2010 Archive
28/12/10 - Slog in the Sand 10k, 28th December 2010
Campbeltown Running Club hosted their inaugural 10k fun run over the Christmas festivities on Tuesday 28th December. The Slog in the Sand took place on Westport beach and over 20 people braved the icy temperatures and bitter cold wind to run the race.
It is hoped that the Slog in the Sand will become an annual event and CRC hope to put on more community events like this in the future to hopefully raise the profile of the club and raise funds for local charities.
CRC would like to thank the Coastguard for their help and support for the event.
Below were the final race standings:
Male
1st - Gary Turner - 00:38:50
2nd - Kenny Campbell - 00:39:11
3rd - Stuart McGeachy - 00:43:29
3rd - Tommy Morran - 00:43:29
Female
1st - Jennifer Reid - 00:47:52
2nd - Katie Ferguson - 00:49:24
3rd - Elaine McGeachy - 00:52:10
All the race results and timings can be found here.
10/12/10 - CRC Sponsors Thank You Message
Campbeltown Running Club would like to thank the Campbeltown Howdens branch, South Kintyre Sports Council, Campbeltown Common Good Fund and East Kintyre Windfarm Trust for their kind funding sponsorship to the club in the last year.
Since Campbeltown Running Club was founded in the summer we have received donations from the local contributors listed above which has helped the club establish. With the funding we would like to develop the club and put something back to the local community, especially from all the support we have received.
The funding has helped the club become formally affiliated with Scottish Athletics, create a club website (www.campbeltownrunningclub.com) and purchase club clothing for competitions and training. It is also hoped that it will also be used to provide coach training as well as organise community and charity fundraising events.
Photo (left to right) - Robert MacDonald CRC chairman and Archie Martin presenting the cheque on behalf of Campbeltown Howdens Branch.
10/12/10 - MOK Run 2011 Entries
MOK Run 2011 entries are filling up quickly so enter now at www.runnersworld.co.uk/mokrun to avoid disappointment.
10/12/10 - Slog in the Sand 10K Registration
If you would like to enter the 'Slog in the Sand 10K' the registration will take place in Westport car park between 11:15-11:45am on Tuesday 28th December. The race will start at 12 noon so please arrive early to avoid disappointment!
10/12/10 - Santa Dash 2010
The Santa Dash 2010 3K fun run will take place at 10am on 18th December. The race starts and finishes at the Aqualibrium.
22/11/10 - Vests, T'shirts and Hoodies order
Just a note that we will be putting another clothes order away before Christmas. We will be ordering some vests, tshirts and hoodies. The tshirts will be the exact same design as the our vest but the hoodies will just be royal blue with white logo/writing. We thought it might be nice to have hoodies after having so many CRC members on the podium at Tin Farm, it would be nice for them to show off our club colours the next time they are winning J Prices and info can be found here. We would like to put an order away on Friday so please e-mail enquiries@campbeltownrunningclub.com with your request. We will be ordering more on a regular basis so there will be other opportunities.
22/11/10 - Slog in the Sand 10K, December 28th
CRC will be hosting a 10k fun run on Westport beach on the public holiday Tuesday 28th December at 12noon to give us all a fun race to end 2010. Race times will be recorded and entries will be taken on the day, £3pp. All welcome. Teas/coffees will be provided afterwards. Any proceeds of the race will be split between CRC and a local charity.
22/11/10 - Handicap Series 2010 - Points Total
As a final note for this years Handicap series, the points totals can be found here. We look forward to next years event!
22/11/10 - Handicap Series 2010 - Prize Giving Pictures
As promised, we have been uploaded some of the prize giving pictures to the website photo album.
There will be more of the evening pictures added as soon as we get a copy.
Please note that Jocelyn was accidentally 'cut out' the winners group photo (some man Gavin!), but we are hoping there is another copy with all the winners visible!
22/11/10 - Bellahouston 10K Race Report - By Gavin Brown
The bad preparation for this 10k began on the Friday night. Just after leaving the Handicap Series prizegiving and setting off up the road we managed to mangle 2 wheels on a pot-hole!! Once I had realised that the tyres were holding pressure we carried on up the road at just over my 10k pace!!!! haha A quick Red Bull Racing wheel change in Lochgilphead had the space saver and the least bent wheel sorted out for an earlier than expected departure the next morning. Once we had finally reached the big smoke, things were looking a little brighter. Arrived at Bellahouston Park at 10am and straight in to get registered, along with what felt like half of the running community of glasgow, which would seriously affect the start time. Back to the car to get stretched off and can't help noticing that it is bloody freezing, the sun hasn't quite decided to turn up yet and the gale force winds from through the week are looking like they are back!! Anyway, send Jules off to the House for an Art Lover and tell her that she should aim to head to the finish for some photos in about 40 minutes. I head back up to the start only to be told that the number of on the day registrations has resulted in a 15 minute delay to the start. No problem I think, I'll go and see what the bottom loop of the run is like, double up with a short warm up run. Get along that stretch and find the head wind is really strong, make a mental note where this is distance wise and head back to the start. Lining up I get a feeling that not a lot of people have returned to the start and after a quick chat with some other cold looking runners I find out that the delay is now half an hour!!!!! AAAAGGGGHHHHHH. Now my main aim is to try and find Jules who is going to be a bit miffed when she arrives at the finish, 40 odd minutes before I am due to get there :-)
Finally get the nod that the race is to start and get up to the monument once more. Do a final bit of stretching off and ready to go. Quickly, as always, check where I am in relation to the rest of the field and even more quickly realise that I have been using the start pole to aid my stretches!!!! Get myself a bit further down the filed to avoid be trampled by elite athletes just in time to hear the claxon - and we're off!!!
First kilometre is down hill with a couple of tight bottleneck turns which have everyone but the very front runners down at a walking pace, then off like whippets again. Find my pace fairly early and try to identify a couple of other runners that I can run with. Like the true CRC professional I don't get wild when none of my selected pace makers keeps to the plan, 2 quite literally disappeared out of sight at about 3 km and the other one started to struggle shortly afterwards. So, back to running with my friend Garmin, alone.
Coming round to complete Lap1 at 6km (the second lap is shorter!) I really did consider chucking it in, its not easy to motivate yourself when you don't have a target to chase down or someone dragging you along, but a glance at the Garmin kept my hopes of a sub 50 run in the mix and I headed off down wind and downhill, lifting the pace slightly. Turned out of the park and heard a familiar voice cheering me on, Jules had found the runners after all :-) and more importantly she didn't look too angry!!
As I pass 7km I can see Craig, my brother, heading towards me, just passing the 9km mark, and on target for an amazing time (Rab, I think I may have to find a more achievable goal for next years Tin Farm 5). Through 8km in under 40 minutes and still have that sub 50 in mind. Couple of small inclines on the way back into the park start to take the energy out of my legs but the sight of the 9km marker motivates me once more. But, and there is always a but, the last kilometre is slap bang into the biting headwind and try as I might I just cannot get the legs turning over as quick as I want to. Manage a semi sprint over the last 100 metres and cross the line in 50.06 (Garmin) or 50.14 (clock).
Guys, and I do mean the guys, if there is one reason you have to pop this one in the diary for next year its definitely the manner that the medals are awarded!!!!!
Two scantily clad young ladies in specially commissioned Achilles Heel hot pants. Fantastic sport watching over weight, less than fit, red in the face, breathless men trying to act cool and impress the Laayydeees!!!
Classic!
Fantastic day out, second quickest 10k yet for me but still a little disappointing that I couldn't dip below 50 minutes again.
Next????
15/11/10 - New York Marathon Race Report - By Jackie Fulton
What can I say :-) It truly is the marathon to do and truly is the way to see New York!early start but arriving at the New York City library in Upper Manhatton at 5.15 am was where the atmosphere started as I joined the multi national queue, oops sorry line! of thousands and bus after bus left for the start at Staten Island. Arrived on Staten Island to a bright dawn sky, cold but glorious and 5 hours to go til my start time. Found a space in one of the marquees at my "colour" blue area, start was wave 3 at 10.40! - was warmly dressed, thanks 4th gen for your advice/guidance, with clothes to be deposited in the charity bank at the start line corrals - but hey had nothing to sit on - however was rescued by a 5th time newyorker marathoner from New Jersey who gave me his foil blanket from last year - and when his wave went left me a bin bag and a fleecy blanket - so was well sorted! I now know why all those who have gone before me totally enthuse - God Bless America and New York New York at the start of every wave really sets the scene and words cannot describe the atmosphere leaving Staten Island over the bridge and into the roaring crowds welcoming you to Brooklyn. Brooklyn, Queens, double bridge at Roosevelt Island and down hill onto Manhatton Island at mile 16, to crowds of spectators 10 deep all roaring encouragement -
FAB-U-LOUS Then right up First Avenue and over to the Bronx, then back onto Manhatton Island over Maddison Avenue Bridge and into Harlem to another fine welcome, down and into Central Park and a bit of an uphill struggle from mile 23 - but the minute you looked weary - you got a personal cry about how wonderful you were - the New Yorkers and family and friends of the runners really do know how to be the best spectators....
The whole thing was simply the best - felt elated at the finish line (got quite a surprise at how tired I looked in the photos - on such a high - I didn't feel tired :-)
15/11/10 - Handicap Series 2010 - Final Results
The Handicap Series 2010 results were finally anounced on Friday evening at the race night out. Congratulations to Neil John MacPhail for winning the Male category and Susan Graham who was top for the Females. Neil John was also the overall winner just pipping Susan's total in the final race.
Congratulations also to David Paterson and John McGeachy who shared joint second spot for the Male's and Jackie Fulton who was second in the Female category. Third places went to Tommy Morran and last years winner Jocelyn Richard.
15/11/10 - Bellahouston 10K 13th November 2010
Well done to Gavin Brown who completed the Bellahouston 10k on Saturday with a time of 50:06. No doubting an excellent time, but what was even more impressive was Gavin leaving the Burnside early and sober on Friday whilst the race night party was getting into full swing!
We'll hopefully get a race report and pictures from Gavin later in the week.
15/11/10 - Nigel Barge 8th Jan 2010
The 2011 Nigel Barge race takes place on the 8th January at 14:00. Enter online at www.born2run.co.uk. Places are limited to 300 this year so please enter as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.
07/11/10 - New York New York
Congratulations to Jackie Fulton for completing the New York Marathon 2010 in an excellent time of 04:47:41. It is hoped Jackie will post a race report on her return from the Big Apple!
07/11/10 - Tin Farm 5 2010 Results
The Tin Farm 5 2010 was CRC's first major event as a group with 17 members taking part with most travelling up to Ormsary estate in the Sports Council minibus. The weather conditions were ideal for running and most people eventually appreciated the cooler temperatures after completing their third or fourth hill of the course!
As usual the Tin Farm 5 was a demanding route with a number of steep hills and tough underfoot terrain at the forest track and at the final leg on the beach. This was the first time a number of CRC members competed in the event but it didn't show as everyone managed to finish with excellent times.
CRC biggest success of the day was in the Female Senior category with a clean sweep of the top prizes with Jennifer Reid first, Lisa Hardie second and Claire Reid third. Mandy Chaisson finished third in the Female Veteran category and Stuart McGeachy second in the Male senior category.
Congratulations to another local Gary Turner who finished as first Male Junior and third overall.
Also a special thanks to Neil John for being the official driver for the day.
A complete list of the results can be found here.
01/11/10 - MOK Run 2011 entries
Online entry is available for MOK run 2011 at www.runnersworld.co.uk/mokrun
01/11/10 - Tin Farm 5 bus
For anybody competing at the Tin farm 5 this weekend the bus will leave at 9:30am from the Aqualibrium.
01/11/10 - Snowdonia Marathon 2010
Well done to Donald Campbell and Charlie Dott for completing the Snowdonia marathon on Saturday. Race reports and times to follow soon.
01/11/10 - Dublin Marathon 2010
The 2010 Dublin Marathon took place on Monday 25th October with CRC member Jocelyn Richard competing in her first marathon. Jocelyn completed the race in an impressive 03:57:56, a time which qualifies Jocelyn in the good for age category for the London Marathon 2012.
Congratulations Jocelyn for running an excellent race. We hope to get a race report from Jocelyn at a later date.
Also well done to Fiona Irwin and Fraces Arthur for completing race with excellent times.
24/10/10 - London Marathon 2011
Exciting news – Campbeltown Running Club has been awarded one SA Club place for next year’s marathon. Let Elaine McGeachy know or e-mail enquiries@campbeltownrunningclub.com if you are interested and we can draw the lucky winner from a hat on the night of the handicap race series prize giving (Friday 12th November 8pm, Burnside Bar)
24/10/10 - Scottish Athletics Affiliation
A few people have been asking for their registration number for SA which allows them £2 discount to some races. At present CRC only has a club membership which means it is a basic affiliation to Scottish Athletics, gives us club places in ballot races such as the London marathon, gives us access to SA championships, votes at the SA AGM and covers insurance. It is an extra £15 per person to become individual members per year and we have not opted for this at present but may look into doing this in the future. If you would like to do this personally you can apply at - http://www.scottishathletics.org.uk/index.php?p=19
24/10/10 - CLUB PHOTO
There will be a club photo this Tuesday, 26th October, at 6.30pm at the Aqualibrium. Please come along even if you cannot wait for training so we can try to have as many of us in club colours as possible. We will also be ordering more vests etc in the near future.
24/10/10 - TIN FARM 5
CRC will be taking a minibus to the Tin Farm 5 race at Ormsary Estate on Sunday 7th November. It should cost no more than £5 per person. Below are the names of people confirmed so far – 1 space left! Any changes, please let me know.
1 Jennifer Reid
2 Neil John MacPhail (Rachel)
3 Ralphy Hill
4 Stuart McGeachy
5 Elaine McGeachy
6 Robert McDonald
7 John McGeachy
8 Iona McIntosh
9 Janette Hannah
10 Neil John MacPhail
11 Mandy Chaisson
12 Lisa Hardie
13 Scott MacBrayne
14 David Paterson
15 Claire Reid
16 Margaret McSporran?
17 ?
14/10/10 - Delhi Challenge
If you are interested in participating in the Delhi running challenge then please register your mileage at the Aqualibrium.
14/10/10 - Tin Farm 5 Race
The fourth Tin Farm 5 race takes place on Sunday 7th November. This is a tough 5 mile run which starts at the Ormsary Estate and includes running through woodland and beaches.
There are also spaces available in the mini bus so if you would like a space then either contact Neil John MacPhail at the training sessions or e-mail enquiries@campbeltownrunningclub.com.
03/10/10 - Oban Atlantis Half Marathon 2010
The Oban half marathon took place on Sunday with CRC member Charlie Dott taking part in the event. As usual, Charlie ran a great race despite having to run an extra mile due to marshalling issues! There were a number of runners were also affected by this problem and the organisers have adjusted their times accordingly taking in to account the runners average speed.
Charlie's adjusted time was calculated as 1 hour 29 minutes and 22 seconds and finished in 6th place overall out of 71 competitors. Even with all the issues on Sunday this is an excellent time to complete the course in and great preparation for Charlie's upcoming Snowdonia marathon at the end of the month.
Well done also to John Galbraith who also competed and finished in 10th position with an excellent time of 1 hour 33 minutes and 51 seconds.
28/09/10 - Handicap Series Race 5 Campbeltown Results
The final race of the Handicap Series took place on Tuesday 28th September in Campbeltown. The race started close to the paddling pool and the route took the runners down Low Askimol to Craigard and back.
Congratulations to Iona Mackintosh who finished first with a clock time of 28 mins 33 seconds. John McGeachy finished second with a clock time of 30 minutes 12 seconds and Ralph Hill finished third with a clock time of 30 minutes seventeen seconds.
27/09/10 - South Kintyre Sports Award -Saturday 2nd October
The South Kintyre Sports award takes place this Saturday at Stronvaar Bowling Club. Please come along to a great event including 3 course meal and live entertainment from local band the Twisted Melons as well as supporing sport in our area.
Congratulations to CRC member Kenny Campbell who has been nominated for Sports person of the year award. Good luck to Kenny for Saturday's awards.
If you are interested the tickets cost £15 from Intersport or you can buy tickets from Elaine McGeachy at Tuesday or Thursday's training session.
26/09/10 - Mid Argyll Tirathlon 2010
Left to right: Kenny Campbell (unoffical photographer!!),
Gavin Brown, Stuart McGeachy,Elaine McGeachy,
Janette Hannah and Jennifer Reid
The 2010 Mid Argyll Triathlon took place on Sunday 26th September with a number of CRC members participating in the individual and team events.
Jennifer Reid and Elaine McGeachy competed in the individual event and Janette Hannah, Gavin Brown (Fernoch Flyers) and Stuart McGeachy (Fernoch Fliers) were involved in the team race. Less said about Fernoch Fliers the better....next year we'll nail it!
Congratulations to Jennifer Reid who finished 3rd in the Senior Female category. All the hard training over the last few months is paying off after the weekends race.
All results and timings can be found here.
14/09/10 - MOK Run AGM
The MOK Run AGM is taking place on 12:30 on Saturday 25th September at the Argyll hotel. All welcome to attend.
14/09/10 - Handicap Series Race 5 Campbeltown - 28th September 7pm
The last race of the 2010 Handicap series will take place at 7pm on 28th September in Campbeltown. The route is Kilkerran Low Askomil walk with the race starting at Kilkerran Road (near the paddling pool).
05/09/10 - Great Scottish Run Half Marathan and 10k results 2010
There was a good turn out of CRC members competing in the Great Scottish Run half marathan and 10k events last Sunday. The event had over 23,000 competitors and ran through some of Glasgow's famous landmarks.
Well done to all Campbeltown runners who took part especially our CRC members - Lisa Hardie at 50 minutes and Janette Hannah at 55 minutes on the 10k course and Jackie Fulton 2 hours, Joceylyn Richard 1 hour 57 minutes, Elaine McGeachy 1 hour 48 minutes and Jennifer Reid in 1 hour 42 minutes in the half marathon - a good few PBs in there!
See below for Jennifer Reid's race report for the race:
After doing the Great Scottish Run half marathon in 2008 I vowed never, ever to do it again. But when I got an e-mail from the organisers advising me it was my last chance to enter the 2010 race, I changed my mind and decided to give it another go!
After a wake-up call in my hotel room at 5.30am which I hadn’t requested, I walked to the start at George Square feeling still half asleep and not very positive about the race. I met up with Elaine and Jocelyn at the start and, after admiring our new Campbeltown Running Clubs vests, we were off.
This year I was in the white start and it made a huge difference with less congestion in the first few miles than my previous race in 2008. I took it fairly easy over the first mile which turned out to be my slowest mile at just over my previous half marathon pace.
The route took us over the Kingston Bridge and through Bellahouston and Pollok Park before finishing up in Glasgow Green. There were a few small inclines in Pollok Park, but otherwise it is a fairly flat route.
As the race progressed I was feeling pretty good and pleased with my mile splits, although at times I wondered if I was going too fast. I tried not to look at the pace on my Garmin and just ran how I felt. I was going well until my legs started to tire around mile 10 and my head started to doubt if I could keep the pace going.
The last three miles were all about keeping the head down and trying to keep going. My pace slowed down a bit in mile 11 before I managed to pick it up again in mile 12. By mile 13 I was really willing the finish line to come, and eventually I entered the home straight round Glasgow Green. After a big sprint finish for the line I got a new PB of 1:42:52, over 4 mins off my previous best time set at Islay half last year!!
I then headed towards the family reunion area and it wasn’t long before I met Elaine and Jocelyn to share our race stories. Everyone did really well.
Looking back I have to say I really enjoyed the run and it was a great experience to take part in a race with over 23,000 entrants. Definitely one to do again!
04/09/10 - Club vests are now available!
They can be collected at training on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Photo shoot to follow soon!
01/09/10 - Club night out
There will be a club night out on Saturday 2nd October 2010 at South Kintyre Sports Council Awards and Dinner Dance. Tickets £15 from Elaine or from Intersport. You can still nominate for the awards, see www.southkintyresportscouncil.com
31/08/10 - Handicap Series Machrihanish Gauldrons (Race 4)
Tonight was the penultimate race of the Handicap Series 2010 which took the runners to the challenging route of Machrihanish Gauldrons. Fortunately the weather conditions were perfect again which helped bring a good atmosphere prior to the run. Just like all the other races, the route was challenging with unstable underfoot conditions and a tough hill to conquer for the first half of the route. However everybody appreciated the downhill on the return to help the weary legs!
This is the first time the route has been used for the Handicap Series and it certainly showed! There were a number of runners who took a slight detour near the end as everyone started following an unnamed runner in the wrong direction! Sat Nav may be optional for next year!
Thankfully it wasn't a major diversion and everybody finshed with good times. Just like Bellochantuy, the eventual winner was Susan Ralston who completed the course with another excellent run.
The complete race results and league table will be published soon.
29/08/10 - Paisley Vision 10k
It was a beautiful sunny day (although rather windy) for the 2010 Paisley Vision 10k where a number of Campbeltown Running club members participated in the event. In total there were over 1000 runners which made it a very congested race at the start line and at some places around the course. However this didn't appear to affect any of the Campbeltown runners as everyone completed the course with excellent times.
The course took runners all around the Pailsey town centre and past the newly constructed ST Mirren football stadium, which was ideal as a few of the Campbeltown runners are fans of the team. Better news would follow for them later in the day when ST Mirren chalked up their first victory of the season against Hibernian...but back to the running!
Below is a list of the times for the Campbeltown runners:
Tommy Moran 41:41
John Galbraith 42:14
Stuart McGeachy 42:22
Elaine McGeachy 48:44
Emma Conley 50:07
The complete list of race results can be found here
27/07/10 - Handicap Series Bellochantuy (Race 3)
The third race of the 2010 Handicap series took place on Bellochantuy beach on Tuesday 27th July. There were 23 runners competing in the tough 3 mile event accross soft sand and three arduous burns. Although the underfoot conditions were tough everyone completed the course with good times, even though there was a lot of pain over some faces at the finish line!Congratulations to Susan Ralston for winning race 3 in the series with Tommy Moran finishing second and Stuart McGeachy third.
11/07/10 - Famous Grouse 10k Creiff - Race Report
By Gavin Brown
This 10k is one that I remember from the first year that I got into running against the clock. It’s less of a conventional 10k, more of a trail race, with a healthy mix of Hill race thrown in for good measure. I last ran it in 2008 when I managed 55m53s, which at that point was a 10k best for me. My main concerns this year were underfoot conditions so the torrential rain on the way up to Crieff on the Saturday night was just what I needed to settle any nerves!!!
Down to register (wasn’t confident enough to pre-enter!!) at just after 10am, quick look around to see if there were any familiar faces (or arch enemies) and there were a few, and then back to the car for final preparations. A friend of ours, Suzie, from Crieff had decided to “have a go at this 10k thing” (what a choice of first 10k!!!) so most of the pre-race banter was trying to calm her nerves. I gave her 3 pearls of wisdom:
1. Try to keep the legs moving on the climb up to 3km because a lot of people will walk there so you will pick up some time, and, more importantly, it’s better for the legs
2. Try to nip to the loo before the start as there is nothing worse than running 10k with a full bladder and lastly
3. Remember that people WILL pass you, so not to get too depressed about it!
She seemed to take this on board and continued to get ready for the race. About 10 minutes to go and we headed across Morrison Academy playing fields towards the start. I suddenly realised that I hadn’t followed my own advice as far as point 2. was concerned and trotted down to the clubhouse. I returned to the start where everyone was getting ready for the off. Jules shouted me over for a photo and it was only then we realised that Suzie was nowhere to be seen. The Piper fired up and within a couple of seconds we were off, Garmin started over the line and a quick look over my shoulder to see if Suzie had appeared. I could barely make out her pink running top running back from the Clubhouse towards the start, a full 200 metres behind the last runner. Her insistence to follow my directions to a tee meant that satisfying point 2. had definitely taken point 3. out of the equation!!!
The first 1km starts along the playing fields and then the route starts the climb up Laggan Hill, pretty much a steady climb from 1km to 3km. My legs are already very heavy and at the steepest part of the climb a couple of guys in front of me, who looked strong up until then, slowed to a walk. The temptation to do the same was enormous but I lifted the knees and pushed on to the top, feeling all the better for that small mental victory. The descent on the other side of the Hill is steep, slippy and covered in tree roots. I am mindful of faster runners who want past and only have to shout at 2 ladies in front for fear of “skittling” them on the way down (I must invest in a pair of trail shoes!).
Once down the last of the slippery hills (only one runner with a twisted ankle, amazingly) we turn sharp left past a water stop. I don’t usually take on water during a 10k as I belch for Scotland for about the next 2k but I was really warm by now so the water was distributed evenly between down my throat and over my head. As we headed away from the water stop I started to feel really knackered and with a check of the Garmin I realised why!!! The guy who I had tailed down the last of the downhill section was running sub 4 minute km’s. Fair enough I thought, see you at the finish, and dropped back to just under 5’s.
The run along the river was nice but it was getting harder to maintain a pace as the legs got heavy and the lungs started to struggle to keep up so it was nice to turn away from the river bank and up onto the road again and past the 9km marker. Got a couple of shouts of encouragement from familiar voices and lifted the legs for one last attack. As you turn into the playing fields for the finish it looks likesucha short distance....... but it takes forever to get there!!! Final piece of encouragement comes when a spectator shouts at the runner behind me “ come on!! You’ll get that guy in the white (Me), he’s DONE IN!!!” well, with that I kicked again and made sure that they only got to find out how “Done In” I was when they lined up behind me for their goodie bag!! Over the line in 53m 02s on the Garmin (official time slightly slower at 53m 10s).
Thoroughly enjoyable race (its amazing how quickly you forget about the Hill!!!) and one I will pop in the diary for next year without a second thought. Suzie managed to overcome the Famous Grouse in 1 hour 6 minutes, which, for her first 10k is pretty damn good. She will do fine in her next few, after all they are all going to be easy compared to this!