2012- My Year in Running

2012 Statistics

Today, I ran the Ayr Turkey Trot 10k, finishing runner up behind an on form Michael Deason (Shettleston Harriers) in a course best of 31:08. Realising this brings the curtain down on 2012 race wise, I'll do my usual review of the year. This is my 2012 in words and numbers.

Races (including Parkruns)- 32, constituted thus:-

Road- 12

Track- 13

Cross Country- 7

1st places- 8 (includes team position in West District Cross Country Relay)
2nd places- 1
3rd places-2 (includes team position in National Road Relay)

Clubs/Regions/Nations Represented:-

Ronhill Cambuslang Harriers- 22

Whitemoss- 7

West of Scotland- 3 (UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships, UK Inter Counties Track and Field Championships, BUPA Great Edinburgh 10k)

Personal or Course Bests Set- 11 (not including courses run for the first time)

Championship Results:-

Scottish National Cross Country Championships (12km)- 41:47, 13th place, team bronze
UK Inter Counties Cross Country Championships (12km approx)- 38:24, 89th place
Scottish National Road Relay Championships (5.8 miles, final leg)- 29:02, team bronze
Scottish 10 Mile Road Race Championships- 51:04, 4th place, team silver
Scottish Senior Track and Field Championships- 5000m, 14:59.92, 9th place
UK Inter Counties Track and Field Championships (incorporated in British Milers Club (BMC) Grand Prix Final)- 5000m, 14:48.03, 7th place
Scottish 10km Road Race Championships- 30:58, 6th place, team silver
Scottish Inter District 10km Championships (BUPA Great Edinburgh 10k)- 31:33, 5th place, 1st team

Scottish West District Cross Country Relay Championships (4km)- 12:38, team gold

Scottish National Cross Country Relay Championships (4km)- 13:11, 4th placed team

Scottish 4km Cross Country Championships- 12:37, 10th place, team silver
European Cross Country Trial Race (9.8km)- 32:36, 70th place (480 finishers)
Scottish West District Cross Country Championships (9.6km)- 36:48, 14th place, team gold

Other Achievements

East Kilbride Male Sports Personality of the Year
South Lanarkshire Sports Personality of the Year nominee
Scottish Road Race Grand Prix, 9th place
 

Longest Race- 10 miles

Shortest Race- 400m
 

Worst Race- the stand out candidate is the West District Cross Country, probably the worst I've ever performed in a Cambuslang vest and the closest I've come to dropping out a race for a while. I never have failed to finish a race though. When you're shaking your head in disbelief while running a race, you know it's a bad day.

Another one was an 800m at Linwood in July. I was scheduled to run the Cairn Table Hill Race in Muirkirk until incessant rain forced its cancellation. The rain never relented, hence a totally flat performance in Linwood, clocking 2:04.96, which shook me up enough to train towards my best race.

Best Race- the UK Inter Counties 5000m race in Bedford which was incorporated into the BMC meeting in August, both for the result and consequences. As a non BMC member, I was lucky to get into the race but grasped the chance, put in the training and headed in optimistic with 3 personal best track performances over 1500m (4:05.27), mile (4:25.5) and 3000m (8:40.13) in the bag. I was looking for 70 seconds per lap (14:40 pace) and finished the race in 14:48.03. Everything on the night just clicked. The time met the BMC membership standard of 14:55 so I'm now a BMC member which opens up more race opportunities in the summer months. Ironically, my membership card and vest arrived on the same day as the West District Cross Country- see above!
 

Most Enjoyable Race- 3k on the Green- cheap, cheerful and a great laugh.

Summary- it will sound strange to describe a year when I won 7 team medals, represented the West of Scotland 3 times, earned BMC membership and enjoyed a few race opportunities south of the border as disappointing. I do however have a real feeling of "what if" about 2012. I strained my right tendon in January which I feel affected my performances in the National and Inter Counties cross countries. In May I then hurt my left shin, ruling me out of one or two early summer races I'd targeted. I guess I'm impatient. I turn 30 next September and have waited so long to enjoy any success that I feel I only have a short window to achieve what I want to. Comparing this review to the last two though, there is clear progress. Hopefully by training hard and smart and making use of the race opportunities now opening up, especially the BMC series in the summer, my 2013 review will be the best yet.

Compare and Contrast

Saturday 8th December 2012. My day went from this:-

To this:-

It's fair to say I had a better evening than afternoon as, once I finally got the mud off my legs (a full 15 minutes in the shower), I went along to the Cani Fit Christmas night out. St Andrew's in the Square proved to be an inspired choice with a pretty good 3 course meal followed by a ceildh then a DJ, all until 12.30am. One for the road in Maggie Mays while awaiting a taxi rounded off an enjoyable do which I rather needed, otherwise, I would have just dwelled all night. Thanks to all who were there for their company.

Hopefully the flashbacks from Inverkip stop soon....

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