Race 3 of our 4 race mini 2021 season was the club 5k Championship. With no official 5k races on the calendar we decided to use a local route which was part for a summer series of 5k races and time trials a few years ago. This started on Maryhill Road (roughly opposite the entrance to Maryhill Park) and followed Maryhill Road to the entrance to the Garscube estate, round the Science Park road and through into Garscube near the sports centre then down and over the bridge, up the vets school hill to the cattle grid then follow the same route back to the start. An easy 5k, completely flat….
For our recent Tuesday training sessions we’ve been doing speed & hill reps on the vets hill so to only climb it once sounded easy…With none of us having done any fast and short races, one ascent was hard work at race pace!
It was pretty much full gas from the ‘off’. I don’t think anyone really knew where their fast road legs would be, me included, so there was a bit of pace management after the initial blast down Maryhill Road. Scott and I just made it past the bus before the doors opened and people exited to be faced with a sea of blue vests charging at them. Natalie was just behind Scott and myself as we made our way round Garscube and up the vets hill. After the turn I could see I had a small gap to Scott and Natalie but nothing comfortable. It was good to see the rest of the placings as we ran back down the vets hill. James was having a great run (and ended up with a big PB – nice one!) and Masha, in her first club race, was just a short distance behind James. Not much between Craig W and Cat either at this stage.
I had to keep the pace up as I could hear footsteps not far behind. As I approached the sports centre I had a glance over my shoulder and spotted Natalie in 2nd place. After a week off, Scott’s plantar fasciitis had been fine for the first 1k or so but started to rear its head on the vets hill climb and worsened on the descent so he prudently decided to pull-out. With two marathons later this year it was the right decision. Natalie was charging which pushed me to keep the pace up to the finish line. It was great to see everyone cross the line after a fast finish – more great running from Kenny and Chris, all those speed/hill reps paying dividends! Most importantly we all ‘enjoyed’ it, smiles all round.
Unfortunately Finn couldn’t race tonight but was there to support and look after our timekeeping, cheers Finn. Shout out to Margaret as well who was supporting at the start/finish line.
Another great night’s racing and chat! Next up is the Club Cross Country Championships on 12th August. A summer cross country?…. yeah but there’ll still be mud…..
RESULTS:
1st Craig Perrie 19.31 Men’s 5k Champion
2nd Natalie 20.18 Women’s 5k Champion
3rd James Prior 20.53
4th Masha 21.40
5th Craig White 22.24
6th Cat 22.41
7th Kenny Henderson 23.52
8th Chris Hever 25.30
DNF Scott Coulter
