Three Harriers headed South of the river to take on the Jimmy Irvine 10k – me, Natalie, and Chris. I was keen to do this one as it was one of the few local 10ks I had never done before.
The course had been changed due to works in Bellahouston Park but having never done it before I can’t compare it to previous years, although by all accounts it was a lot harder than usual. The start ran from the Dumbreck Road end up to the Empire Exhibition monument right at the top of the park, and they somehow managed to squeeze that hill in three times, in what was a 2.5 lap course. The course was almost all in the park and followed a zig zag route, which meant you had a great view of the whole field, with faster and slower runners both passing you in opposite directions. It was a bit like a giant parkrun, which made it feel shorter than the 10k distance.
Seeing the hills, I quickly revised my target to somewhere between 51-52 minutes. I came in at 51:29 and was really pleased with my pacing. First Harrier home was Natalie, who ‘took it easy’ on her physio’s advice and still managed a 45:29! Chris completed the Harriers podium in 54:19.
At the end, we were accosted by a local character who had spotted the Maryhill tops and told us that Mary Hill was a real person (which I knew) but Bella Houston wasn’t (which I didn’t know but had never really lain awake thinking about 😆).
Race was well organised by Bellahouston Road Runners, and very well attended with close to 500 finishers.
