Scottish West District Cross Country Championships, 8th December 2012

"I ran the National Cross Country Championship on Hampstead Heath, and helped Gateshead Harriers to second place team medals. There is an old saying about 'horses for courses', and this race showed me just how true it is. My style of running is best suited to bouncing off the smooth hard surface of a track or road. The 1981 'National' consisted of 9 miles of unrelenting deep sticky mud, and I slipped and slid my way to 56th place, five minutes behind the winner Julian Goater."

Source- Charlie Spedding, From Last to First, page 96 (first paperback edition).

The West District Cross Country only took place yesterday but the experience was such a horrific one, I cannot get it off my chest quickly enough. I like flicking through Charlie Spedding's book every so often when I need something to help me in running. I came across the above quote. I could sum up my experience at Ardgowan Estate, Inverkip in one, brief paragraph.

I ran the Scottish West District Cross Country Championship on Ardgowan Estate, Inverkip, and helped Cambuslang Harriers to first place team medals. There is an old saying about 'horses for courses', and this race showed me just how true it is. My style of running is best suited to bouncing off the smooth hard surface of a track or road. The 2012 'West' consisted of 6 miles of unrelenting deep sticky mud, and I slipped and slid my way to 14th place, 2 minutes 53 seconds behind the winner Derek Hawkins.

Can you see what I did there? Charlie Spedding's paragraph sums up my experience yesterday in a nutshell. After a small lap to start, I got into a group of 5 with Derek Hawkins, Andrew Douglas, one of Shettleston's Eritrean athletes and our own Wegene Tafese. What followed came totally unexpectedly. I was totally ill prepared for the scale of the mud and, before long, runners were passing me. My head went down big time. At the end of the first of 2 laps, I was genuinely on the verge of stopping. However, I've never pulled out a race and never intend to, therefore, whatever it took and wherever I ended up, I intended to finish. I ploughed on, failing to get any rhythm going whatsoever. 5 Cambuslang athletes had passed me so, with 6 to count, I had a battle to remain one of the counters. Only the 6 counters get the medals. Not since the year I finished last in every cross country I entered had I felt so awful in a race. Horrible feeling. I did manage to stay ahead of our 7th man, Charlie Thomson, to take the 6th spot. That target alone got me through the 2nd lap. Woeful as I felt, I did seek out every guy I could find who finished ahead of me to offer a handshake- Thomas Fay, Stephen Trainer, Chris Devenney, Michael Deason and all 5 of our guys. I couldn't find the others, Derek Hawkins, Andrew Douglas, Sean Fontana or Kerrick Hesse.

Above: a long, lonely, soul destroying slog. Photo courtesy of Kenny Phillips.

In the end, we were very convincing team gold medallists thanks to me in 14th plus Wegene Tafese (2nd), Iain MacCorquodale (7th) then Ben Hukins, Kerry Wilson and David Munro finishing one after the other in 9th, 10th and 11th. An excellent, dominant team performance. They say time is a healer but, as I write this, I'm still a bit raw.

In a strange paradox, on returning home, I had a parcel containing my British Milers Club membership for 2013 and vest. Some good race opportunities await next summer. At least there isn't any mud on a track. 

3k On The Green, 30th November 2012

Feeling tired after Liverpool, I was more than happy to have the week off work, especially at this cold, dark time of year. Work had been seriously getting on top of me, making me fraught and anxious so a few days away from the daily cycle of work, training, eating, sleeping were a god send. I resisted doing any double sessions (bed was a more appealing place to be in the mornings) and stuck to my normal training regime but enjoying more recovery time- track on Monday night, club run on Tuesday night, hills on Wednesday and a relaxed 8 miles on Thursday though I did the latter 2 sessions during the day. Fellow Harrier Dave Thom tipped me off about the monthly 3k On The Green which happened to be on Friday lunchtime so, feeling I'd had enough rest all week, I abandoned my rest day to have a go.

On race day, I got up nice and early at 9.45am (!) so I wouldn't be late for the 12.30pm start at Glasgow Green. My target all week was to be up before the Popmaster quiz began on Ken Bruce's Radio 2 show at 10.30am. It wasn't easy but I managed it every morning with varying amounts of time to spare. Race headquarters was at the McLellan Arch in Glasgow Green which I found with the aid of Google maps. Paying at the parking meter, my coins weren't being accepted. A local told me the meter "didn't like too many coins." I'll remember that line next time I get a parking ticket. It took enough to let me stay until around 1pm so I hoped and prayed I'd be finished and warmed down by then.

This was a very informal affair. A well dressed guy who looked to be on his lunch hour showed up with 2 paper cups (one for the £2 entry fees, the other with pins), numbers, entry forms, water and a tin of chocolates. After warming up with clubmates George Pettit and Robert Anderson, George and I lined up with 23 others under the Arch. "3, 2, 1, GO." I guess that was the gun.

The route was a straightforward, flat out and back route along the Clydeside. The early pace caught me cold with a fast starting John Denovan (Westerlands) opening a sizable gap. I meanwhile was being pushed hard by a few runners including Shettleston pair Kevin Brydon and Brian McGarrity. I'd been told a footbridge signalled the turning point. At one bridge, my watch said 3 minutes something so unless we were all on for 7 minute 3km pace, that wasn't it. As we approached the actual turn, I slowly edged away from the chasing pack and closed the gap Denovan had opened. I moved past just before the turn. Someone sportingly shouted I had reached it to prevent me running on towards the Barras.

Heading back to the Arch, I started feeling stronger and tried to work my legs that bit faster. Despite the crisp conditions, the path wasn't slippery. I never felt relaxed though because I could sense the rest of the field giving chase. I'd pay for it if I let up and I treated the race as seriously as any I've run recently. My efforts were enough to give me the win in a new course record of 9:04. Kevin Brydon in 2nd place (9:18) also broke the old record and Brian McGarrity (9:28) finished only 7 seconds outside it. In total, 6 runners broke 10 minutes, the others being Law and District's Darran Muir (9:30), John Denovan (9:36) and Bellahouston Harrier Steven Prentice (9:57). George meanwhile took a huge chunk off his course best, over 40 seconds, in taking 7th place in 10:10.

Afterwards, I enjoyed chatting with a few folk while recovering with some water and a chocolate. With a warm down to do, the meter took enough silver to give me another 10 minutes, sufficient time to complete a mile and a half.

This wee event takes place on the last Friday of every month, except December. I can't recommend it enough. I loved it.

UK Cross Challenge, Liverpool, 24th November 2012- A Further Sense of Perspective

Photos in this post courtesy of Colin Stephen.

 

My performance in the UK Cross Challenge Cross Country in Liverpool, and indeed my approach to the race, was very much dictated by the week leading up to it. Work was extremely stressful. I got through the Monday track session of 20 x 300m, all in 50-53 seconds, without any hiccups. However, the following night, work stopped me getting to the club so I went out a 5.5 miler from home. It was a cold night and pretty windy and I felt awful. I started to feel more unwell as the night wore on and, after a sleepless night, was violently sick in the morning. My brother had a stomach bug the previous weekend which I had clearly inherited from him. I struggled through work that day, hardly eating a thing all day, and only had an appetite for a bowl of soup and 2 rolls and sausage for dinner. Needless to say, I skipped my hill session. A working day ending at 7.25pm the next day saw me miss training again so I went out an easy 6 miles on Friday morning for a psychological boost before heading to Liverpool with the club that evening.

 

On race day, I was fresh as a daisy though with slight heartburn after going to Pizza Hut with the youngsters the night before. A large Americana and a Pepsi is not my usual pre-race meal. I did have a steak in the afternoon though. A walk round the course at Sefton Park showed me it was muddy but without a hill to be seen. I decided to avoid being caught with the fast start, to run my own race and pick people off. To be honest, despite being right as rain, the stomach bug did influence this approach. I brought both long sleeved and short sleeved tops with the intention of choosing between them. It was a rather chilly day so I wore both.

 

The course veered left after the long, wide opening straight so I positioned myself to the left on the start line. I ignored the cavalry charge and focused on myself. The mud, while thick in places, was no worse than anything I've trained in and there were no hills to worry about. Double boost. It didn't take long before I was picking off people who had gone with the initial charge. I played a little game of clocking the club names I was overtaking. Cambridge Harriers, Border Harriers, Leeds City, Sale Harriers. I finished the first lap of 3 feeling fresh with plenty more places to gain.



Above: working my way through the field, preparing to overtake another athlete.

 

The race doubled as the trial for the UK European Cross Country team. Further ahead, the top ranked UK athletes were battling out the 6 automatic places on offer. I meanwhile battled for as high a position I could muster. I remained worried about the bug biting me later on so stuck to the steady, work my way up approach. I knew there were a few Scottish athletes competing but, apart from Mark Pollard, I hadn't seen any during the race. Athletes were becoming harder to overtake but I was still doing it. Work up, run with them, move away, get the next athlete/group.

 

Ticking off the second and third laps, I finally committed myself...with about 800m to go when I heard the commentary for the leaders finishing.



 

Above: end of final lap before turning into the finishing straight, finally going for it.

 

The finishing straight was as long as the start, a big dash for home. I hadn't been overtaken by a single athlete and didn't want to be so found a sprint finish I probably shouldn't have had which nearly gained me another place. In the end, I took 70th place from 480 finishers and 32:36 for the 9.8km course, a mere 2:29 and 64 places away from a pre-Christmas trip to Budapest. The following 6 athletes secured the places:-

 

Jonathan Taylor, 29:55

Andy Vernon, 29:59

Steve Vernon, 30:00

Tom Hunphries, 30:03

Keith Gerrard, 30:04

Frank Tickner, 30:07

 

The race also incorporated a trial for the European Club Cross Country in February, contested between the winners of the Scottish, English and Welsh National cross countries. With an excellent team performance, Scotland's representatives, Central, triumphed to secure a trip to Spain in February. Over the whole day, 5 Scots qualified for the European event in Budapest, an impressive return.

 

Personally, I was hard on myself for not being braver. On the other hand, running a minute faster would have lifted me from 70th to 44th. Had I not been ill, who knows? A mere 3 years ago, a race of this type wasn't on my radar. So, not for the first time this year, a sense of perspective.

 

Once I'd warmed down, we didn't hang around too long and headed up the road with a short stop for dinner. I got home in time to see Take Me Out on ITV and have a beer. All things said, an enjoyable club trip and a good chance to mingle with the youngsters.

 

Race result

 

	

Rangers v Queen's Park, 20th October 2012

With a race every fortnight so far this winter, one of my in between weekends, i.e. one without a race, saw Queen's Park go to Ibrox to play Rangers in a Scottish Division 3 fixture. Yes, I did write that and it happened. Queen's Park went to Ibrox to play Rangers in a Scottish Division 3 fixture.

 

Screeds of news print, web space and TV and radio time has been taken up by the demise of the team known as Rangers formed in 1872. To cut a, ahem, rather extensive story short, the Scottish Football League's lowest tier now boasts a team called Rangers. This game was billed as the oldest derby in world football. I'm tempted to go into an argument about how it's actually one of the newest derbies since the current club are only a matter of months old but I won't. I guess if they call themselves Rangers, they play at a ground which displays the name Rangers, they play in blue shirts and their fans call them Rangers, it must be Rangers. Therefore, we made the short journey looking for our first win over them since 3rd May 1954 when we won on the toss of a coin in the Merchants Charity Cup semi final after a 0-0 draw (incidentally, we lost the final 3-1 to Celtic). To put that into perspective, Coronation Street didn't begin for another 6 years! The last league win was a 2-1 success at Ibrox on 20th March 1948 in the Scottish League A Division. It wasn't enough to avoid relegation that season.

 

I certainly hoped we could avoid a heavy defeat though being in a minority of 800 or so Queen's fans in a crowd of 49,463 made you a bit fearful for our team. We did our utmost to make our presence felt in what must have been a partisan atmosphere to the players, one where only about 1.5% of those present want to see you win. We weathered the inevitable early Rangers storm and forced our way in, carving out some openings, including a ball across an empty goal begging for a tap in and a Longworth shot over the bar. I was though quite relieved to reach the sanctuary of half time.

 

We had certainly gained in confidence and gave as good as we got though you always feel a home goal is coming. It did in 57 minutes when a Dean Shiels cross wasn't cleared and Lee McCulloch reached it. 1-0 and 98.5% of the ground cheering to the Superman theme tune while a small corner sits on their hands. Another new experience.

 

Unbowed, we kept going then the moment we all hoped for after 63 minutes. Andrew Robertson played a ball to Jamie Longworth who played it right back, putting Robertson clean through on Rangers keeper Neil Alexander. One corner of Ibrox rose. He took a touch, looked up, shot...and whacked Alexander's legs. A scramble saw the ball go for a corner. I had a sinking feeling at the time that our one moment had come and gone. So it proved. In injury time, our keeper Neil Parry was lobbed by a 30 yard effort which came off the bar. McCulloch got the rebound. 2-0, Superman from the DJ again and that was that.

 

So the Ibrox experience wasn't the worst. We competed well and had our moments. However, in the end, it was 3 points lost and being toppled from the top of the league. As Queen's fans are fond of saying, keep the faith. I'm sure they said the same after the Celtic defeat in 1954.

Above: pre-match. Correct, it's a bowler hat.

Scottish National 4km Cross Country Championships, 11th November 2012

The winter so far has panned out nicely with a race every fortnight, every one a cross country. The Saturdays in between have been spent doing efforts on muddy grass. Coupled with my weekly midweek hill sessions, again on a mud strewn grass surface, I'm spending more time running about in mud than I did during my childhood. My Mum certainly isn't thanking me for the state I'm leaving the shower in after each training session or race. 

 

I had been feeling some pain and discomfort around the groin areas and hips which, coupled with very cold and slippery conditions saw me struggle a little during the Monday track session. After the Tuesday club run, I started tapering down with a shortened Wednesday hill session (6 reps instead of 12), a 6 miler with some fast 30 second sprints incorporated (6:17 per mile pace overall) on Thursday, a night off on Friday and 2 sets of 1 minute, 2 minutes, 1 minute with 1 minute jogs between reps and 5 minute jogs between sets on Saturday morning. I hoped for some inspiration that afternoon from Queen's Park as they took on Stranraer in a Scottish Cup 3rd round replay. 2 red cards and 4 goals conceded wasn't quite what I had in mind so we've now exited the Scottish Cup twice in the same calendar year with 4-0 scorelines. The wait for the next final appearance goes on.

 

All my recent race appearances have had an edge to them. On one hand, it is a great motivator. On the other, I've found myself getting incredibly nervous more and more. I confess to looking forward to the festive period and the chance to race something more low key.

 

160 athletes lined up for this Sunday race in its second year occupying a mid November slot straight after the relays. On the starter's gun, the field charged into the first of the two 2km circuits. I was caught slightly cold by the pace, finding myself almost sprinting and, what looked to me, struggling to be in the first 20. Heavy rain during the week and some junior and the senior ladies races beforehand meant underfoot, while runnable, was slippery and boggy. I convinced myself however it was no worse than any of my training sessions to keep in a positive mindset. I battled out the first lap keeping on the coat tails of a large leading group. I spotted Ross Houston (Central) through the crowd and decided to track him. This took me by 2 or 3 people including another Cambuslang man, Jack Hamilton as I reached the start-finish area to launch into the second circuit. I eventually lost Houston in a sea of arms and legs.

 

While staying in touch, I couldn't make any headway on the leaders. Stephen Trainer (Greenock Glenpark) has shown some good form in the relays and I knew he was close from the shouts of spectators. Working my way round, I tried to find the best possible areas of ground to ensure smooth progress and hold onto what I had. Another Cambuslang man, Wegene Tafese, had dropped back a bit. This was our first club championship race and passing Wegene would give me the early lead. I dug deep enough to pass him on the turn into the home straight and, in the end, forge a 3 second gap.

 

My efforts were enough for 10th place and a time of 12:37. Mark Mitchell (Forres), a runner with a 7:59 3000m to his name, won the race in 12:18, a single second ahead of David Vernon (VP City of Glasgow) and 3 clear of 3rd placed Ross Houston. Wegene came one place behind me. Myself, Wegene, Ben Hukins (18th, 12:55) and David Munro (19th, 12:58) took the team silver medals for Cambuslang behind Central. Iain MacCorquodale (20th, 13:00) and Jack Hamilton (23rd, 13:06) were unlucky to miss the medals. Competition within the club though, that's exactly what I want to see. 

 

After a spot of relaxation, a roll and cup of tea, I warmed down by running 4.5 miles to the Gorbals to visit my Gran, my Dad taking my car and meeting me there. This weekend, another grass training session. Next race stop, Liverpool for the European Cross Country Trial race, more for the experience than anything else. In any case, to paraphrase the song associated with the city, I'll travel down and run on with hope in the heart. Having seen us lose 2-1 in the league 3 days after the Cup exit, hopefully the Spiders do likewise soon on the football pitch.

 

Cambuslang Senior Men Results

 

10th: Stuart Gibson, 12:37

11th: Wegene Tafese, 12:40

18th: Ben Hukins, 12:55

19th: David Munro, 12:58

20th: Iain MacCorquodale, 13:00

23rd: Jack Hamilton, 13:06

53rd: Alistair Campbell, 13:47

90th: George Pettit, 15:01

91st: Scott Hunter, 15:04

98th: Alick Walkinshaw, 15:08

131st: Robert Rossborough, 16:34

 

Amazing Who You Meet 6

This year's Scottish Athletics Awards night, which followed the National Cross Country Relay, was the 5th consecutive year I've had the privelige of attending. One of these years, maybe I'll actually be nominated for something. Whitemoss AAC take a table every year and I must have done something right for the club over the years since I keep getting asked along.

 

Over the years, I've been fortunate enough to meet Paula Radcliffe, Sebastien Coe, Roger Black and this year's Guest of Honour, Paralympian David Weir. The only guest I would consider a let down would be Daley Thomson in 2010 who turned up for the evening in a tracksuit. A shirt and tie at least surely!

 

Recent newly wed Freya Murray Ross also happened to be in attendance having been nominated in a couple of categories. Those involved in UK athletics will be aware of Freya, multiple Scottish cross country champion, UK international on various surfaces and the highest placed British lady in the Olympic marathon this summer, a remarkable result after only replacing Paula Radcliffe shortly before the Games. She happened to come over to a group I was in conversation with and we got talking. She also kindly agreed to a photograph. Thanks to one of my Whitemoss friends, Willie Sutherland, for doing the honours.

 

 

October Relays

October wasn’t the best of months for me outside running. Stressed to a dreadful degree at work and my Dad’s poor health still without diagnosis means, the majority of the time, while I’ve been present at training and races physically, my mind has been elsewhere. This post will round up my next two race outings for the month following Edinburgh.

West District Cross Country Relay Championships, 13^th October 2012

The day began with my Dad taking a turn for the worse. I gave him every chance but by midday, it was clear it wasn’t going to happen for him and, being too late to withdraw my participation, had no option but to leave for Kilmarnock on my own, all the while trying to put the morning out of my mind and focus on the race. I resolved to put on a brave face, collected my number and headed to the course to the rear of St Josephs Academy.

Being assigned last leg for the first team gave me a window to walk the entire 4km course during the senior women's race. Kilbarchan opened up a commanding lead with Elspeth Curran on the first leg which they never surrendered. Happily however, our ladies team made a bit of history by being both the first Cambuslang ladies trio in this race and the first medallists, in second place. Alex Lamond got us off to a good start then Katie Bristow and Mhairi Brown finished the job.

Jack Hamilton kicked our first team off, bringing us in first in a time of 12:34, 17 seconds ahead of Bobby Quinn (Kilbarchan). Iain MacCorquodale (12:51) kept us there ahead of a hard chasing Sean Fontana (VP City of Glasgow). Wegene Tafese, with the fastest leg of the day (12:12), meant I had to avoid a complete botch up to secure gold medals.

A lot of people had been talking negatively about the course, e.g. "it's well chewed up" and "wait til you get to the hill." I had walked round to make up my own mind. It was no worse than some of my High Point hill sessions. I negotiated the first, flat muddy section then hurtled downhill to a large, grassy field. There was a climb to come. I had run a cross country here before where the route took us directly uphill. I got a boost when I saw it was a zig zag upwards instead. This gave me a view of the chasing VP City of Glasgow runner, Max Ralston. I was keeping a safe distance. The route then went through some narrow woodland before re-entering the muddy, flat section. I knew it was difficult to produce a vintage time running more or less solo the entire way but I was working hard and keeping my form.

Above: working hard in the later stages. Photos courtesy of Westerlands Running Club.

The coaches encouraged me to enjoy the later stages. While not slackening off, some of our youngsters encouraged me to give them a smile which, being about 200m from the finish, did make me laugh. I didn't milk the occasion, choosing to give a solitary fist in the air as I finished with a time of 12:38. Ralston had gained 6 seconds on me but the other 3 guys had done most of the hard work for me.

My first ever gold medal at any District or National Championship certainly gave me some welcome cheer. It was also Cambuslang's first medal in the senior men race for at least 6 years. Plenty to cheer. All I needed was my Dad to be a bit better.

Race results

Above: Cambuslang male, female and vet male medallists, left to right (back)- Colin Feechan, Alex Lamond, Katie Bristow, Mhairi Brown, left to right (front)- Dave Thom, myself, Wegene Tafese, Jack Hamilton, Iain MacCorquodale, missing from photo- Greg Hastie, Michael O'Hagan.

National Cross Country Relay Championships, 27th October 2012

What's it called? Cumbernauld. Yes, I've cracked that joke before but I can't think of a better one...or another one! Pleasingly, my Dad was in finer fettle and took the strain of driving off me. We stuck with the same winning quartet from Kilmarnock, changing only the running order by swapping myself to first leg and Jack to last. On getting my number, I slipped out the school quietly to check out the course.

I arrived at Cumbernauld Park early enough to cheer on some of our athletes in the junior males race then saw the senior women's race. Alex again ran first leg, establishing us in a top 10 position with an excellent 4th place. Katie kept us in contention then new member Kirsty Anderson, fresh from a triathlon in New Zealand, brought us in 6th place. An excellent result for our fast developing ladies section which I'm delighted to see. I was pretty nervous beforehand. The pace up the first hill was relentless but I told myself to keep the head. A tough thing to do when you're around 10th place and don't recognise a number of runners ahead.

Above: first leg bun fight, trying to keep my cool.

Eventually, things started to settle. I told myself to trust my hill training and pick people off. Soon, I was getting close to the front. David Vernon was blazing a trail for VP City of Glasgow followed by Dougie Selman (Corstorphine) and Luke Traynor (Giffnock North). I gave it my all and worked my way into 4th.

 

Above: looking scarily thin in 4th place pounding it on a downhill. Photo courtesy of Kenny Phillips.

I was closing on Traynor with every stride but ran out of ground, finishing in 13:11, a couple of seconds behind him and 22 seconds adrift of the leader Vernon. Unfortunately, 4th was where we stayed despite determined efforts from Iain (13:42), Wegene (13:12) and Jack (13:42) on the next legs. Central eventually moved clear to win while Jack gave chase to Sean Fontana (VP City of Glasgow) and Mickey Breen (Corstorphine) before seeming to run slightly out of steam. Not to worry, a strong team showing and 2013 is another year.

My Dad then chauffered me back to East Kilbride to let me pull on my glad rags for the Scottish Athletics Awards night. Good fun as always and light relief at the end of a stressful month in many ways.

Race results