This was the final race in the Tour of Clydeside series.
Caroline and I had been joined in the Tuesday and Thursday races by Captain Curran who put in a couple of sparkling performances – the boy is in form!
We had both found the out and back at Clydebank on Tuesday (also along a canal) pretty taxing. Having played football immediately after Monday’s race though, I wasn’t expecting much from my tired legs. Wednesday was the rest day and we both decided to use it (despite my well intentioned plans of going an easy training run).
Thursday we were fresh for the Garscube Gallop, and it showed. Easily the best race of the week for both of us – we were both well up on where we normally finish, and just really enjoyed the home court advantage of running round Dawsholm. We had also made a brilliant footwear choice, opting for our Mizuno hill shoes which proved a Godsend on the steep wet muddy paths.
Anyway back to Friday night, and the Bella Belter 10k was to follow the exact same route as the Brian Goodwin 10k we had run in late June. Andy S was going to be making an appearance for this one, but sadly called off late on with a broken fingernail (or some other equally debilitating injury). The course was 2 laps around the Pollok Park area. I started at a steady pace with a group of runners, but realised that one of my rivals in the series was pulling away, so decided to push on. This resulted in me running a quite isolated race in the gap between 2 groups of runners. Despite pushing on I wasn’t gaining on the guy, in fact he was pulling away. I completed the first lap in 21 minutes, and set off to try and do the second in the exact same. For most of the second lap I could sense myself being caught by another runner, although I managed to hold him off until we exited Pollok Park. I stuck with him for another km, then began to drift back as we entered the final km or so. However, true to form, I started my sprint finish way too far out in the hope that I could pass him again and just use adrenaline to get over the line. I was going so fast my momentum carried me past another couple of runners in the closing metres to a time of 41:53 (my fastest time for 10k this year – by 2 seconds). I never quite caught the rival I was chasing, but managed to get close enough that we finished on the exact same time for the whole series. Caroline finished not long after in 44:22.
The winner on the night was Stuart Gibson of Ronhill Cambuslang (who wasn’t doing the series) in 31:54, and first female was Katie White of Garscube Harriers in 39:13.
Katie dominated the series achieving first female in all four races in a total time of 2:05:09, and David Gardner (Kirkintilloch Olympians) won the mens prize in 1:51:29.
35 runners completed the whole series – well done to everyone one of them, especially those who also ran Helensburgh, and other races during the week.
Caroline took the 3rd senior female prize for a total time of 2:20:27 (25th) despite not feeling in her best form.
And I, with a total time of 2:13:14 (19th) was awarded a bottle of wine (for the most meritous achievement) from the organisers for “beating my wife”. Thankfully this was not an award for domestic violence but simply a nod to the fact that for me to finish ahead of Caroline 4 times in one week is not the norm.
The races were good but the atmosphere after was brilliant. You really get to know the runners around you (and those miles ahead of you) over the course of the week. I can’t recommend these races enough.
