It was with some apprehension that i chose to do this race. Not because of the pressure on me to perform well, but the pressure to follow up with an account to match that race report.
Having had some good training runs lately, I decided to test myself on the flat Strathclyde Park Parkrun. As it was a beautiful morning, with just enough cloud to stop it being too hot, the run had attracted over a hundred participants. With more club runners in attendance than I have previously witnessed, competition was going to be higher than normal for this event.
As soon as it started, a group of 6 or so runners took off at a speed that I decided immediately that I couldn’t manage/sustain. Trying to sit no faster than 6 min miles, I managed to comfortably sustain this pace for the first 2km of the race. It was this pace that allowed me to pass a few other club runners, included a Bellahouston Harrier who I’d had a few tussles with – and who had comfortably beat me – at each of this years Polaroid series.
I remained in this position (9th) until I began the long, seemingly never-ending 5 minute home straight. Managing to catch an athlete from Airdrie Harriers, we both dragged each other towards the finish. Taking turns to lead a metre or so over each other, and with just 500m to go, my legs – tired from a weeks hard training – were struggling to keep up. In the end, my new friend claimed the edge, and managed to sneak home just one second ahead than me.
Official time – 18:44.
