, there are 6 legs, 3 short and 3 long (5.8 miles) run alternately for senior and over 40 men and 4 legs for women and over 50 men. Conditions in Livingston, though cold and foggy, were pretty much ideal.

 

I felt quite focussed on the task and decided to run as aggressively as possible and see where it got me. I quickly found myself near the front as we proceeded down the first stretch to the sharp left turn uphill. I wasn't paying attention to who was with me but knew I had company. I hadn't run the short stage for a few years but still had enough knowledge about its twisting and turning nature to use it to my advantage. After roughly a mile and a half of to-ing and fro-ing for the lead, we came to a downhill stretch leading into a left turn. During my hill sessions, I've been trying to improve my technique on the descent as well as climbing. Clearly something is working as I found myself opening a gap as I rounded the bend. Faced with a flat section of path, I then strode hard and, to my shock, found myself with a bit of a gap.

 

The final mile or so follows a dirt trail past Almondvale football stadium towards the start/finish at St Margaret's Academy. I battled on into the mist as hard as possible, as it turned out building a good lead.

Above: in the lead with 400-500m to go on 1st leg. Photo courtesy of That One Moment.

 

In the last half mile, I readied myself for a final burst up the home straight. After months of struggling to recover from the biggest mistake of my running life (doing a marathon), pounding up to the finish to give the club a 17 second lead over 2nd placed Shettleston was the best feeling I've had in running for months. A course best of 15:47 was just fine as well.

 

Kyle McLellan set off on 2nd leg, running a terrific time of 29:11. He had the misfortune however of having Central's Andrew Butchart on the same leg who clocked the fastest long leg of the day, an outstanding 28:03. This aside, Kyle's run went a long way towards sealing our final position. Ian Rawlinson, Ben Hukins, Josh Lilly and Robert Gilroy consolidated us in the silver medal position, only 63 seconds adrift of Central. Such was Central's quality, their winning time was the quickest since 1999. A measure of how good it was is that our time would have won the race last year and was the club's fastest since 2003.

 

Running equally well was our B team in 7th and our over 40s who took gold and 9th overall. Our over 50s also won gold. I stayed to see our A team finish but was starting to get a chill from the cold by then so didn't wait for the medal presentation. I can safely say though I love running again.

 

Full results are here.