Scottish Vets Relay

24th January 2010

Photos | Results

Today I went and watched the Scottish Vets Relay down at Strathclyde Loch. My right adductor was super sore after the Devil's Burdens Relay yesterday, but I was keen to go and try out my new Nikon 18-200mm VR lens that I'd been planning to buy for ages. The weather was pretty dull and grey, so it was a good test of the lens in poor light conditions.

The race started at 11am, and as I was driving out past Easterhouse in pouring rain I was in two minds whether to pull off at Glasgow Fort and turn around and go home again. But I persevered down the M74, and by the time the race started the rain had all but fizzled out.

Stuart Kerr finished the first lap in the lead for Kirkintilloch Olympians. On Lap 2, Ian Stewart of Carnegie moved up from 4th to 1st by overtaking Kirkintilloch, Kilmarnock (Scott Martin) and Carnegie B-Team (Iain Taylor). On Lap 3, David Millar ran the fastest lap (18:02) to overhaul Carnegie's Tommy Lawrence and gain the lead briefly for Irvine AC. Then on Lap 4, Andrew Wright once more took the lead for defending champions Carnegie Harriers by overtaking Alex Allardyce of Irvine AC. Keith Haining clinched 3rd place for Kilmarnock Harriers, with Carnegie B-Team 4th and Kirkintilloch Olympians 5th.

The women's race was won by City of Glasgow, followed by Helensburgh AAC, with Claire Heasman of Helensburgh running the fastest women's leg in 22:31.

Scottish Vets Half Marathon

4th October 2009

Results | Photos

This is a closed entry race for members of Scottish Masters Athletics, ie. old fogies who are a bit past it.

The race was supposed to be run as a handicap with each person nominating their own predicted time, but in the end all 21 runners started together to simplify matters.

The race starts at Clydebank and runs out for 6.5 miles to Maryhill along the canal towpath, before turning back the same way to the 13 mile mark, and from here it's only 0.1 of a mile to the finish, ie. about 160 metres.

I knew Paul Thompson of Helensburgh was going so we more or less arranged to run together. We set out a bit fast for the first mile (5:39), before settling into a more ploddy pace of just over 6 minute miles. Neither of us was really forcing the pace or taking the race on, preferring to stay within some sort of comfort zone.

At mile 12 it was clear the pace was starting to wind up, but I resisted making a move until we hit the 13 mile marker under the bridge, where the race had started. Suddenly from this point Paul started sprinting, so I matched him. Then Paul made his final move, which I managed to cover and then gutted myself to the line, pulling away by 3 seconds, finishing in 1:19:34. The time was nothing special, but I was pleased that I hadn't faded in the second half, like I usually do in half marathons, plus it was a fairly rare win over Paul these days.