Dechmont Law Trail Race

Runners often say that they would much prefer cross country races if they were in the Summer. Well this was your chance; the muddiest Summer race I have ever done. The Harriers returned in force to the Dechmont Law 10k Trail race after an absence last year due to a clash with the WHW relay. It was not necessarily a pleasant surprise to find out that Lothian Running Club had changed the course to add in the missing half mile that had given us all such impressive 10k times in previous years. The course now consisted of a small loop into and out of the forest, a medium loop into the forest and down towards the M8 and then the familiar big loop into the forest again, past the alien, down to and across the M8 and then along a slippy grass path parallel to the M8 before crossing the motorway again for the final, initially uphill kilometre to the finish. Thankfully the last 400m or so was downhill, allowing us all to finish in style.

The leaders were out of sight fairly quickly after the downhill start whilst Charlie McDougall and I settled into comfortable top ten positions. Having overcome the stress of my Garmin failing on the start line, within a km I had moved up to fourth place although I was soon relegated to fifth by a storming Hunters Bog Trotter. This is where I remained to the end (39:57) though I was expecting half the field to catch and pile past me in the second half when my legs turned to jelly at every slight uphill. I picked up the second vet prize (although second overall was also a vet). The race was won by Bellahouston Road Runners' Mark Johnston in 36:30. Charlie has been avoiding cross country races for a number of years due to an old foot injury and was expecting this to be a firm trail similar to Chatelherault underfoot, which it usually is. He was therefore pleasantly surprised to handle the mud and grass so well, despite wearing road shoes, and may now consider some cross country races with appropriate trail shoes come the winter season as he excels on the country. Charlie was classified as first ultra-vet and finished a fantastic 9th overall in 41:18. Surprisingly, Andy Henderson had never done this event before and hence wondered what sort of climb was coming up as he seemed to be running downhill for miles and miles from the start of the race. Despite having a tight chest, Andy  ran very well to finish second super vet in 20th position (44:47). Jim Holmes was next Harrier to finish and was able to confirm that the course was definitely longer than before, finishing in 45:04 in 23rd place.

Joanne McEvoy had a great run finishing in 45:50, which placed her 4th lady and 3rd senior lady, Scottish veteran international Sue Ridley knocking Joanne out of the prizes. Frances Maxwell, complete with fully functioning replacement Garmin, ran strongly to finish in 47:37, closely followed by Karen Allen (47:40) who was also a first timer at this event and admitted being taken by surprise by how soon the finish came (must have been the only one!) having way too much energy left at the end despite a fall in the mud with a few km to go. Joanne, Frances and Karen won the lady's team prize (the men had finished a close second in the men's team competition). The prize was a big, heavy box. But what did the box contain? Something tasty perhaps or something sparkly? See later for the answer.

George Stewart became ex-GPL, finishing next in a time of 48:26, some 9 minutes slower than his best time on the old, half mile shorter course, suggesting that he was running at only 18 minute mile pace (i.e. walking) for at least a half mile today! David Wardrope was not far behind George, completing the course in 50:56 whilst a minute or so later, Hugh Simpson ruined his road shoes and a new pair of socks to finish in 52:21. This was despite stopping to help a fellow runner who had fallen in the mud and broken his glasses against a tree. Well done Hugh. Encouragingly, Hugh was very close to his Ayr 10k time, suggesting that he has plenty of strength. Russell Couper did well to finish as he took a dizzy spell during the race forcing him to walk for much of the last 25 minutes to cross the line in 65:28. Hopefully nothing serious wrong with Russell.

And so to the lady's team prize. All I am saying is that we should have the most spotless, wrinkle free lady's team for the rest of the season!

Lady's Team Prize

More photos courtesy of Joanne here.
Alan