One of my targets this year has been to win an individual District or Scottish title, something I have failed to achieve in my running career up to now. My bronze at the Scottish 10 Mile Championship in Carluke was one of the closest attempts I've had in terms of proximity to the race winner. The Kirkintilloch race doubled up this year as the West District 10k Championship. I therefore put an entry in.
Racing straight after work is never ideal and an added hindrance was the extremely hot spell of weather in Scotland. It was very warm on race night. To be honest, having gone from work and, in hindsight, pushed a speedwork session the night before maybe a little too briskly, I didn't feel very fresh as I toed the start line near Lairdsland Primary School. I tried to keep my last two races in mind to keep positive. Those were the 5000m in Manchester discussed in the post before this one then a 3000m at a Central and South of Scotland League match for Whitemoss which I won in an even paced effort with an encouragingly and surprisingly comfortable time of 9:01.
The route comprised an outward following of the Forth and Clyde canal before turning off for a road loop then rejoining the canal for a shorter return journey. After a relaxed start, I found myself clear by the first kilometre and realised I was in for a tough, solo slog. The canal was shaded but it still felt very warm and the air quality was poor. Goodness knows how much I sweated. If truth be told, I found the race a real grind and was only too happy to reach the finish, stop and catch my breath. For the record, I took 1st place in 31:28, a good performance overall. A close battle unfolded behind me with Ciaran Dougherty (Bellahouston Road Runners) and Neal Robertson (Glasgow Triathlon Club) taking West District silver and bronze respectively ahead of Chris Greenhalgh (Giffnock North) and Stephen Allan from the host club. Ciaran ran 34:38 and only 7 seconds separated him, Neal, Chris and Stephen.
In the ladies race, Kara Tait (Kilmarnock) impressively took the District title with a strong run of 36:03. Following her were Shona McIntosh (Hunters Bog Trotters) in 36:47, Michelle Sandison (Springburn Harriers) in 38:37 and my clubmate Alex Lamond in 39:24, like many, finding the heat difficult. With Shona representing an East District club, Michelle and Alex took the District silver and bronze awards. Andrew Mackenzie completed the Cambuslang representation, earning a top 10 position with a time of 35:43.
While it felt a bit flat at the time, it sunk in later I had achieved a target set and can now cherish a first ever individual title. Hopefully one or two more will follow at some point in the future.
