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I have it from a good source that this race was described on Monday, in a Spanish newspaper, as a ‘ great race in windy conditions’.The journalist has obviously never been to Greenock !!! This is a fairly flat, well organised race (apart from the number of porto loos !) but who cares when there is a local park nearby. Don’t know how many runners there were but it wasn’t too congested at the start with the run taking the shape of a figure 8 through the wide boulevards of the city, finishing where we started. I made the trip with three ex Bellas – Anne Marie, Frances and liz and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. The only incident was me tripping over a bollard at 12k, falling flat onto the road and completing the race with blood pouring down from both knees, hands and elbows- it is the first time I have done a negative split in a race- well worth it !! Shona   Photo https://www.flickr.com/photos/ok-apartment/12844126063 by www.flickr.com/laiabuira  

A great way to add an extra element to running is to give races, events or challenges a shot that you’ve not taken part in before. The Kirky 12.5k is certainly a unique – as far as I can tell – race distance. Having heard many great things about this event, I figured it was high time to give the event a shot last Sunday, 14th Feb. Number collection at the primary school had me briefly pondering how good it’d be if all running events used primary schools for registration: The fantastic posters and art projects on the walls a pleasant start to the day, and reminder of primary school times, and then the small tables, chairs and facilities offered a pre-run comedy experience: I’m sure parents attending PTA meetings will probably feel differently! To the event itself, and the main challenge was going to be the underfoot conditions on this undulating course. A sharp dip in temperatures on a clear night meant lots of scraping to get cars ready, and snow on the hills as we approached pretty much told us what to expect. Sure enough a large expanse of ice in the start area outside the school. But the sun, and vigorous attempts to clear away the worst of it by volunteers made it safe to start, but out on the course itself constant vigilance was required by participants to avoid expanses of ice mostly caused by runoff from fields where the sun hadn’t quite reached. For me, with the Balloch to Clydebank half marathon my principle target just now, I’d decided I’d aim for Half marathon effort (if not pace; I had no idea what the hills would be like!). Largely managed to stick with that plan, and settled in with a group of runners running from Springburn and Maryhill Harriers for the first 6k or so, but – surprisingly for me at least – started to build out a bit of a lead on them after the large hill (reminiscent of the gradient on the steeper parts of the Sherbrooke Hill loops, just several times longer!) coming out of Kirkintilloch for the return leg. I was myself soon passed by Michael Lancaster running an excellently paced, and surely negative split effort: he quickly eased away I and only just managed to keep him in my sights through the second half, even as I struggled to remember whether there was an uphill or downhill section around each corner as we traced our route back to the start. A total of five Bella’s took part. Michael was first Bella home in 54:26. I was pleased with my time (55:17), pretty much spot on my HM target pace, then Paul McGunnigle (57:18), Terry Nimmo (69:16) and Lynn Reid (75:50) completed the Bella field. First runner home was James Stewart of Victoria park, City of Glasgow in a time of 45:41, and first lady Joanna Murphy of Carnegie Harriers in 49:28. Full results online at kirkintillocholympians.co.uk. A Strava segment for the […]

I really wanted to do the Dublin marathon. Seeing as it is the home city and I remember being brought in as a child to watch my Dad and uncle run it, I thought if I only do one more marathon, that’s the one it’ll be. So I signed up. With only three months to go. Not ideal preparation time. But I had an ok base and looking at the calendar, I could just about fit in the long runs and a few build up races. But then life got in the way and as it happened, by the time it came to taper I had only done 16 miles as my longest run. Eek! So I was a bit anxious heading into it not properly trained. Lining up at the start, I was helped keep calm by a man’s voice over the tannoy. I don’t know who he was but I was enthralled by his ramblings over motivation, pride, inspiration, personal bests, descriptions of the crowd, such as people wearing “high-falutin lycra suits”, musings over what brought people here, in all shapes and sizes, the great and the good, the veterans and the first-time, on and on like a priest saying mass. Such a lovely experience and in stark contrast to the usual high energy pop that’s belted out at race starts. He called it “an emotional experience in a material world”. We got an indian blessing of “Namaste” then a garda sang the national anthem. It was all very surreal and I loved it. Off we went through the streets of Dublin and it was wonderful to see city landmarks and old haunts from this perspective. The route starts on south side of city centre, heads past Christchurch cathedral and onto the quays of the River Liffey. Crossing over to the north side and into the Phoenix Park. A great expanse of autumnal views across Europes largest city park. All along was great support and crowd energy. There are some gradual hills but nothing severe. The route exits and enters the park again, down into the liffey valley and back across south side. It crosses the canal and loops through residential areas, taking you back to the city centre finish. It was a very well organised race with plenty of water stops (flip top bottles) and Lucozade and energy gels at the latter stops. Easy bag drop and start area, but not so easy to find travel information on the website. The crowds were really amazing. I have never experienced anything like it. Very funny shouts and signs. Lots of “Fair play to ye” and “yizzer great” and my favourite “Yer not really bollixed, ye only think ye are!” I optimistically thought I might get 3:45 if I kept it under 8 and a half minute miles, which I did easily for the first half, then I slowed down after that and struggled to get back up to pace. I was scoffing the energy gels too which I […]