Nairn 10 Mile Road Race, 5th June 2016

Always open to trying new races, the Nairn 10 Miler caught my eye. I had enjoyed my trip to Inverness in June 2015 for a Mens League match and never been to Nairn so put in an entry, booked an overnight at a guest house, the Ardross Glencairn, in the Highland capital and arranged to meet up with my Inverness based friends, Charles and Jenny Bannerman and Stephen Mackay for a bite to eat. They came up trumps with the Culloden Moor Inn. Charles surpassed this thereafter, signing us into the Inverness Caledonian Thistle Social Club of which he is a member. I know I had a race the next day but to not partake in a refreshment would be rude. It was just the sort of old man pub I love. After a couple of beers there, I walked Charles round to another pub close to the guest house where he continued with his evening while I headed to bed.

Above: the River Ness, close to my guest house. This is my own photo.

I can only assume that the Ardross Glencairn was previously two different properties because, to get from my room to the dining room, I had to go out the front door, along the street a few metres and in next door, there being no direct door leading you through inside. Someone clearly didn't think to create a gap in the wall! Still, breakfast consumed, I drove 16 miles along the A96 to Nairn. I was quite early so had a wander round and noted I'd unfortunately arrived a week early for the Book and Arts Festival.

Before too long, runners and crowds had gathered and the race was underway. The vast majority of the course was on country roads so proved to be hilly and rural in a mixture of warm and windy conditions. My main opposition turned out to be a local, Kenny Wilson of Moray Road Runners. At 2 miles I had a slight scare when I felt a bee or wasp bounce off my chest then experienced a stinging sensation. I took some water shortly after, rubbing some on the affected area and thankfully the feeling passed. I gradually edged a step ahead of Kenny at 3 miles and decided to inject some pressure for the next 2 miles to build a gap. It would hurt me but hopefully not so much that I wouldn't sustain it. I went through 5 miles in 25:54, quicker than anticipated it must be said.

Above: anticipating the finish. Photo courtesy of Jenny Bannerman.

I managed to keep the effort going and had some company near the end from the fun runners, this route taking in the tail end of the 10 miler. I finished in a satisfying 52:20, just over 2 minutes clear of Kenny in the end who, in turn, was comfortable in 2nd. Jenny had lined up for the race but was being afflicted at the time by a mystery illness and had to stop after a few miles. Her club mate, Sarah Liebnitz, took the honours instead in a very good time of 61:10.

Above: either the local paper simply made a mistake or they only know one Cambuslang athlete. Courtesy of Jenny Bannerman.

Though I had a long journey home ahead, I considered it only courteous to wait for the prize giving, receiving a trophy and some vouchers. The drive back south took 4 hours through the A9's maze of speed cameras. Overall, I had a very enjoyable trip. I'll have my eyes peeled for more events in the Highlands.

Glasgow Miler Meeting, 3rd June 2016

Photo courtesy of Colin Stephen.

At a time of bereavement, keeping busy is probably a good thing. On the week after Watford I had entered a couple of races, again arranged when family circumstances were a little better. Again, the word from my parents was to press ahead. My Gran had always told me to do things and not worry about her. This tended to come out when I visited her on my own, often on a Sunday to take the strain off my Mum. Best to respect her wishes. On her better days we spent afternoons with chats like that. Happily the last time I did a solo visit was a good day so at least my lasting memory is a happy one.

Next up was a Friday night outing over 3000m at Crownpoint, scene of my Scottish 10,000m silver medal triumph. The 5000m at Watford had been a draining race so I stuck to light training leading up to the 3000m. 2 sets of 4 x 200m in times of 29-30 seconds the night before suggested I may produce something acceptable. I still however felt nervous. It was a strong field of 19 runners and I ironically finished in 12th place like Watford the week before. I never felt great at any point and, in the circumstances, was pleased with a time of 8:42.19, only 2 seconds outside my best. Another 10 seconds would have gained me 6 places. The pace had been consistent with 1500m splits of 4:19 and 4:23. The quality of the field no doubt helped me produce the level of performance I did.

Above: almost perfectly synchronised with Ryan Thomson who finished 8th in 8:36.92.

I would be racing again two days later over 5 times the distance. This served as a good turnover of the legs beforehand.

The race results can be found here.

British Milers Club Grand Prix, Watford, 29th May 2016- Prelude and Aftermath

The days and weeks following the Scottish 10,000m proved difficult outwith running and gradually impacted on my performances in it. Week commencing Sunday 1st May turned out to be an uneventful, 7 days of training covering 50 miles with various standard sessions and runs completed, for example, my favourite "mixed grill" varied pace 7.5 miler, mile reps and High Point hill reps. Sunday 8th May saw the first Mens League match at Grangemouth. Scheduling the High Point for the day before proved a silly idea which resulted in 3 flat performances, 800m (2:06.08), 3000m steeplechase (10:09.1) and 5000m (15:50.29). I was however 1st Division 2 athlete in the latter 2 races so at least something was salvaged. Events later that week though put things into perspective.

To cut a very long story extremely short, my Gran had not been in the best of health since sustaining a broken hip in June 2014. Behind the tales of training, races and Queen's Park matches contained in this blog, family life had been challenging. Anyone who has helped care for an elderly relative will know that there are good and bad days. My Gran had more than her fair share of bad ones Alas she was admitted to hospital at the end of April and by Wednesday 11th May the prognosis was not good. That day would be the last time I saw her and, ironically on Friday the 13th, she left us. I hadn't run for a couple of days but, at my Dad's insistence, I did so that Friday, having left work early on receiving the news, before drowning my sorrows a little that night in the pub. A strict one off occurrence! The following day I was at Hampden as Queen's Park achieved promotion from League 2 but left a few minutes after the final whistle. Eurovision, normally the highlight of my TV viewing all year, took place that night but I watched with little interest. Dark clouds are horrible things. I returned to work and kept training to keep my mind off things but had another couple of rest days on the Thursday and Friday (19th and 20th) for the funeral. I can safely say that giving the eulogy was more nerve racking than any race I've ever ran.

These were the circumstances leading up to the BMC meeting in Watford on 28th May which I'd done so well in the previous year. Flights and accommodation had been arranged well in advance so both my parents insisted I went through with it. I simply doubted what effect the upheaval would have on my performance. More doubts crept in with a flight delay in Glasgow then a lengthy wait for my luggage, both of which ate into the nap I'd planned to have at the Premier Inn that afternoon. In the end, lining up in the B race, I used the atmosphere and the rest of the field to produce an acceptable performance of 14:51,6, battling my way from the rear of the field to 12th place out of 19 finishers. It was actually far better than I had anticipated so I munched on my McDonalds Chicken Meal back at the hotel with some contentment.

Since the Monday was a holiday, I had booked an extra night in Watford and planned a trip to London, somewhere I incredibly had never been to. I got up early for an easy recovery run before breakfast at the hotel then caught the train from Watford Junction to London Euston. It's virtually impossible to see everything so, with the aid of a tour guide from my local library, had picked out what I wanted to visit. I began with the British Library (maybe not everyone's first choice but I like books) then took the Tube (a nervous experience) to the Westminster area and blatantly played the tourist, taking in the usual- Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, Downing Street, St Paul's Cathedral, Westminster Abbey. I concluded with a walk along the Embankment to Trafalgar Square where I managed half an hour in the National Art Gallery before it closed (probably covering about 1% of it, you could spend a day in there on its own). Sipping a pint of London Pride in the Square rounded off a fantastic day. Having your running over with and a full day to basically do what you want, there are few things better.

Above: early evening at Trafalgar Square, London.

For obvious reasons, I didn't want to be on the Tube too late at night alone so made my return journey to Watford while I still had daylight on my side, enjoyed dinner and another beer at the hotel and got a flight back to Glasgow the next morning. This break was just what I needed at that particular time.

Scottish 10,000m Championships, 29th April 2016

Reviewing my training diary at the time, my confidence was certainly up after a good run of races since the beginning of March. At the end of week commencing 17th April, I commented that I was following a training regime for Watford, referring to the BMC meeting on 28th May in which I had entered the 5000m. Before that, on 29th April, I would be contesting a race which had borne fruit in the previous 2 years with bronze medals, the Scottish 10,000m Track Championship. I had 2 weeks training behind me following the 12 Stage Relay.

The race this year moved to Glasgow's Crownpoint track, opened again after being resurfaced with the Hampden Park track surface used at the 2014 Commonwealth Games. A Friday night suited because, although the race came at the end of a working day, I had 2 days over the weekend to recover.

There were 3 races, a mixed gender one, a male B race then mine. As before, while on paper the male medallists would come from my race, the rule applied that the 3 fastest overall took the prizes. A field of 14 runners plus at least one pacemaker (I'm writing this a few months after the event so I can't quite recall) set off on the 25 laps of the track. For a long time, I felt the pace was too fast and found myself struggling to stay in contention. I sat in 5th place striding out to keep in contact while trying to conserve energy. I went through 5000m in 15:22 yet there were still 4 guys ahead of me.

It took 14 laps before I moved up from 5th and maintained it- I had earlier attempted to gain places but been hauled back. By now I was working extremely hard. I always try to be relatively fresh at halfway in a 10,000m then treat the next half as a 5000m race. I had progressed to 4th then gradually got into a medal position, 3rd, my placing for the previous 2 years. Defending champion William Mackay (Aberdeen) clearly enjoys this race as he was out in front again followed by Michael Deason (Shettleston). I eventually moved up to Michael's shoulder and overtook. I couldn't really tell if I was catching the leader or not but I do know the gap at the end was only 9 seconds. I ran probably my best race of the year to date, taking the silver medal in 30:45.44, a personal best and first time under 31 minutes on the track. Michael was 7 seconds behind. My previous bronze medal winning times would not have won a medal this year.

Numbers were slightly up with 36 men and 4 women contesting the 3 races. 

Olympians Callum Hawkins, Derek Hawkins and Tsegai Tewelde were in attendance to do presentations and they are pictured with the 3 medallists below. Photo courtesy of Scottish Athletics. When your running clicks there is no better feeling and it certainly did on this occasion.

English Road Running Association 12 Stage Road Relay Part 2- Saturday

Photos courtesy of Colin Stephen.

Little did I know when I published part 1 of this account on 6th May that it would take me over 6 months to produce the sequel. Alas, only 7 days later life events took over when my Gran left the world after a period of illness. The irony of this happening on Friday the 13th is not lost on me. On 16th April however, a month earlier, my Gran was at home and my mind was on the 12 Stage. 

A bag of nerves is one way of describing how I felt on race day. I had raced in Birmingham before but not in this part. This event was new. Being 7th leg in a 12 man relay meant roughly calculating/educatedly guessing my likely starting window then working my routine back from there- when to eat, warm up etc. I turned up at the park just as 1st leg (including Ben Hukins for us) was setting off and, after collecting my number, wandered round most of the course before beginning more focused preparations. Looking back now, I seemed to judge it well.

The race follows a similar format to the Scottish 6 and 4 Stage Road Relay with alternate short and long legs. At just over 5km, the short legs were similar to the Scottish race with the long legs slightly shorter at 5.4 miles. The route however is much more awkward with undulations and tight turns, making good pace judgement crucial. Ben, followed by Ross Stephen, Ryan Thomson, Alistair Campbell, Alasdair Campbell (that's not a misprint, they are different people) and Scott Somerville, had us in 30th place in the field of just over 60 teams by the time I set off.

I had a confidence boost on the initial descent in the first half mile when I immediately gained a place. As far as settling nerves goes. that proved helpful. In these races where your competitors are largely unknown, it can be difficult to tell how well you're running. I always think that if you feel too good during a race, you're not running hard enough. I certainly felt I was moving well but was also putting the effort in. I wasn't dropping any places either.

The extra distance in the long leg is achieved by diverting into an out and back section which eventually rejoins the short leg to head into the finish. On the way out, I could see a group of 3 heading back the way and set my sights on catching them. Happily I did.

Above: gaining one of the 6 places I claimed for the team on leg 7.

By the end of my leg, I had gained 6 places and clocked a time of 27:18. Until I saw some results however I still couldn't tell if this constituted a good performance. This was confirmed to be the case when it emerged I was in the top 10 on my leg and 51st fastest long leg overall out of 396 runners. I'll take that.

Craig Jardine, Iain Reid, Richard Carr, Kyle McLellan and Stan Mackenzie continued the good work to bring the team home in an overall time of 4:31:53. Yes, that's 4 hours 31 minutes 53 seconds! We were 15 minutes behind the winners, Highgate Harriers (remember it's a 50 mile race) but around some distinguished names, for example, 15 seconds behind Birchfield Harriers and ahead of the likes of Shaftesbury Barnet and Coventry Godiva. For a first attempt after 17 years with a team ranging from under 20 to over 50 and several in between, we considered top 20 to be a successful outcome. The journey north was certainly a happy one and, as a club, there is an appetite to return for another go.

The full race results can be found here.

Above: the 13 man team, including the travelling reserve and one of my room mates, Chris Upson.

I'm Back

I am pleased to report that I now find myself in a position where I can resume this blog on some sort of regular basis. Various personal circumstances put paid to this earlier this year, the predominant one being the death of my Gran in the middle of May and everything following on from that. I reached a point where posts were becoming less frequent and I experienced what you could call writer's block more and more often any time I did decide to produce something. My last substantive update was in April. I guess I have a lot to catch up on. Be afraid because I'm back!

In the intervening months, my brother has also decided that running is for him. We both ran the Great Scottish Run 10k in Glasgow in October. For the record, I finished 4th in 31:11 while my older sibling finished in just over 57 minutes, well within his 70 minute estimate. We are photographed post race below.