British & Irish Masters Cross Country International - Tollcross Park

Mild, dry weather returned to Glasgow just in time for Saturday's British & Irish Masters Cross Country International, much to the relief of the SVHC organising committee and all the competitors. Tollcross Park looked absolutely magnificent in its Autumn colour scheme and more to the point, the course remained relatively firm under foot. Although there would be no chance of the sunburn experienced during the team trial back in September, we really couldn't ask for better conditions in November in Scotland.

This is the race that I always feel under most pressure; not because I have any chance of winning it (I don't) but because it is the only race for which masters athletes in the UK are selected to run in. For all other national, district or regional championships on road, track or country, you pay your money and you run if you want to. The pressure comes from wanting to be one of the 4 from 6 to count in the team but mostly from knowing that all 30 runners in the M50 field are among the best in their country (Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland) so there is a very real chance of finishing last if you are even slightly off form. Naturally I went into the race carrying a cold that I had not been able to shift for several weeks despite taking 3 days off the week before just to add to the uncertainty. There was no doubt that I had been in great form earlier in October but I was a bit down on that form now. However I would give it everything as always.

The nominally 8km course was a 4 lapper on a grass surface with a mixture of undulations, hills and faster flat sections. The start is downhill for 100m or so before turning left and I immediately gravitated towards the middle of the field for an attempt at a cautious first lap. The field remained quite tightly packed for the first lap and I established a position behind two of my M50 team mates. By the start of the second lap I was feeling shakier and dropped about 10m back behind Jim Buchanan, a gap which he gradually extended through laps 2 and 3. A Northern Ireland M50 runner dropped back between us and as points make prizes in this team event, beating him became my objective for the race. After briefly passing him on lap 2, he got past me and established a 2 or 3 meter gap which I struggled to close until the climb at the end of lap 3 where I cruised up to his shoulder. Although he passed me again on the downhill start to lap 4, as soon as it flattened I passed again and was actually feeling stronger than on laps 2 and 3. When we reached the flat section around the perimeter of the baseball pitch, I focused on smooth, relaxed running and became less aware of the runner behind, suggesting that I was pulling away.

For the week before the race I had decided that my strategy for the final 200m (150m uphill followed by 50m downhill) was to really hurt any nearby opposition on the 150m climb and to avoid a 50m head to head sprint for the line at all costs (I usually lose those). The final effort really started about 400m out but as I made the 180 degree turn onto the final climb I dug deep and kept the effort going all the way up and over the hill and down to the line. A glance through my legs (I was bent over double after crossing the line!) confirmed that I was well clear of the N. Ireland athlete so the tactic had worked and the next M50 runner in front of me was my team mate Jim Buchanan. My finishing time was 27:44, exactly 2 minutes faster than in the trial (although my Garmin got the course at about 500m shorter somehow; I think the first corner was a bit closer in to the centre of the field) so I was happy with the performance. Indeed, after the first quarter lap, I did not lose any positions confirming that I paced it much better than last year in Dublin where I was losing places continuously in the second half. However, the final results showed that I was only 18th out of 30 in the M50 race so nowhere really. The first 4 counters in the Scottish team were Stan McKenzie 27:08 (15th), Jim Buchanan 27:31 (17th), me 27:44 (18th) and Denis Williams 28:25 (25th) which unfortunately left us in last place. Our 4 counters were all finished before the 4th Welsh runner but Wales had superstar veteran runner Austin Davies in 3rd place overall which kind of wiped our score out.

What helped to make this day even more special was the enthusiastic support from Harriers and friends around the course. So thanks to Frances, Alison, Rebecca, Russell, Martin, Neil, Charlie, Stuart, Maud, Louis, Andy and many others who I heard cheering me on all around the course. Photos are by Frances and Martin.
Alan