Now this local 10k might not sound like too much of a challenge however that overlooks 3 important factors.
- The weather (more on this later)
- My hangover (I'd had a rare night out with Julie the previous night, beer wine and whisky were involved)
- The fried breakfast I'd had a couple of hours before the start (egg, beans, mushrooms, toast, bacon, tomato and haggis - but I was taking this race seriously and didn't have a sausage.)
As my in laws were in town I was less needed at home so on the spur of the moment I decided to run.
The weather as I set off was intermittently rainy but it seemed to have cleared up when I arrived at registration at the local high school. The locals were welcoming and let me enter the race in exchange for all the pound coins I'd accumulated on my night out.
I got changed and hung about waiting for the start. I got chatting to a couple of people from my work, and a couple of other people who had done the fling (I was proudly rocking my fling buff). Someone congratulated me on my performance at Edinburgh to North Berwick. This would have been very gratifying if I had run Edinburgh to North Berwick, or been capable of the kind of time that would have been worthy of congratulations.
I went for a warm up and then arrived at the start, by now the sun was blazing down, and with all the water evaporating off the road it was feeling quite humid, my mouth felt dry on the start line which wasn't good. I started about a third of the way back, not wanting to get dragged along too fast but still thinking I'd do pretty well. The race went through the town and then down a sharp hill, which got everyone speeding along.
And then came the hill. I'd been warned that there was a hill, one of the locals described it as a grind. This was being kind - it felt steep and never ending and made me long for the fling where I could have walked without shame. I tried not to lose places and by and large succeeded but any hopes of a pb were gone. Even when it finished the road kept going up. Not steeply or constantly but always up. The sun was baking down and I was feeling tired and rough.
And then about half way round it started to rain, properly rain. At first this was brilliant, I had been feeling hot and uncomfortable, the rain refreshed and cooled me washing away all the hangover and meat sweats. The guy behind had been slowly catching me for a couple of k and as soon as the rain came I pulled away from him again as we went past and abandoned borstal.
The rain continued to fall biblically, there was some hail, rivers started to form at the side of the road, but I was cooler and then road started to go down. I was gradually pulling back the person in front and felt like I was flying. I was wet to the bone very quickly and to be honest I could have done without the hail, but I plugged on down the hill past a very pretty bit of the course.
The marshalls were doing a great job of sounding cheery in the rain, but it was a better day to be running than standing around, and their support was much appreciated.
I caught and passed the guy in front. We made our way back into town, there was a very cruel sharp uphill just before the finish to destroy any downhill rhythm you might have built up, and then on to the finish.
The organisers had cleverly arranged an archery competition next to the finish to discourage you from slowing down in case you get hit. Clearly the lady who flew past me on the finishing straight was very scared from the speed she was going, it wasn't even worth trying to sprint. I was happy to see the line in a shade under 43 mins. I stood in a tent and ate my banana but it wasn't a day for lingering at the finish.
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| At the finish. Photo Bob Marshall |
I went back and put dry clothes onto my wet body and headed home, having enjoyed my time in the 'cuik. This is a well organised and friendly race and recommended for the unique microclimate.
