A year on from my first ever Scottish individual medal, I returned to the Scottish 10,000m Championships to try and repeat the feat. The event was staged once more at Hutchesons Grammar School on a Friday night with a similar format, several graded heats with pacemakers and the fastest 3 times over all the races earning Scottish medals. Again, on paper, the medallists would be in my race but again, you can never tell.
After only a week and a bit of training after resuming from a post Scottish Relay few days off, in truth, I was a bag of nerves before the race and just wanted it over with. I was also a little jaded from the working week but at least I had the prospect of a lie in the next day. Being the last of the 4 races only added to my anxiety. I had a gameplan of feeling fresh(ish) for as long as possible and adjusting the pace accordingly.
Generally the race panned out with me spending the first few laps at the back of the pack, taking long strides in an effort to conserve energy. Unknown quantity (to me anyway) William Mackay and clubmate Kyle McLellan followed pacemaker Craig Ruddy, forging a gap, leaving me, Calum McKenzie and Max McNeill running together. I wasn't confident enough to follow the pace and pinned my hopes on William, Kyle or both dropping back. After 9 laps or so, I felt William and Kyle were getting too far away so managed a surge of pace to move clear of Calum and Max. Unfortunately this left me in no man's land with gaps both in front and behind.
Above: the loneliness of the long distance runner, ploughing a lonely furrow in a 3rd place no man's land. Photo courtesy of Kerry-Liam Wilson.
After initially thinking I was making ground, I felt myself struggling and the gap between the leading 2 and I did not close. I more or less started counting down the laps and keeping track of my likely finishing time. I was hovering around a likely 31:20 finish. A bit of a burst in the later stages saw me finish in 31:17.28 to claim a second consecutive Scottish bronze medal in the 10,000m track event. Unlike last year, there was no negative split, my 5000m splits being 15:29-15:48. William, an Englishman living in Aberdeen for work purposes, narrowly pipped Kyle to gold, clocking 30:30.35 to Kyle's 30:32.31. Behind me, a similarly close battle saw Calum claim 4th in 31:42.98 to Max's 31:44.64.
Above, left to right: silver, gold and bronze medallists. Photo courtesy of Colin Stephen.
Overall, a satisfactory night's work with a result about right for my level of fitness on race day, only 10 seconds down on last year's time. You could mention medal candidates who were missing but I think back to a comment one of the commentators made at this year's Inter Counties Cross Country that, in championships, it's those who are there that matter not those who aren't. I agree with that. You have to be in it to win it.
Overall, 31 people contested the 4 races. Well done to them all. Thank you also to all the Cambuslang personnel and other acquaintances in the Scottish running scene for their encouragement on the night. When you're struggling in the fog of a 25 lap slog, it really helps.
Full results are here.
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