British & Irish Masters Cross Country International, Dublin

Turning 50 earlier this year and an encouraging return to better form than I have had for 2 or 3 years gave me all the motivation I needed to aim for selection for the Scottish M50 team for the annual British & Irish Masters Cross Country International. This year's event was to be hosted by the Irish Masters Athletic Association in Dublin on Saturday 14th November. A good series of results in various championship and veteran races through the Summer did the trick and I happily received the e-mail in the first week of September confirming selection for the M50 team of 6. I had two and a half months to continue working on the fitness, staying injury free and staying healthy; the first one is easy, the second two are always a bit of lottery with me as time would eventually prove!

In the month leading up to the race a calf strain held me up for a week or so and then two weeks of overseas work travel involving a total of 10 flights of seemingly predominantly ill people brought on the runny nose. However, I was generally in not too bad shape when I got the early morning flight over to Dublin on Friday 13th. I had checked into a nice airport hotel which was only 2 miles from the race venue, providing a perfect pre-race day of relaxation (aka power naps) and a stress-free, 2 mile jog to the race course for the first stage of the warm-up.

Pre-race, already soaked.

Although Friday was a beautiful but windy sunny day in Dublin, the tail end of hurricane Abigail was due to make race day very unpleasant. Unfortunately the forecast was accurate and I woke to the sound of wind and rain lashing against the room window on Saturday morning. Nothing we are not used to though. Following a relaxed breakfast, I got changed into the Scotland kit, which thankfully included the full waterproof jacket and trousers, and set off at 9:45 for a relaxed jog along the dead straight road from the airport to Santry Park to meet up with the rest of the team, get my number and pose for the official team photo at 10:30. As is often the case, the weather seemed worse from inside than it actually was when I was outside although it was definitely windy and it was definitely raining. It was the perfect warm-up run though on a billiard table smooth cycle path which took me straight to the park. By the time the Scottish team of about 100 (ages 35 to 75+, men and women's teams) had lined up and the photographs were taken, the warm-up was history and I was frozen. The race HQ Crowne Plaza Hotel was on the edge of the park, so I plonked myself down on a comfy chair in reception there for another hour to continue a warm-up and dry-out of the static kind.

Mid-race MUD

As the M50 to M60 8km race was due off at 12:20, I stayed inside until about 11:45 and then headed out for a more intense warm-up and to get the spikes dirty. This wasn't difficult as the rain continued to pour and the first race (women and M65+ men) was already churning the 2km lap up considerably. It was whilst doing my final few, vigorous strides at about 1200 that I heard the shout "come on Alan Derrick!" and turned round to see a drookit but smiling Frances and Geo. They had secretly organised a day drip to Dublin to support me and I was absolutely delighted and very surprised to see them. A few photos and laughs later and it was time to head for the start line. I opted (wrongly) to keep the long-sleeve top on under my vest as I was still cold.

The field lined up 3 deep and about 30m wide and the race started right on schedule. This was my 5th Scottish masters selection and I had run this course 2 times previously (M40 and M45) so I knew that the course narrowed after the first 250m and establishing a good position from the start was important. I went fast from the start and was sitting just outside the top 10 when we hit the first turn. Unfortunately I had forgotten (age related) that this was a very sharp turn across a steep, and now very muddy downhill bank and I was going too fast to make the turn. Fortunately one of my Scottish team mates had just arrived on my outside at this point and I was able to bounce off him and around the corner! We were now on the first of 4 x 2km laps and it was a sea of mud already. I was also over-heating and regretting the top under my vest.

Still moving well at the end.

There was not much to say about laps 1 to 3 as I paid for my fast start, literally slipping back places rather too regularly. My plan was to try to gather some strength and make a charge on the last lap. This wasn't really much of a plan given the quality of the field but I did at least re-take one or two places on the last lap and was able to finish strongly when we hit the finishing straight which was off to the side of the lap and mud-free.

I crossed the line in 30:06 as third Scottish counter with four to count for the team but in 24th position overall. Although disappointed with my overall position and pace judgement, comparing with my time from 5 years ago, I later saw that I was only about 30 seconds slower, which, given the mud this year and my age, was quite satisfying.

After a few more team photos, I soon found Frances and Geo again and we decided that the best post-race cool down would be in the hotel bar. I changed back into the Scotland waterproofs in the hotel toilets and warmed myself up by sticking my head under the hot air hand dryer for a minute or so (this running for your country thing is not as glamorous as you might imagine). Frances and Geo soon had the drinks lined up (hot chocolate for me and a pint and a half pint of Guinness for Geo and Frances). The bar was absolutely mobbed with team members and supporters and it was still only just after 1pm! After an hour, it was time for me to attempt the 2 mile run back to my hotel for a shower and to leave Frances and Geo to perhaps take a trip into Dublin or to continue enjoying the bar before they headed back to the airport for the evening flight home.

Definitely done.

The event dinner and prize giving was back in the Crowne Plaza at 7pm and was quite a lavish but drawn out affair given the number of age categories to which medals would be awarded. As I was on a 4:30am Sunday start to catch the first flight back to Glasgow followed by a drive to Brampton, I bailed out as soon as the prize giving finished at 11pm. However, not before I saw many of the Scottish team in other age categories pick up many silver and bronze medals. No golds this year unfortunately but some impressive individual and team performances.

It is a great honour to run for your country and there is no doubt that I actually enjoy the stress of the weeks building up to the race and the whole competitive atmosphere on the day and, as a racer since school boy days, racing in a Scotland vest is a great feeling. It is even better when I have the support of our great club and I could not thank Frances and Geo enough for their surprise support (and all the photos you see here).

Next year Scotland host the event in Tollcross Park and I will be striving for selection again on home soil (or more likely mud). There are certainly other Calderglen Harriers who should be putting themselves in the frame for selection too, so let's do it. You quite literally are never too old for this event!
Alan