A double

Helensburgh 10k

Last Thursday saw the start of the 30^th running of the Polaroid 10k Road Race Series. I had entered, mainly for nostalgic reasons, before the announcement in February that the Vale of Leven Polaroid/Safila factory would close in 2017, only two years after celebrating it’s 50^th anniversary – an irony no doubt noted bitterly by the 107 affected staff whose jobs are being transferred to China. The organisers hope that this will not be the last in the series as a result of the loss of their title sponsor and I, for one, hope their optimism is justified.

779 runners lined up for the start just along the road from Hermitage Academy, an impressive new edifice since I last took part in this spring race. Being right in the middle of the most intensive part of my WHWR training I entered Troon and this series of four in an effort to keep up my speed (no, don’t laugh at the back!) during the week while piling on some miles at the weekends. So far I am feeling strong and yet still running decent times, for me, over the shorter distances.

Noteably the race starters were Lachie Stewart, the 1970 Commonwealth Games 10,000 metres gold medallist, local resident and, amazingly, still the Scottish record-holder for the distance along with Derek, the elder of the Hawkins siblings, recently named in the marathon squad for Rio later this year and third placed Briton at the recent London marathon.

Lachie Stewart and Derek Hawkins with air-horns at the ready

Having accidentally left my GPS at home (a habit I really must break) I once again ran on feel and from the start felt I was moving faster than my usual 10k pace. The only fly in the ointment came in the shape of the previously unnoticed westerly coastal breeze which slowed everyone down after the turnaround point at the 5k marker. Having genuinely thought I was heading for a sub-47 or thereabouts I was extremely disappointed to see 48 minutes plus on the clock as I approached the finish line in the school grounds.  

Having recovered a little I soon reasoned that sub-49 was still ok and well within my original target so there was no reason to beat myself up about it. Later at home I found out I had run 48:59, exactly the same as Troon last week! After checking I also noticed it was only 5 minutes more than my course best of fourteen years ago.

The men’s race was won by Paul Sorrie of Shettleston Harriers in a time of 32.27 and the female winner was Jennifer Wetton of Central AC in 36.35

Derek Hawkins from Kilbarchan AAC finished in 35.44 for 13^th place and oddly for a 10k race there would appear to have been two DNFs as there were only 777 finishers.

The spoils...

Loch Leven half marathon

Less than 48 hours later I lined up in a side street on an industrial estate in Kinross waiting the start of the Loch Leven half marathon. The weather forecast had been ok but cetainly did not predict the glorious day we were about to have. I set out for Fife with some extras due to said forecast including a cap, a pair of light weight gloves, a short sleeved tee shirt to wear under my harriers vest, a hoodie and even a beanie – certainly no extra water or suncream! Needless to say all of the above were left in the boot of the car as the day warmed up.  

Unusually I started at the back of the field, having been too busy chatting to a couple of ladies who had run the Southside Six last year (me chatting? I know, it’s unheard of) to notice the race was about to start. Consequently rather than being passed near the start I was mostly doing the overtaking for a change and, as a result of this unfamiliar situation, went through the first mile marker in 8.23, too fast for me, or so I thought. Despite actively trying to slow down the next two miles went by in 8.15 and 8.19 (you will have gathered by now that I remembered to bring my watch this time!) and so, realising I was feeling quite comfortable at this pace, decided to relax mentally, go with the flow and allow the chip timing to do it’s job (more on that later).  Time would tell how strong I was and how long I could keep up this pace. It also resulted in some unfamiliar mental arithmetic for the remainder of the event as I normally calculate how far under or over 9 minute miling I am at each marker - I haven’t had the opportunity to use my eight-times table for a quite a few years! 

Having had a light breeze in our faces for the first two and a half miles we turned east to find ourselves heading into a slightly stronger headwind along the southern edge of Loch Leven and it was along this three mile section we encountered the worst infestation of flies I have ever had the misfortune to run through. Way bigger than midges there were neverthless billions of the wee bandits getting into every available orifice. It must have looked quite comical to any passing motorists to see the various methods we had of coping with the blighters, runners trying to make progress while waving both hands in front of their face or running with one hand clamped tightly over mouth and nose or, in the case of one man, reduced to shouting at them!

Having survived the insect onslaught we again turned ninety degrees to head north towards Scotlandwell, a lovely wee village nestling at the south western corner of the Lomond Hills. I should perhaps point out here that no mountain rescue helicopters were spotted by this correspondent during the entire day! I should also say that I continued to make up ground through the field for the entirety of the race which was very satisfying, so much so that I may start at the back more often!

Sadly the field found themselves running into a wind which, once again, felt stronger than before which made the first proper wee climb of the day out of the village all the more arduous. You may be beginning to sense a theme here and, of course, ascending the road may have brought a smashing view over the Loch but also meant that the wind speed increased further. I consoled myself with the thought that we were bound to have the wind with us over the final few miles as the route turns steadily westward then veers south west. Yes, you’ve guessed already, the wind stayed against us all the way back to the outskirts of Kinross. I sense Loch Leven may have a lot in common with Loch Vennachar, see coach's previous post regarding circular winds.

Coming near the entrance to the High School I picked up the pace to overtake a number of runners over the final closing hundred yards or so and targeted one runner in particular, telling myself I could take him and then coast home to the line. What I hadn’t anticipated was someone else finishing even faster (an Irish lad who had passed me a few times but by now I thought I had dropped him) and overtaking ‘my’ targeted runner on the other side which resulted in my fastest finish-line sprint for many years. Ooooft, that hurt but I beat him - yesss!! 

Alison has done very well in capturing the finish on her mobile.    

If you follow the sequence of pictures you will see myself and the Irish lad gaining rapidly on the 'target'

then passing him on either side simultaneously

before leaving him trailing.

So overwhelmed was I by my competitive instincts over the closing last mile when I finally recovered enough to glance at my watch I was slightly stunned but mostly chuffed to bits to find I had come home in 1.49.34, finishing 206^th in a field of 492 - my fastest half marathon in five years (not counting Aviemore which is overall downhill) and only 29 seconds slower than my only previous run here all of nine years ago!

Gubbed but happy with my effort and about to be even happier when I look at my watch

The male race winner was David Limmer from Portobello RC in 1.14.11 and the female winner was Sheena Logan 1.25.28. A very poor effort from the timing company (DRT - Digital Race Timing), no club, only 30 results per page, slow and unresponsive website and to cap it all they posted gun times only, a mistake which still has not been rectified as I type this on Monday evening. Where is the point in wearing a chip? It may be time to go back to paper and pencil.

The race was just a part of the Kinross Festival which includes a Pipe Band competition, Highland dancing (the sight of which which took Alison back to being ten years old again!) craft stalls and a kiddies Fun Run. All in all a cracking day out, made even better by the weather and a great run.