Womans 10k

A dreich damp day all over Glasgow didn’t hinder the hordes of women of all abilities out to run, (or walk) the yearly 10k From Bellahouston park. 3 Maryhill Harriers ran – Susan, Holly and myself. With thousands of women there, unfortunately I didnt catch sight of them.
Off the free coach from Shields UG I was greeted by raincoats and umbrellas in a long line waiting for the glam portaloos. If you really needed to go it would be a swift jump behind someone’s hedge or behind a highland coo in Pollock park. So, portaloos, and then made my way through the crowds with the blast of whatever the kids are listening to on the radio these days..Some pumpin’ dance beats anyway, and the latest moves by some ladies in fluresent tutus for the warm up routine, jumping about on big black boxes. The usual DJs were there with the proverbial feel good chat for the ladies. ‘..we couldnt have asked for a better day..’ …’The atmosphere is the best its ever been’ Please excuse my cynical tone. There were hundreds of ladies there in aid of many worthwhile charities and the run is a great one for that purpose. It’s alot of fun and any ability is welcome.
SO… the fastest lot in the white went off just after 10am and I was in the yellow to go off after the purples. I hung at the back of the purple lot. It’s always very crowded particulary at the start. I didnt elbow anyone out the way but it’s very difficult not to get in each others way with so many people running. I started off fairly steady and was taking Dr Jones advice with my stop watch to see if I was around 5.30mins at each K.
The first 4k are really flat along the streets with plenty support from the locals and friends and families of the runners. Thankfully for them the rain petered down and it was pretty dry for the first hour of the race. I’m sure I wasnt the only one thankful that the sun wasn’t glaring and it wasn’t too hot. It was still pretty mild, but pretty good running conditions. The live music is always an added bonus and I was very grateful for the drummers and pipers out to keep spirits up.
So after a fairly flat 4k we got to the park and it was still pretty chocka. Alot of weaving in and out of people for the whole race really. I had got my rhythm but my brain was really struggling to add up in 5.30min intervals and so I couldnt work out if I was running to my plan for 55 mins… There are a couple of hills in Pollock park around 7 or 8k. It would maybe have been nicer to have them at the start of the race but can’t complain really, overall it is pretty flat.
I wont lie, I was really enjoying seeing the big K flags going from 6 to 7 to 8. I wonder if I could have pushed it some more… At 9 I sped up a bit and was grateful to see a friendly face just after 9k. (Stephen) As I came out of the park, there were varying facial expressions from drivers in a cue of static cars facing the opposite direction possibly unaware that their route would bring them to a standstill watching thousands of sweaty, red faced women run (to varying degrees) past them…
I was pretty pleased as I saw the final straight so I turned up a gear as best I could for my finish. Hundreds of faces at the finish line and cameras and the DJ’s and pumpin’ music again… Pretty pleased with my finish as I knew I’d run between 54 and 55 minutes. I got my medal and goody bag. (not to sound ungrateful- but it was pretty poor this year..hardly any free samples and no caramel wafer or cereal bar!) I was quite happy with my banana and free water though. So a good year for my women’s 10k despite the damp. And thankfully I wasn’t still running when the heavens opened at round 1130. I just got completely saturated when walking back to the underground….