SVHC Glasgow 800 10km Road Race - Pollok Park

Having not raced since the Stirling Marathon in May and with the trial for the Scottish team for the British & Irish Masters Cross Country only a month away, I thought I had better start knocking the rust off the legs and lungs and try to get myself race fit. The starting point would be the Scottish Veteran Harriers Glasgow 800 (I don't what that means) 10k road race in Pollok Park on Sunday 13th August.

The forecast suggested it would be showery and indeed there were some spots of rain on the windscreen as I drove towards Glasgow. However, by the time I parked up at Cartha Rugby Club in Pollok Park, the sun was splitting the pavement. So it was just as well that we were not going to be running on any pavements this year as the race director announced that the course had changed slightly since last year as Glasgow City Council (for health and safety reasons) were no longer allowing the race to use the section of pavement along Haggs Road towards the entrance to the park at Haggs Castle Golf Club. This year the course would be exactly 3 laps of a course entirely on the traffic free paths within the park. For those familiar with the Pollok Park parkrun, the course used various parts of that course, particularly the hilly bits. This was actually a better course as you knew precisely what was coming after the first lap and did not have the final lap diversion onto the main road/pavement as last year. It did mean that the final km was uphill rather than flat but on a course that was extremely hilly, another hill did not make any difference.

Five Harriers lined up (Frances Ferguson, Geo Ferguson, Stuart Waugh, Russell Couper and myself) and with only 40 competitors on the startline, the Harriers made up more than 10% of the field as they did at Islay the weekend before! The race started downhill through the dappled sunlight on the main tree lined path through the middle of the park before looping back up the hill after a km or so and veering into the area known as the glade, where the big climbs start. Eventually we emerged back onto that main drive and ran through the arch at the main gate before doing a 180 degree turn around some cones to head back through the arch and a km uphill back to the start/finish line for the next lap. The leader took off (Josef Farkas, Stirling University) at the start and disappeared. I was in a pack of about 6, including Scottish International and world masters record holder Fiona Matthieson. When the going got tough on that first lap, half of that pack faded backwards and I found myself drifting slowly back from third place Luke Chamberlain but reasonably safe in 4th. With the U turns at either end of each lap, I was able to see that my position was becoming gradually safer with each lap and I was able to maintain a very constant effort. I could also see that Stuart was the next Harrier and, after a fast start, Geo had dropped back behind Frances. As I neared the end of the last lap, I caught Russell at the end of his second lap and put in a bit of an effort for 1k uphill to the finish. Having avoided numerous dogs and prams throughout the race, in the final 20m I nearly lost a game of dodge the Dalmatian as I swerved one way and then the other to avoid this off the lead spotted dug, kind of spoiling my attempt at a long, sustained acceleration to the line.

The winner was out of sight, finishing in an impressive 33:05. I finished 4th overall and first M50 (for which there is a trophy) in a time of 37:22 with one M35 and two M40's ahead of me. Stuart Waugh (a previous winner of the M50 trophy back in 2004 I see) was next Harrier in a time of 45:05 and first M65. Frances and Geo remained close throughout and finished in consecutive positions in 45:48 and 46:05 respectively. Russell was pleased to finish significantly faster than last year despite the heat and despite the uphill finish, crossing the line in 58:52. Well done to all.

The race gave me a good indication of where my fitness is just now and I do need a few more races before the trial. Next one on the cards for me is the Killin 10k, another tough one and then the National Trail Race. The SVHC races are great little races with a good level of competition for the veterans among us (and only a £2 entry fee for SVHC members, £5 for non-members).
Alan