Two muddy laps of Bellahouston Park. I managed 14:24 for 40th position, 22 seconds faster than last year, and 2nd V40 after John Brown of Cambuslang who finished in 13:32.
The men's race was won by Alastair Hay of Central AC in 12:18. The women's race was won by Freya Murray of Edinburgh AC in 14:27.
Provisional Results | Photos | More Photos
I ran the first leg with Manny Gorman, and clocked 38:11, the exact same time as last year, albeit in much slippier conditions this year.
Shettleston and Carnethy were already clear when we left the top of the forest, but on the steep climb up East Lomond we tussled with Bellahouston, Ochils and Carnegie teams. By the time we left the short road section in the middle of the leg we were just clear of these 3 teams and managed to hang onto 3rd spot, chasing after Carnethy, until the changeover to Andy Edwards.
Andy dropped a couple of places on Leg 2, so were in 5th spot when Nigel and David Riach took over on Leg 3. Nige and David were, not surprisingly, overhauled by Jethro Lennox and Tom Owens of Shettleston. So finished the stage in 6th place.
Stevie McLoone ran our 4th Leg and made a place and dropped a place (to John Hargreaves of Carnegie), so we finished the race in 6th position overall.
First team was Shettleston - very closely followed by Ochils. Carnethy were 3rd, closely followed by Bellahouston. Next were Carnegie, who finished just in front of Westerlands.
Photos from Fife AC
7 Westies made the Ochils traverse from Tillicoultry over The Law, Ben Cleuch, Ben Buck, Ben Ever, Blairdenon Hill and Dumyat - me, Rob, JD, Ellie, Johnston, Dougal and Murdo.
Almost clocked a PB. Was 2 seconds off with 34:40 for 2nd V40. Denis Williams finished 8 seconds in front in 34:32 for first V40.
I finished 18th in 35:17. The race was won by Chris Mackay in 30:43. Nasty rainy weather.
Ellie and I saw in the New Year with a delightful 4-mile run along the Portobello Promenade in drizzly rain. My 1st race of 2008, and nearly 1½ minutes faster than last year.
I set off just behind the leading block of 6 runners, and held 7th place for about the first mile, before being ground down and passed by Freya Murray, Brian Cruickshank and Ian Stewart. Junior Lothian runner Robert Inglis also passed, but I managed dig in and get back in front just before halfway, and held onto a small lead for the long 2-mile run back, hoping in vain that BrianC might fade a fraction. I'm not sure Ellie enjoyed the race much, but had a reasonable run to finish as 8th lady in 25:25.
Photos by David Bauchop of roadrunpics.com and Peter Buchanan of Portobello
