As an incentive to keep training for this race, I promised myself a few days off afterwards to recharge. Since 1st February, I had run 4 races, all of them very well and all races I had been very focussed on. I trusted my training for the Inter Counties Cross Country in Birmngham and got the reward. Following this relay, I had a sense of having maybe gone to the well once too many times. It wasn't all doom and gloom though.
My record at the Scottish Road Relay since my first appearance in 2003 has been chequered. On the negative side, I was diagnosed as asthmatic after the 2003 race, in 2012 I lost out on the silver medal in a sprint on the finish straight (though I got my own back on the runner in question in another race not long afterwards) and in 2013 I ploughed a lonely furrow on last leg unfit after an illness induced lay off. On the positive side, after my disappointing 2003 debut I had a few good outings in Calderglen colours, including a strong 11th place team finish in 2008 and, including this year, I've earned 2 silvers and 2 bronzes in the red and white of Cambuslang.
In my 6 Cambuslang appearances at the race this would be my 4th time on a long leg, being allocated leg 4 on this occasion. Legs 1, 3 and 5 are 3.1 miles and 2, 4 and 6 are 5.8 miles. Alistair Campbell had us a close 5th on leg 1, Robert Gilroy kept us in touch, bringing us in 7th on a very competitive leg 2 then Ryan Thomson hauled us up to 4th on leg 3. As the results showed later, I had a 34 second deficit to make up on Keith Hood, running my leg for the 3rd placed Corstorphine team. On reflection, I feel my anxiety to move us into a medal position cost me a faster time since I misjudged the pace. Chasing someone you cannot see can prove tough and there were long spells where Keith was not visible which made me keep pushing harder. I did not wear a watch and there were no mile markers so I've no idea how far I'd run when I caught and overtook him. All I know is it was shortly before going through an underpass under a railway line. The leading 2 clubs, Kilbarchan and Central, were a bit further up the road so, other than lapped runners, I now had no-one else to focus on and Keith was sticking with me.
Above: paying for my pace misjudgement. Photo courtesy of Colin Stephen.
The remainder of the leg proved to be a struggle, all the while knowing I couldn't slack off with Keith keeping close order. Somehow I managed to hold 3rd place by only 5 seconds. Bobby Bristow on leg 5 extended our advantage over Corstorphine to 14 seconds before Kyle McLellan lengthened the gap to 78 seconds on leg 6. It had been a hard won bronze medal. Further ahead, Central's recent domination of Scottish distance running was halted, at least for now, by an impressive young Kilbarchan team boosted by the presence of Derek and Callum Hawkins on legs 2 and 6. Kilbarchan got good coverage in the local papers in Paisley, where I now work, and deservedly so. There wasn't much in it though with Callum having to fend off a determined Ross Houston to seal the gold for his club.
My time was 29:51, slower than I was hoping for but 12th fastest long leg overall. Conditions were blustery, the course was slippery and many people's times were down on previous years so, on reflection, I'm not so disappointed. Keith Hood's pursuit of me saw him clock 30:30.
As I write this, I've had my rest and I'm raring to go again.
Full results from the day can be found here.
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