Glasgow University Road Race

Twelve Harriers braved a classic case of sunshine and showers at the Glasgow University 5 Mile Road Race on Saturday afternoon. The Harriers all arrived at the GU Garscube Sports Complex with plenty of time to spare and I took the opportunity to do a partial lap of the course to test out my achilles tendon before deciding to enter the race. My return to the sports complex was met with a wave of disappointment as I declared myself fit to run and carefully calculated joker strategies were thrown into disarray. In the 20 minutes before the start, the weather switched from sunshine to sleety rain every 5 minutes, or so it seemed. As we gathered on the start line with the field of around 200, the rain was pelting down. Then the starter fired his gun and we were off on the uphill drive through the grounds of the vet school heading towards the (open) gate out onto the Switchback. A very fast initial pace split the field and by the time we crested the hill on the Switchback after a half mile we were descending straight into blinding sunshine, avoiding pot holes and lamp posts if you were lucky! A sharp left through the car jet wash (kept the shoes clean) lead us along the canal bank on Temple Road, climbing gently towards the Dawsholm Park incinerator and then a short sharp climb over the railway bridge before the welcome sight of the long descent down Dalsholm Road., certainly much easier to run down than it was to run up on the old course! The heavy rain meant that the course became a little bit cross-country at the bottom of the hill as several large, muddy puddles had to be negotiated before the steep climb onto Maryhill Road. A nice gentle descent along Maryhill Road towards the science park and the first of two laps was complete.

After being dropped by many of the field in the first half mile surge, I was able to work my way back up the field as the race progressed, not being passed by anyone but passing many, especially on the up-hill sections. I could see several known veterans and others who looked like they could be vets ahead throughout the race but eventually ran out of time to pull them all in, finishing 15th overall and 3rd vet in 28:44, happy with that although the achilles was immediately sore as soon as I stopped ("should have kept running then" was the most helpful suggestion I got). Meanwhile Eddie Reid had a stress free run, (at least it would have been stress free had the official results not shown Russell finishing significantly ahead of Eddie) in 32:12. Andy Henderson ran a well paced 33:09 despite two attempts by a fire engine to block his way into the sports complex on the final lap. Stuart Waugh experienced a recurrence of his knee pain, probably caused by the cold conditions, but fortunately the two lap format of the course made it easy for Stuart to drop out after one lap and hopefully not to do any lasting damage. Julie Beveridge ran an absolute stormer with a massive negative split, toying with George Stewart for the first lap before taking off on the second lap, passing a startled Jim Holmes at great speed with a half mile to go and finishing in 33:49. Jim Holmes managed to recover in the final 200m and closed in on Julie to finish in an identical time of 33:49 but just behind Julie. George Stewart again ran a good paced race to finish in 35:00, just ahead of Joanne McEvoy (35:02) who had a much better race today. Billy Buchanan made his debut in this event, recording 35:35 whilst dealing with the pressure of not wasting the two jokers he had been advised to play. David Wardrope was next to finish in 36:00, just in sight of Hugh Simpson (37:56). Russell Couper was the only man to finish the race twice and his second (real) time was recorded as 43:48. I am sure Russell will ensure that there is some extended discussion of which of the two official times he recorded is correct!

Well done to all on good performances on this blustery day. I had never run this two lap version of the course before and I was pleasantly surprised at what a nice course it was with no traffic issues and a good mix of ups and downs. The organisation by the GU Hares & Hounds was excellent (except for the microscopic entry form which was giving most of us older runners a few problems to read) and the course was well marshalled.

Grand Prix updated: Andy Henderson stretches his lead in the GP and moves to the lead of the scratch championship for the first time. Meanwhile Julie Beveridge now draws level with Frances Maxwell in the GP and increases her lead in the scratch championship.

Alan