British & Irish Masters Cross Country International - Bellahouston Park

Three weeks of far from ideal preparation due to an Achilles tendon injury were for me topped off with a day of truly far from ideal weather at Bellahouston Park for the annual British & Irish Masters XC International on Saturday. As the whole country was battered by hurricane force winds and lashing rain, the selected teams from Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland somewhat reluctantly completed their warm-ups and course recces before diving back into the sports centre for shelter hoping that at least the rain would go off before the scheduled race start time. For some reason all those members of the England team who I spoke to seemed to think that we Scots would love these conditions. NOOOOO we don't!

Ignoring the weather, the course set by the organising committee was a true, classic cross country course with flat, fast (on a better day) sections leading to steep, punishing ascents and even more punishing, scary descents where more than a few runners took a tumble. The ladies and M65+ men were off first on a 6km course comprising a short lap and then a big lap to finish. I didn't see much of this race as I was testing trail shoes and spikes trying to decide which gave the best achilles pain/grip compromise. The spikes were the final choice as there was no grip to be had with the rubber studs. Then it was time for the M35 to M60 8km race of two large laps.The field of 160 lined up and were soon charging in a muddy spray along the start straight. A sharp left turn and we were heading towards the hill which divides Bellahouston Park. The route threaded its way through some trees on the ascent before dropping down the other side on a mushy, leaf covered descent where there was absolutely no grip, even with spikes and the potential to really hurt yourself. At the bottom of the hill we plunged into a grassy section that was soft as a sponge which brought us back around past the Palace of Art towards the sports centre and a second ascent up the hill followed by a long treacherous traversing descent to the familiar flat area of the park. A further kilometer in the flat area and then we were off on the second lap.

After three weeks without a proper run, I struggled with my breathing from the start and was plodding by the second lap. However an unexpected benefit of the water logged course was that I was ankle deep in cold water or mud most of the time which made my feet so cold the pain in my Achilles was numbed! I rallied a little towards the end to fend off a few challenges but was really not too impressed with the way I ran given my recent good form. My finishing time was 28:44, placing me 17th out of 30 in the M45 race and second M45 Scot, both worse results than achieved last year in Dublin, despite coming into this season in much better form. That's running for you!

There were many Harriers around the course supporting and marshalling and even though I couldn't take my eyes off the ground in front of my feet to see who you were, I heard all the shouts and they made a difference. So thanks to Chas, Joanne, Russell, Frances, Barry, Stuart, Maud, Stephen, Andrew,  and anyone else who I missed.

Puggled!

Following the international races there was an open 6km race in which Harriers Andrew McCaffery, Frances Maxwell and Chas Steven lined up in a field of around 80. By this time the weather was even worse and the course was completely churned up. Andrew finished a fantastic 10th in 23:26, Frances, running as a reserve for the Scotland team, ran 27:42 and Chas found the soft ground less stressful on his hip and finished in 34:37 (note that the age group categories for the open race are not all correct, as I am sure Frances would like me to point out!) Very well done to all for turning out on a day when it would have been easier to say no way! Thanks to Stepehen for the photos which show the conditions exactly as I saw them, blurred!

The day ended with a wonderful awards presentation dinner and ceildh in the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The SVHC organising committee did a fine job indeed.

Alan