Well, it was a windy and rainy start to the Maryhill Harriers Merit League, to say the very least! Storm Boelo tried to take the wind out of our sails, but we weren’t about to let a bit of wind and rain get in the way of a phenomenal race and praise-worthy effort all round.
With 16 harriers taking part in the Newton Road Runners 10k, it was a joint effort from everyone. The route was a there and back along a cycle path, with a few hazardous bollards that very nearly took a couple of runners out less than a kilometre into the race!
The route was mostly undulating, going under a few underpasses by the banks of a river which was looking closer to bursting its banks as the rain continued to get heavier. Thankfully, most of the route was sheltered by trees, so we didn’t have to run against the wind as well as the rain.
Shout out to the marshall who acted as the turnaround point, directing runners to run around him without getting taken out himself, all the while shouting encouragement. I got quite the energy boost on the way back with all the shouts of ‘keep going!’ from fellow Harriers coming the other way – always a lovely sight to see everyone putting the work in!
Bryn took the champion place at 39:48, a truly amazing time for a first sub-40 attempt – you absolutely smashed it, Bryn! Next we had Thomas coming in at a strong 41:24, followed by myself at 42:33 (yes, I was dying by the end). James came in at a very round 44:00, followed by Stevie at 44:53 (what a finish!). Steffan was close behind at 45:02 (PB!), with Andrew close behind at 45:21 and then Alisdair coming in 6th in his category at 48:45. Cat had an amazing finish not far behind with 49:40, with Heather following close behind in 50:51. Claire had an amazing race, having recently completed the Loch Rannoch marathon a couple of weeks prior in a smashing time of 51:51. Kenny (who made the very smart choice of wearing a long-sleeve!) finished in a very impressive 53:59 (made it by a second!) followed by Gwen, who has made a very impressive return to racing in 54:52. We then had Sorcha very close behind in 55:24, with Linda not far behind in 56:28. I think it goes without saying that Julie had the most celebrated finish of all, being cheered over the finish line in 1:14:25 with the biggest smile on her face. Well done Julie! Also a big shout out to Stephen D, who made an award-worthy compilation video of the whole event, thank you Stephen!
A huge congratulations to all runners, it was definitely a race to remember, for probably being the only race in the country to not be cancelled for weather warnings if nothing else! The empire biscuits at the end were well deserved!
