Get to Beith on 2nd January

I have championed the cause of the Beith Harriers New Year Road Races twice before on this blog and make no apologies for doing so again. It has a special place in the history of athletics in Scotland being arguably the country's oldest race- the first set of results date back to 1929. After a gap in 2014, the event is back on the calendar and happening on 2nd January 2015.

 

I'll probably not gain much street cred for saying this but I am not a fan of Parkruns. Granted, they have their place but discussion of their merits or otherwise could take up a separate article. Suffice to say I do not dislike Parkruns per se but at times I have bemoaned their popularity at the expense of traditional club races. I will look with interest at the numbers attending New Years Day Parkruns (I've read about some Parkrun "double headers") and also how many appear at Glengarnock Industrial Estate on Friday. I have spread word of the event around. If you're reading this and, like me, believe in keeping a traditional old race alive, please do the same. So, take 1st January to sober up and toe the line with me on the 2nd!

 

Race details are here and a great article on its history is here.

West District Cross Country Championships, 6th December 2014

Photos courtesy of Kenny Phillips.

 

A combination of consistent training and a change of job meant I approached the West District Cross Country in Linwood in a positive, less distracted mindset. That is until race day when, after a prolonged spell of settled weather, I and every other participant were greeted with as soggy a day as you will ever see. All that good preparation only for the target race to threaten to be a washout. I'd love to say I remained undeterred but I was in more of a "get this over with" mood and needed a real gee up to even get on the start line. If you've read my account of the West District race of 2012, you will know about my aversion to muddy courses.

 

The course was relatively flat but with 7 races already contested on it, there wasn't much greenery remaining. The best approach over the 4 lap (10,000m approx) course was to find the best line possible and, basically, keep going. Encouragingly, I had a bit more grit and steel about me than I've had for a long time and handled the conditions relatively well. Looking back now, I felt I grew into the race. A race long ding dong with Robert Gilroy ended with a narrow 2 second success in his favour but compare that to a near 2 minute thrashing in the Great Scottish Run Half Marathon in October. I ploughed through the mud, wind and rain to 11th place in a time of 36:07, just under 1:40 behind the winner Tewoldeberhan Mengisteab, about half the gap he had on me last year. Finishing 4th counter for the club earned me another District team gold medal so no complaints at all. This was as good a performance as I could have expected and a 3rd consecutive team gold. Hopefully there's more to come. They do say progress is never a straight line.

Above: Robert Gilroy and I battle it out.

Above: a soggy day indeed.

 

 

All the results are here.

Great Scottish Run Reflections

Photo courtesy of Ian Goudie.

 

I'm slightly late with these reflections but circumstances intervened preventing me from putting this down sooner. At the beginning of October, I raced the Great Scottish Run, my first half marathon race for over 5 years. For the record, I finished 19th overall in a new personal best of 1:09:03. I also unwittingly featured heavily in BBC's coverage due to my close proximity to the leading women for 5-6 miles before the leading two duly dispatched of me in Pollok Park. Such exploits rendered me too sore to do much running the following night so a 20 minute jog was followed by a swim. I also reflected on the following "milestones" reached during the race:-

 

1. A half marathon personal best by 4 and a half minutes. My best time was set in my previous half marathon, the Chris Moon Half Marathon in 2009 organised by Strathaven Striders. Since that, to date, has been the only running of that particular race, I'm currently the only person ever to have won it.

 2. First ever Glasgow Half Marathon.

 3. First ever mention by name on TV having been name checked by Brendan Foster. Surprisingly Paula Radcliffe, who was sitting next to Foster on commentary duty and I've met before, never mentioned me at all.

 4. First defeat to a woman since 2008. I've thought hard about this and worked out that the last lady I had lost to in a race was Toni McIntosh (Ayr Seaforth) in the 2008 Isle of Arran Half Marathon. I did however come perilously close to a beating by the winning lady in the Dublin Marathon who was no doubt catching me stride for stride. If you don't believe me, read my write up.

 5. First defeat to two women in quite some time. I also thought hard about this but couldn't remember when it last happened.

 6. Second Cambuslang finisher. Robert Gilroy ran an outstanding race for 10th place with 1:07:12 and the poor guy didn't appear or get mentioned once.

 7. Second time I've run at the same event as a family member with my uncle doing the 10k. Prior to that, my Dad and I had both run the Glasgow University Road Race in 2003.

 8. Biggest support in a race. Having your surname and club clearly visible seemed to help in this respect. I was grateful for the encouragement.

 

The moral of the story? If you want to be on TV at a mass participation race, run with the elite women.

 

 

Remember Me?

Hello again. For various non-running related reasons, it has been some time since I last posted anything on this blog. A lot has changed since my last offering on 23rd October which I may elaborate on in a future post. Race wise, a disappointing effort on 3rd leg in the National Cross Country Relay has been my lot. I didn't race at all in November but I write this a little over 24 hours after a very pleasing performance in the West District Cross Country at Linwood. As a taster, Kenny Phillips' photo of Robert Gilroy and myself below conveys a flavour of what faced each competitor.

 

More to follow but I won't leave it as long this time.