Linlithgow 10k

...Linlithgow we do not have a problem...certainly not with the weather. Having headed east on both Saturday and Sunday it looks like I found the best of the weather over the weekend.  In fact once I got going at Linlithgow it was quite mild for running although there was a head wind in places.

This race is becoming a firm fixture in my calendar each year with this now being the fourth time in five years I had run this so I was well aware of what to expect from the course.

This race starts in the high street. The start is a gradual incline up the road before turning right and heading across the M9 motorway.  This first part of the race is run on roads making it very wide and allowing for plenty of space for running (the high street is shut for about half an hour).  At about 1 mile in you have what can be compared to the 'Auldhouse dip' to contend with. From here you proceed through Linlithgow Bridge before working your way back to the top end of the high street. I would say that this is a gradual incline particularly as you approach the high street. At this point you are about 4K into the race. From here you head to Linlithgow loch and run round the perimeter of the loch (about 1k of the race is run around the loch). The surface at this point is trail and is narrow in places although I have never found it a problem though for overtaking. After exiting the loch side you head up a small hill and work your way round country lanes, similar to Auldhouse. This takes in about 1-1.5 miles. By which time you have worked your way around to the opposite end of the high street to which you started. The finish line is just off the high street, at the Peel, at the foot of Linlithgow Palace and beside the loch (opposite side to what you had run around).

Linlithgow Athletic Club do advertise this race as being undulating and quite challenging. It is a chip timed race and there is also a 2km kids race.

My finishing time was 41.38 (fourth female).

Julie