Balloch to Clydebank half Marathon

Well with the recent weather weve had today was probably the nearest to perfect weve had for a while. 8 Harriers ended up taking part and with a bus trip to the start we arrived on a variety of buses except Martin as he missed the last bus and had to drive to Balloch for the start. Fortunately a good friend that runs a similar time offered to bring him back later for it. 9am and were all lined up 370 starters which meant quite a congested first 500metres or so. After this point I could feel my hamstring as we had hit an slight incline and found I was hobbling a bit to relieve the pressure and watch all the Harriers go by except Andy Buchanan who was already well away. Onto the flat and everything going ok as long as I don't try to push the pace. The course takes you from Balloch through Alexandria and Renton which is about 4miles of straight road. At 4m the road climbs to go under the dual carriageway and onto country roads. Ouch back to a hobble on that climb. By now the rest of my clubmates were well out of sight and it was just a case of trying to keep within my target of 2.10. Into Dumbarton and 5miles done then onto Crosslet rd where the Dumbarton 10k starts.

Onto the cycle path and 6miles although according to my garmin it was 5.85 then at 7 it was showing 5.81. Starting to think the course may be short. Relieved at 8miles the marker and my garmin were in sync. Oh no here comes the climb to the roundabout Ouch again. Im now into territory ive not ran since Brampton and the pace is slowing but just a little and the hamstrings struggling on the flat if I try to go faster. Through Bowling and a couple of little ups and downs followed by the biggest climb on the course between Bowling and Old Kilpatrick boy did that hurt. Through 10 miles and some water then an almost flat run for home except a little climb at 12m. Into territory ive not ran since Islay 2013 and the pace dropping some more (hanging in a bit) but glad to run the whole way as I suspected I might need to stop and stretch a few times today. Crossed the line in 2.09.02 (official chip time) in 333 place. How did the rest do well heres the official chip times and places. A Buchanan 19th 1.17.10, M Howell 106th 1.30.47 3 mins faster than his last half, A Henderson 112th 1.32.25, J Holmes 165th 1.37.58, B Buchanan 216th 1.44.29, J McBride 231st 1.46.22, Sandy Hayden making her debut in a Half Marathon 271st 1.54.05 then myself as mention above. Great days running and thanks to Jim Mearns and Ruth Kelly for being out on the course.

Maybe Andy B could drop me a report about the front of the race and I will add this to give a different perspective on the race.

Thanks to Ruth for the photos taken out on the course. Everyone features somewhere in this gallery.