DAAA Clydebank 10 Mile Road Race

Sunday 19th March

My last race report was pre-Covid so probably time for another!

This race evolved from the Balloch to Clydebank half marathon but this time it’s an out and back from the new Clydebank Leisure Center (in a new location from the old one as I found out this morning). However it gives it a good base with plenty of parking, toilet and changing facilities.

They make the most of the canal paths along the Clyde which keeps it almost entirely traffic free and scenic to boot. I was there early and picked up my number without any delay but the queue built up and some people must have been starting to worry as it approached start time. There’s a 100m or so between the start and finish as we set off along the Clyde walkway. As with all Clydeside races, running westwards is likely to be into a headwind and today was no exception. It was biting. There are a couple of twists and turns to get from the walkway to the canal path then it’s a straight route to Bowling. At miles 5 to 6 there’s a loop which has a few short climbs but nothing like the Brampton hill. Then its back the way you came and finally onto the walkway and a finish at the leisure center. Almost all flat this is a good course for a time if the wind and weather play ball.

There was suppose to be a goodie bag but this turned out to be a bottle of water and a buff. If you were a size 6 lady you got a t-shirt. I’m assuming this was because they had some left rather than a form of discrimination against us medium sized men !! The chip timing was a company called Protay who I hadn’t heard of before. There was no on-site printer for that wee receipt thing you get but to be fair the results were available on line very quickly.

From memory the race fee was £16 so maybe a wee bit steep although there were plenty of marshals along the way.

From my own perspective this wasn’t the best day at the office. I wasn’t expecting anything major but was a bit disappointed with my chip time of 70:04. I was OK at the turn but with hindsight the split being 40s to the good on my target time of 70 mins was maybe a bit much given the headwind for most of the way out. I had a really bad spell at 11/12/13km and knew my splits were off. Rather than look at the elapsed time and realise that I could get back on track I sort of resigned myself to missing 70 mins by a good chunk. I rallied a bit on the last couple of km but to find out I missed it by 4 seconds was galling. That said I was 42s off Brampton on a less hilly course ( I still find it hard to believe Brampton is downhill)

The race was won by Daryl Reid of EKAC in 51:24. First lady was Lesley Bell of Gascube Harriers in 59:11.

I was 12th MV50 and 88th overall. Results show 217 finishers of the 300 limit

Anyway it’s a good course and hopefully it will continue as it’s a good tester even if not racing it flat out.

Stephen