The third and penultimate race in the Tour of Clydeside series is a tough little 3-mile trail race around Dawsholm Park organised by Garscube Harriers.
Ellie and I arrived in plenty of time for the advertised 7:30pm start, so we faffed around the park until with 5 minutes to go we headed over to the starting area. We were slightly bemused to discover that there were no runners in the vicinity, and were told to start chasing after the now departed field. This was the first time in my 500+ races that I had ever missed the start of a race due to it starting 5 minutes early!
I decided not to panic and sauntered over to the start line, informed the organisers that I would take my own time, and then set off with my own personal 3-2-1 Go!
It was like running a club handicap race, hurtling past the tail enders at first, then becoming harder and harder to catch and pass each runner.
After crossing the line I spent a good 15 seconds fighting with my Garmin 405, trying to make it stop, before realising I was hitting the wrong button and recording extra lap times. Once I'd deleted these spurious extra laps, my watch gave a time of 20:04 for the 4.8km course.
Speaking to Robert Rogerson at the finish, I think he said he ran 20:05, so I had a reasonable run, but it was a pity to miss out on the race. I still have no idea why the organisers started the race 5 minutes early!
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