Report from Craig. For those of you who dont know, Dumfries is my home town and I have ran the half marathon twice before. They were both a disaster and resulted in two of my worst races, so I thought it was about time to go back and give it another go. With 42 miles in my legs from the previous weekend and a disappointing parkrun time the day before I settled into the front/middle of the pack on the start line. In my last couple of half marathons I have set off a bit quickly and felt like I suffered later in the race so today decided to go off at a steady pace, especially knowing the undulating nature of the course. By mile 3 I was sitting just outside the top 10. I was concerned about trying to race so quickly after such a long run the week before so thought this would be a good place to stay. Maybe it was my new trainers or maybe a moment of madness but I decided not to settle, to have a real go and see how close to the leaders I could get. The front three had set off at some pace and were nowhere to be seen. As I moved up to 8th I could see another group of three runners in the distance followed by the purple Bella vest of Brian Lamb in 7th. I knew Brian had ran well at the GSR so I would be doing well to get near him let alone those in front. Miles 4.5 – 6.5 are mainly uphill, some steep and some not so bad but I steadily chased down those in front. As they say, what goes up must come down and a nice 5:28 mile between 7-8 saw me move into 7th as one of the runners in the second pack dropped back. My legs felt really strong and any thoughts of fatigue from the River Ayr Way ultra were well out of my mind. By 9.5 miles Brian had caught up with the runners in 4th and 5th and I made an effort to move with him and we went by them together. At mile 10 I edged ahead of Brian. Having spent the whole race chasing other runners I suddenly found myself in 4th and became conscious that if I slowed slightly then those behind me were going strongly and I would drop back. Mile 10-11 had a few more uphill sections and I began to feel the first signs of tiredness. That soon disappeared though as I got my first glimpse of the runners in 2nd and 3rd – although they looked far too far ahead to catch. Mile 11 was a fast downhill mile, I could hear Brian’s footsteps behind me and knew I would have to push if I was to hold him off and take 4th place. Little did I realise we had both made up good time on the 2nd and […]
Monthly archives: September 2012
Report from Craig. All week at work I had been looking forward to a long lie in my bed so on Saturday 15th September when my alarm went off at 5am I was less then happy. Maybe the people at work were right, maybe I was mad. After all how else could I explain getting up at that time on a Saturday morning to go for a 41 mile run?! I dragged myself out of bed and after a quick shower and forcing down some food I headed down to the Citadel in Ayr. I collected my race number and boarded the bus along with another 80 or so runners which would take us to the start of the race. Eventually we arrived at Glenbuck and it felt like we had been dropped in the middle of nowhere. At 9 oclock the horn went and the race started. The first 5 miles or so were into a strong headwind along trail paths. I decided to set off at a steady pace and see how long I could hold it for. There were two runners just in front but I decided not to try and keep up with them and quickly I was on my own as the runners behind me were already a good bit back. I passed the first checkpoint with ease and felt great. I had been full of the cold a couple of weeks before and I felt like the extra time off was really going to benefit me. By 7 miles I had almost caught up with the two leaders, I could see them not too far in the distance but a wrong turn followed by a quarter of a mile scrambling through nettles, long grass and a burn that I could hear but not see due to the long grass (I know it was there as I fell in it a couple of times) meant that soon they were out of sight again! Miles 8 – 18 were almost like cross country underfoot. There was plenty of running through fields with mud up to my ankles and splashing through puddles. By mile 18 though I could see 2nd place again and passed him as we went through the checkpoint on a good road section at 19 miles. By mile 23 my legs were feeling heavy and I was beginning to struggle a bit. My times were still steady and I caught the race leader who was also struggling. I ran with him for a couple of miles but he was really struggling by this time and as as we ran/walked together we were overtaken by the eventual race winner. By mile 28 after negotiating my way through a section of bushes where the path had been washed away by a landslide, I decided that I had to run my own race and left the runner I had been with for the last few miles, his hip was in a bad way and to be honest […]
Report from Hamish Despite sounding like something out of the Channel4 sitcom ‘Father Ted’, the Craggy Island Triathlon is a tough but entertaining, sprint distance off-road triathlon set on the small island of Kerrera, just off the west coast of Scotland near Oban. Launched last year by Durty events (www.durtyevents.com, inventors of the now legendary ‘Celtman’ race) it was voted ‘Most Enjoyable Event’ in 2011 and sold out so fast this year that the organisers obligingly decided to host two races, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Having accidentally (ok, stupidly) entered on both days, I figured that if the ground was wet then the course would be easier on day 1, so Saturday it was. (Only Grant or Brendan would have done both days ) I duly turned up on the pier at Gallanach with supportive wife, all my triathlon stuff (technical term) and a broad range of other competitors, to catch the tiny ferry across to the island. The crossing takes the same route as the impending swim, and the excited tri-related chat dried up somewhat as the boat butted through the grey waves, taking much longer to cross than imagined. With slightly wobbly legs we arrived at Kerrera, registered at the tent and made our way to ‘transition’, in a big grassy field. The banter was soon flowing thick and fast again as we applied lube and struggled into wetsuits in the rain, and fought with the wind to lay out our kit in some sort of order (ok, heap). With wetsuits on, it was time to get the boat back to the mainland for the start of the race. The combination of the landing-craft style ferry and the apprehension in the air was reminiscent of the start of “saving Private Ryan”, but I’m pleased to say that the briefing and heckling on the pier was great and in no time we were in the sea warming up. (“16 degrees” the organiser said. “Farenheit?” came the reply.) With a blast of the hooter we were off, 170 blue caps churning our way back to the island. I hauled myself out of the water and up the jetty after about 11mins in 35th position – thankfully without any jellyfish encounters – and raced off towards transition. There is a granny gear on my bike so embarrassingly low that I feel I really shouldn’t use it, in case I get spotted by some ‘real’ Mountain bikers. By the first Km marker I think I had already used it about dozen times. A combination of muddy foot paths, quad tracks, open hillside and loose land rover tracks may sound like a playground to some, but it was a pretty stiff challenge for my non-cycle specific legs and tragic lack of mtb skills. Several climbs were so steep I had to get off and run, the descents an hilarious mix from untracked hillside to fast-as-you-dare farm track. The description of the ride on the website is “go out as fast […]
Report from Peter B. The day started early with an early morning text message from Australia to wish me luck, at 6:30am, it was appreciated but not necessarily the greatest timing. Although I have done various races in different locations, the Great North Run will always be special to me, since it is in my “home” city. Once the car was parked and bag dropped on the bus, I made my way down towards the muster points, still an hour until the race starts at this point. I stood and watched our very own Bryan Burnett interviewing various celebrities and Olympic athletes, Mo Farah was a notable high point, although he may need some development if he wants to excel as a motivational speaker! With half an hour to go before the race I was in my muster pen, soaking up the atmosphere and watching nearly 40,000 people doing the Mo-bot during the warm up. The elite runners were announced and set off and it was only a matter of time… Usually these race reports talk about being at the front of the race and judging pace well and managing to overtake the leader in the last half a mile. My race was similar to that, but in a way different. My pace was all over the place, as I was through 8 miles the leaders were already finished and even a third rate X Factor winner beat me. That said the reason I was there was not to win, I decided to do this race so that I could enjoy the atmosphere and run a steady race and still have something left at the end to produce a finishing burst, whilst enjoying the whole occasion. I got part of what I aimed for. The atmosphere was fantastic, and I made sure that I was always aware of the crowd around me and watching the faces of people shouting my name all the way down the course, I watched the red arrows fly over-head at 3.5 miles and I even chatted to a couple of Premiership referees, both wearing Newcastle United vests… First celebrity spot was Sian Williams from BBC Breakfast, closely followed by Sophie Rayworth, also from Breakfast. You will notice I have not mentioned the race or the running much thus far, I think the medical term is selective forgetfulness. I made good progress up until 10 miles, despite the undulating course and wet weather and I was still on target for a sub 1hr 40 time, however, at 10 miles someone had built a rather large wall, which it appears only I ran into. The next 3 miles were torture, I actually felt like I was running backwards. I fell in behind Iwan Thomas and tried to match his stride pattern, which I did for a mile and a half, but still things were not going well. The last 3 miles were probably at the right pace for 1hour 50 minutes or slower, but thankfully the first […]
Report from Grant Apologies in advance, this race report may be a bit on the long side. Since the race I have been putting my feet up resting a temperamental IT band so if I can’t run I might as well type about running. However if your time is precious the short version is- I ran around for 24 hours, it hurt quite a bit, it was surprisingly good fun. Long Version: (warning contains more toilet detail than really neccesary) I entered this race on a whim back in January after chickening out on entering the West Highland Way race. The idea of running for 24 hours seemed slightly ridiculous but the idea got stuck in my head and I figured why not give it a go- I’m not getting any younger. Cut to September the 1st and the idea didn’t seem any less ridiculous but at least I had had a pretty solid 8 months training including a pretty pleasing run at the Lakeland50 in July. Despite this I couldn’t get past the nagging thought that my longest run to date was under 9 hours and couldn’t really fathom how I would manage another 15. So I thought best not to think about it too much and just run. Elsie and I headed up to Inverness on friday night where we had a bit of a slap up meal courtesey of Elsie’s sister, and then a short drive over to Aviemore for the race on saturday morning. Pre race was was a bit hectic, getting weighed, prodded and various bodily fluids extracted for the research study that was being conducted at the race, so I was a bit flustered on the start line and it was a bit of a relief to finally get going. I set off at what I hoped was a comfortable pace chatting for a bit with Mike who I figured would be one of the front runners. However about halfway round the lap I had to drop back as my stomach started gurgling with the warning signs of an imminent bottom explosion. Fortunately there were portaloos at the end of the lap which saved me having to fertilise the beautiful Glenmore forest. Unfortunately the stomach problems didn’t end there and for a while I thought Ada might be counting my toilet visits as well as my laps. (4 poos in 4 laps, possibly a course record?). After the 4th lap things settled down and I managed to get into a nice rhythm. The course itself was lovely and varied. The 1st mile being a nice undulating twisty bit of single track which opens out into an open forest track for a mile, before turning on to a longish climb which was perfect for taking on food and then a nice descent back to the start. Plenty of variety meaning I never felt bored on the loop. About 6 hours in I caught back up with Mike and found myself in the slightly uncomfortable position of […]