Pollok Park 10k

7th August 2009

10k Results | Photos | Series results

The final race in this week's Tour of Clydeside 4-race series.

I started the race comfortably in 2nd place in the series, with no real possibility of gaining or losing a place. The race began with a quick sprint out onto the main road for the first clockwise circuit of Pollok Park.

I ran with or just behind Chris Devenney, the series leader until just before we turned back into the park at 2km, but then I droppped off the back of the front 4 runners - Chris, Daniel Bradford, Alun Myers and Denis Williams - and felt a bit stranded and worn out as I ran through the park on my own, just waiting to be caught.

I kept catching glimpses of Bellahouston vests just behind me, but it wasn't until we were back on the main road that Bryan Burnett finally made his move and went past. This strangely took the pressure off and I found I could just relax and follow him back around and into the park again.

Once we hit 8km I began to surge the pace and tried to pull away. I could see we were gaining on Denis and Alun, so I repeatedly tried to drive the pace to bridge the gap to Denis, and each time Bryan was responding. Once we got to 9.5km I was working really hard and couldn't tell if I'd dropped Bryan or not when suddenly Gerry Scullion came past, which totally surprised me. I let Gerry go, then spontaneously reacted and realised I'd just overtaken him with 250 metres to go and was closing fast on Denis Williams, but not really knowing where the finish line was.

I just failed to catch Denis, but held off Gerry and Bryan, so I was pleased enough to finish 5th, given it was my 4th race of the week! My time was somewhere around 36:10, and Ellie had a good run to finish around 40:34 as 2nd female in the series behind Ruth Joss.

Well done to the Tour of Clydeside organisers for providing a week of top class entertainment.

Photos courtesy of scotjem

Dawsholm 5k Trail Race

6th August 2009

Results

Race no.3 in the Tour of Clydeside 4-race series.

I started this race with a 27 second lead over Chris Devenney, following the first 2 races at Kilbarchan and Clydebank. I started fast and tried to track Chris, but he kicked away on the first climb and drove away the entire race, and was soon out of sight on the twisty hilly course around the woods in Dawsholm Park.

I held onto second place on the initial short lap, but on the first long descent John Bell of Springburn went past, and a little later Paul Thompson of Helensburgh got a yard or two in front.

I planned to close down Paul on the third and final lap, but discovered the tank was empty, and finished 19 seconds adrift in 4th place in 19:21.

Just one race left now. Tomorrow night's 10k featuring 2 laps of Pollok Park.

Photo courtesy of Ian Goudie

Clydebank 7.52km Canal Towpath Race

4th August 2009

Race and Series Details | Results

The second race of this week's Tour of Clydeside 4-race series.

A small field of 41 runners gathered at the bandstand near Clydebank shopping centre.

I felt pretty wasted after gutting myself last night, so there was no way I setting off fast this time. Instead I ran more or less co-operatively to the first turn at just over 2km with Chris Devenney, Paul Thompson and Alex Chalmers. Soon after the turn Chris opened up a decisive gap, which never closed. I didn't have the energy to chase so I battled along with Paul, trying not to get dropped into 3rd place.

As we passed back through the start/finish area I was still neck and neck with Paul, with Chris ahead and Alex now dropped. I had to dig deep on the stretch of loose gritty towpath leading to the second turning point, counting down the minutes. We turned at exactly 21 minutes, with Paul right on my heels, so I figured there was just over 5 minutes to go, and time to start ramping up the pace.

I kept on turning the screw a notch at a time, expecting Paul's footsteps behind me to fall away, but no matter how much I accelerated Paul kept on coming. As soon as I could see the brown brick buildings I threw everything into the finish, with Paul still only a second behind. My time was 26:37 which gave a pace of 3:32/km, so 3 seconds per kilometre slower than yesterday, but the route was more twisty and slightly undulating here and there, and on a looser surface in places.

Ellie did well to finish as 3rd lady, and really not that far behind the first 2 women from Helensburgh and Giffnock.

Photos courtesy of Kenny Phillips

Kilbarchan 8.75km Cycle Path Race

3rd August 2009

Results | Photos | More photos

The first race of this week's Tour of Clydeside 4-race series.

A fairly small field of 50 runners gathered on the disused railway line at Kilbarchan. I decided to set off pretty fast and then try to hang on. Within a couple of minutes I had opened up a lead where I couldn't hear any footsteps behind me, but I knew that this wasn't a pace I could sustain for the next 8km, so I backed off a fraction and allowed a young runner in orange vest (Chris Devenney) to join me. We then ran side by side until the halfway point at about 4.4km. We hit the turn in 15:10, so I was guessing around 30 minutes for the finish time.

Just after 5km I got a rush of blood to my head and suddenly increased the pace, which was enough to open a gap again, but I realised I couldn't hold this pace for 12 minutes, so started slowing again. By 7km I was feeling wasted and could hear footsteps closing me down, and half thought about letting the runner behind catch me and drag me along for a bit, but as soon as I had 5 minutes left I upped the pace and forced myself to accelerate all the way to the line.

Thanks to John McMillan who supplied the chasing footsteps for the last couple of miles!

Despite finishing first, I discovered I went through 5 miles in 28:11, which was slower than my Irvine 5-mile road race time from a couple of weeks ago. However it was a very rare race win for me, so I was pleased with that! And it was good to have a chat with Colin Shields and John Kynaston. And Ellie did well to finish as 2nd lady, as usual!

Photos courtesy of Michael Finlay