SUNSHINE ON TOM SCOTT 2017

Sunday 2nd April was the 55th Tom Scott Memorial road races incorporating a 10 mile road race and Round the Loch 6k within Strathclyde Park in Motherwell. This was the second Sunday in a row the Harriers were out competing and this event was the 10th Grand Prix event replacing the Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon (this year only because of ongoing refurbishment works on the Playdrome). This event also incorporated the Scottish Athletics 10 mile championship.

Calderglen's 2017 Tom Scott squad

Sunday again brought great weather to run the course with early temperatures at about 9c increasing to 12c during the race which brought mixed fortunes to all.  12 Harriers were running at this years event all for a mixture of reasons from competing in the Grand Prix, testing fitness & race performance and getting threshold miles under the belt to bolster marathon preparations. Personally I was a bit of all three reasons and that I like racing this distance which is unique in the running calendar.

 

After a short warm up I got myself ready and close to the start line to give myself a clear start in a field of 377 runners for the 10 mile race and 66 for the 6k. Both events were starting at the same time. As the race started I was behind junior Harrier Chris McCarron who went off at a blistering pace and left me for dust I continued to move along swiftly to get clear of any bumping into other runners. Before the first mile both Kay and Kenny went by me with ease chasing down Jim and as I was approaching the point I ran my warm up to I glanced at my Garmin which said I was under 6 mins as opposed to 7 mins in my warm up so I slowed down the pace at this point with Andy Henderson joining me.

 

Richard within the last 2 miles

Both Andy I preceded to run with each other from end the of mile 1 to mile 3 hitting the first of a few climbs together and Karen Allen joined us at this point. Onto mile 4 and the biggest climb on the course and legs were feeling heavy after my maintenance massage at Grant's the day before Andy pulled away from me as I did Karen. Between mile 4 and 5 Gordon was hot on my heels with Paul Rooney not far behind but after mile 5 the course was flatter and again I pulled away comfortably increasing my pace from mile 5 to 7 from 7.34 to 7.23. At this stage of the race I found myself running along side Maddy Watson from Strathearn Harriers and we were keeping each other going matching stride for stride. At about mile 8 the paths around the park were a bit narrower so Maddy got ahead of me as we passed runners and pedestrians and I struggled to bridge the gap.  So at this point I just got my head down and mentally pushed through any physical pain I was feeling.

 

Towards the end of the race my target was Maddy and I could see I was closing in on Andy Henderson who I knew has been trying to through off lingering cold symptoms but on a race day you take advantage of these weaknesses.  So even though I was tiring I did my best to maintain my pace for the last 2 miles closing in as much as I could. Both Andy and Maddy finished within a whisker of each other with Andy at (1:13:40) and Maddy at (1:13:41). My official time of the day was (1:14:09) giving me a 27 second Pb from my Pb I got at Brampton last year.

 

Kenny taking on Giffnock North runner

After looking at the results there was other Harriers who did good performances. Jim Holmes was first male Harrier home in (1:11:00) followed swiftly by Kenny Leinster in (1:11:28) achieving a M55 Bronze standard and Stuart Waugh achieved a M65 Gold standard with a time of (1:13:03). Fourth Harrier home was Andy Henderson who achieved a M60 Bronze standard. With Richard fifth in the finishing order Paul Rooney was next in (1:15:13), Gordon McNally not far behind achieving an absolute Pb over the 10 mile distance by 26 seconds in (1:16:28). Last male Harrier of the day was Russell Couper in a time of (1:36:56). Even though it was slower than his Brampton time he has been recovering from the cold which has stalled his marathon training but he finished looking strong and can only help him when the London Marathon comes round in the next 3 weeks.

 

Kay smiling all the way to the finish

Not to forget the Ladies who performed equally as well as the men. First female Harrier home was Kay Conneff in a fantastic time of (1:12:28) which I am not sure if it is a Pb but certainly she achieved F40 Bronze standard and Frances Ferguson was next home in a time of (1:16:33) which despite not being at her best achieved a F50 Silver standard. Karen Allen continues to make a good comeback with her first race since the National XC in February and juggling family life achieving (1:18:25) and last but not least Sandy Hayden continues to run with determination and enthusiasm getting a time of (1:27:01) which was 3:58 quicker than Brampton. So I assume it could be an absolute Pb.

 

I mentioned at the start of the report we had junior Harrier Chris McCarron out competing in the 6k event.  Chris was 4th Under 17 runner finishing in a time of (25:44) in a mixed field of 66 runners. Hopefully it won't be too long before he joins the ranks of the Seniors.

 

Please note the references to Performance standards might need to be confirmed by Alan just in case I have interpreted the Performance tables in correctly.

 

We had many supporters out there today with Stuart's wife Maud, Mark Saez and son Patrick and Allison Lessells who was on photography duty. Thanks to all and apologies if I missed anyone out. More pictures from Alison are on the club FB site and the http://www.thatonemoment.co.uk/tom-scott-road-races .

No rest for the Harriers as some members are back out next week at Grangemouth 10k and I am sure hoping for 3 in row with another good Sunday full of sunshine.