Scottish National Masters Track & Field Championships

The Scottish Masters Track & Field Championships where held today ( Sunday ) at Grangemouth Stadium alongside the National 10k Championship and Junior relays. Stuart Waugh and Russell Couper went along for the 5k even though with such a high entry rate the schedule had moved this event to the evening and split it into 2 age categories. First up at 18.30 was Russell in the M35 to M55 race. With the timing of the event a lot did not turn up so we had 10 starters. Off we went and after the first full lap I was already half a lap down on the leading 6 with another 3 about 30m down on them. Oh dear the last few laps are going to be lonely. Never mind I was running it as a time trial anyway, The first few laps went well enough and my time was a little inside the schedule I set myself then disaster 3.5 laps in and my calf was causing a lot of concern not the one that had been bothering me for the last couple of weeks but the other one. Time to back off and just get round so my pace dropped by about 15-20 secs per lap. For anyone that doesn't know this is part of the SVHC run & become series and I was trying to get back in my age group lead. With 3 laps to go it wasn't as bad and I picked up about 10-15 secs per lap. Finished with 26.26 which was a minute faster than last year so not overly unhappy with that. Next up was Stuart at approx. 18.55. This was all other ages and it had a slightly larger turnout. They started just as I had finished so missed the first lap as I was making my way over the infield to the start point. By the time I picked up the race there was a lead of 2 with the rest spreading themselves out around the track. Stuart was looking fresh enough in the early laps and moving at a steady pace but as it moved into the last third he was starting to look a bit more stressed and it was obvious his recent injury was taking its toll. he kept working hard though and crossed the line in 20.39. He was a bit disappointed with this but probably more with the injury preventing him from pushing harder. A good eventfull day with lots of races to see or take part in. Non stop action and worth some other Harriers giving it a try in future years.