Clydesdale Harriers 5km Road Race, 19th March 2016

Another week, another race. There are worse habits. With 3 weeks of consistent training and 2 races behind me, I'd trebled both the number of consecutive weeks and my race count in 2016. It's amazing how you get into a positive cycle- training helps you race, racing well motivates you to train and so on.

A shorter trip this week took me to Clydebank for the Clydesdale Harriers 5km Road Race, still referred to by some, including my Dad, as the Dunky Wright. I underestimated the journey time, arriving slighter later than I'd hoped, 40 minutes before the start. Registration however didn't take long and I was warmed up and at the start line in the industrial estate across from the shopping precinct with time to spare.

A healthy turnout from Cambuslang were among what looked like a good calibre field. The route takes in a lap and a half of the industrial estate (1500m approx) before heading out through a residential area, briefly onto a footpath beside the main road then onto the canal path for the final 1800m or so. I found myself in a large pack of 10 fairly zipping along. Approaching 2km it was more or less still together.

Above: approaching 2km, eventual winner James Bowness (number 10) to my left. Photo courtesy of Colin Stephen.

The pace was a step up from what I'm used to in recent months and I was clinging on to the pack. Seeing the company I was keeping though helped keep my head up. Craig Ruddy could be found at the front pushing the pace along. As tends to happen this in turn kept me clear of a large chasing group.

On seeing the 3km mark, I resolved to treat the remaining 2km like one of my mile reps. Encouragingly it would be flatter than the circuit I use for those. As we turned onto the canal, I preserved my golden rule of racing of not looking behind. I didn't need to look to know I was being pursued. While I hadn't overtaken anyone, I also wasn't being caught and in the end no-one did pass me. At the front Craig and a figure unknown to me (James Bowness, a 1:47 800m runner it turns out) had pulled away. A group of 5 followed them then me in a no man's land between that group and those pursuing me. At 1km to go, I told myself "only a 3 minute effort left" and found another gear on seeing "400m to go" painted into the path. I held off clubmate Craig Jardine to take 8th place in a course best of 14:59 and the mini honour of 1st out of the 7 Cambuslang finishers. The top 10 looked like this (copied from the Clydesdale Harriers website):-

1. James Bowness Glasgow Caledonian University 14:36 

2. Craig Ruddy Inverclyde AC 14:47 

3. Russell White Dromore 14:50 

4. Scott Stirling Edinburgh Uni Hare & Hounds 14:50 

5. Douglas Roberts Stirling University 14:52 

6. Andrew Lawler Edinburgh Uni Hare & Hounds 14:53 

7. Calum McKenzie Corstorphine AAC 14:55

8. Stuart Gibson Ronhill Cambuslang 14:59 

9. Craig Jardine Ronhill Cambuslang 15:04- first under 20

10. Elisha de Mello Edinburgh Uni Hare & Hounds 15:14

In a field of 168 runners, there were many battles throughout and a high standard with 22 athletes breaking 16 minutes, 47 under 17 minutes and the last finisher clocking 24:40. A little mention to my old Calderglen team mate Russell Couper who managed his fastest 5km in some time, 24:04. Anyone can run further but it's harder to run faster. Well done Russell.

While empty handed in terms of prizes, I took great encouragement from my time, my fastest for the distance on the road in over a year. As a club we are also looking good for the upcoming Scottish Road Relays. Our remaining runners were:-

12th: Kerry-Liam Wilson, 15:22- first M40

13th: Iain Reid, 15:25

15th: Alistair Campbell, 15:30

33rd: Drew Pollock, 16:33

61st: Scott Somerville, 17:30

With the sports centre in Clydebank, the Playdrome, closing this year, this may be the last running of the race on this particular route. It should however live on. Clydesdale Harriers certainly intend it to. Seek it out in the calendar. High quality and good value for money, organised by a friendly club.

As a footnote, while it had no bearing on my result, a lamb bhoona and 4 pints of lager is not recommended race preparation. I'll say no more.

Cupar 5 Mile Road Race, 12th March 2016

When you're desperate to race, there are few limits as to where you will travel to satisfy the desire. With the Inter Counties Cross Country ruled out for this year, I looked closer to home. I'm not a fan of Parkruns and, while I did run the Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon many years ago, the prospect of the 13.1 miles distance and a 9am race start on a Sunday (yikes) did not appeal. Saturday had the Cupar 5 Mile Road Race with a 3pm start. This meant I could have a lie in and a fry up for breakfast and still have plenty time to get there. Much more up my street. I'd been to Cupar once, back in 2006, so decided a return to the Kingdom of Fife was the preferred option. A 140 odd miles round trip is a long one to race 5 miles but when the desire is there, it's definitely there.

After setting off at 12 noon, crossing the Forth Road and some never ending greenery in Fife and Perth and Kinross, my Dad and I pulled up at Cupar's YMCA on Bonnygate around 1 hour 45 minutes later. In a haze of optimism, I'd entered the race in advance so had a quick task of collecting my number then finding the race start on a country road half a mile away. The route is an easy to follow 2.5 miles out then the same back. I jogged the first 1.5 miles, making a mental note to burst for home when I came to "Mary's Farm" close to the finish. So the sign said it was called anyway. I recall from a previous visit that a horse escaped and joined in the latter stages of the race. I spotted a horse out grazing. Whether it happened to be the same one I cannot confirm.

I wasn't the only Cambuslang Harrier present with a freshly back from Kenya Alistair Campbell plus Frank McGowan joining me. We were though the only runners from a club outside the east of Scotland. I also renewed acquaintances with an old uni friend Rory Scott who lined up for the host club. The pre-race briefing could be summed up by stay to the left, turn at the cone, beware stray animals.

From the off, I tried to ease my way in and, to my surprise, soon found myself in front. I wasn't for turning the chance down so strode out, enjoying dictating the pace. That said, I wasn't too disheartened when Dougie Selman (Corstorphine) and Bryan Mackie (Edinburgh) joined me to form a leading group of 3. We exchanged positions up to the turning point. I felt relaxed and (relatively) comfortable as we reached halfway and the turn. I allowed Dougie and Bryan to negotiate the cone before me but soon rejoined them.

On the way out, we had encountered a steep descent. There were no mile markers but I guessed the climb would be around the 3 mile mark. As we negotiated it, I attempted to inject some pace in an effort to pull away. I also worked hard off the top of the hill. I succeeded in splitting the group with Bryan dropping a few yards behind. Dougie however recovered quicker from the climb and slowly opened a gap. He also upped the tempo because I could feel myself suddenly working harder. I kept working to both hold position and possibly close down the leader.

The return journey felt very long with Mary's Farm seeming to never come. Finally there it was.

Unimpeded by horses or any other creatures, I kept it going to the finish to take 2nd place, expecting a time of around 26 minutes. My watch however showed 24:49, 5 seconds outside my best time for 5 miles and streets ahead of my Cupar time in 2006. Definitely one of those runs which was a lot faster than it felt. Superb! Dougie won the race in 24:37, Bryan took 3rd in 24:57, Alistair was 5th in 26:13 and Frank claimed 8th and leading over 40 in 27:17. Last but not least, Rory finished 16th in 28:35.

Apparently by leaving before the post race spread last time, I had missed the best part of the day. Never one to pass up anything free, I had a warm down jog through the town then reported back to the YMCA for tea, home baking and some socialising before heading in a westerly direction again to get home before dark.

This race is one of many hosted by Fife AC in a part of the country which seems to be a hot bed of running few of us in the west appreciate. The race results are here where you can also find a list of Fife AC organised races. See you at one sometime.

Ronhill Cambuslang Down by the River 10k, 6th March 2016

Robert Burns knew what he was on about when he coined the phrase "the best laid plans of mice and men." After thinking I'd recovered from an ankle sprain I strung together 9 days of good training before the pain returned. By now I was just over a week away from the National and as the days went on with no improvement and swimming to maintain some fitness, it became clear that even the biggest cross country in Scotland would also be beyond me. Disappointing but at the end of the day it's an individual sport and you have to look after number one sometimes. An easy 6 miles 2 days beforehand left me momentarily tempted but, on waking up with aching limbs the next day, I saw sense. 3 target races had now passed me by. What next?

Thankfully I got through a 50 mile week with no ill effects and rolled up for the club 10km road race with no ambitions other than to race, something I seemed to be fast forgetting how to do. Better weather conditions greeted the 172 runners compared to a year before.

Before long, I was in the familiar company of Robert Gilroy jousting for the lead. I knew he had run 1 hour 10 minutes in an undulating Stranraer Half Marathon the previous day decided to test him early on by leading the race out towards the Clyde Walkway. For the first 3km, I lead with Robert in my slipstream.

I try not to get too hung up on checking split times. In 10km races, I tend to wait until halfway before doing so. 15:34 for the first 5km. Course record pace and much faster than it felt. Yikes! We stayed toe to toe up to the turning point at 6km. I now felt almost spent so pleased I hadn't raced a much hillier 12km cross country the week before. Robert opened a little gap as we doubled back towards the chasing pack which he maintained to become the 2nd winner of the Jimmy Sands Memorial Shield in a time of 31:41. At least my course record from 2012 remains intact! I took runners up spot in a much quicker than expected 31:49 (16:15 for the next 5km shows the ring rustiness) with our clubmate Iain Reid completing the top 3 40 seconds later. Together we claimed the team prize, seeing me add to my growing collection of red long sleeved Ronhill training tops.

I took advantage of the free pie and tea on offer at the club, telling anyone who dared to listen how much of a crisis my running life had been for 3 months. I can laugh now but I did have some low points between the illness and 2 ankle sprains. Hopefully in a matter of weeks I'll have forgotten either thing ever happened.

Blast from the Past- Tom Scott Memorial Road Race, April 2008

Until Sunday 6th March, January's 3k on the Green constituted my only race appearance in 2016 and only one since early December. Lining up therefore for the club's 10km road race lifted a huge weight off my shoulders. A time of 31:49 came as a pleasant surprise off so little, inconsistent training. Onwards and upwards.

Inactivity provides ample time to look back and I'm amazed how long I've actually been competing for. The photo below shows me in Calderglen Harriers colours at the Tom Scott Road Race in 2008, clocking 56:48 for the 10 miles, a personal best at the time. My hair has more grey patches now than it did then.