On Sunday I took part in my 3rd Monklands Half Marathon over at Drumpellier Park, Coatbridge.
The recent warm weather that had afflicted us in Helensburgh the previous Thursday had carried over, so I was happy just to get round in a reasonable time instead of going PB chasing. As was the case on Thursday, I planned on taking it easy to begin with and picking up the pace as the race wore on. This proved to be not so much a strategy as a necessity as I struggled to get going for the first 5 miles, with the legs still feeling a bit heavy. I managed to pick up a little in the 2nd half and picked off a few runners who had overtaken me earlier. In the end I was a good bit off my time at Balloch a few months back (I think I only run fast when there’s a blue vest chasing me) but managed to take just over a minute off my time from the previous year. All in all a good jaunt round the park in the sunshine with good support from the locals and some very enthusiastic marshals.
Robert Gilroy of Ronhill Cambuslang came 1st for an amazing 12th consecutive victory here, a few more and they will need to rename the race after him. Louise Tyler was the first female in 1.31.27.
42nd – Scott Coulter – 1.35.18
