JasonGreybeard said...

The evening hadn't looked promising, having changed to decidedly chilly and grey after a lovely day. However a good turnout of 22, with old and new faces (and some old faces new to me) meant there was a buzz around the start which infected Rani who was trembling and barking excitedly at the starting line as each runner left, worrying that the Westies were going off without her.

I wasn't expecting much with two big races in the last two weekends and quite a lot of running in my legs lately. I had meant to set off steadily but in the end pushed a bit too much at the start, though it didn't look like I was pushing as Bill and then DavidR. ("I'm taking it easy") flew by me as if I was hardly moving. Then I drifted a bit in the middle, which must have been my slowest part, but there were some lovely views over Loch Lomond and towards Luss as the cloud lifted a little, maybe I need some Ritalin to help me focus in the middle of races. Luckily Jacques came to my shoulder here and that pushed me on a bit ("You shall not pass!"), and then when Johnstone passed I tried to hang on to him, though he slowly pulled away over the last two or so miles.

I dipped under fifty five minutes, and was pleased enough with another pb, around 1:20 faster than last year, including having to throw a dog over the gates. Seven minute miles isn't fast but was a descent steady run in the end, and the weather had eased slightly but remained perfectly cool for running if not for the marshals.

Other good races were happing everywhere on this deceptively tough course, Tony winning, Elizabeth, Ellie (despite having been ill for the last couple of weeks) and Cat finishing very close, Bill and Johnstone very close in final times too, so lots of battles for the future. Also of note was the fact that everyone finished with seven and a half minutes of each other, so very good handicapping, thanks to Rob's list and Chris' times.

Finally Chris was too modest to mention in his brief report that he put down yet another scorching time of 45:05, which gives all the speedsters something to aim at for a few years I would wager.

Thanks to Christine and Lynne who froze in the cause of the club and thank you everyone who came back afterwards (as Cat talked Lynne into running x-country) to finish a lovely night. This is what running is about!

Thursday 30th August 2007 10.49am

Chris said...

Thanks Jason - although I'm sure if Rob had been there with his fancy laptop, the handicaps would have been even better.And according to Bill's Garmin GPS gizmo, the route is 7.8 miles, so I've added pace to the results as well, in min/mile.

Thursday 30th August 2007 12.05pm

Bill said...

A very enjoyable run and minus the hordes of flesh-eating midges at the finish this time which was a bonus. Thanks to Jason and Lynne for the food and drink afterwards.

Thursday 30th August 2007 12.13pm

Johnston said...

In my ignorance, I expected this to be on the back roads all the way (having had only a quick glance at the map), so I was a bit surprised when we started off on a track. Good variety of surfaces though, I had a tough wee battle with Hamilton, who tried to psych me out by re-passing me for a while.

Bill and I are usually very close for pace, so I was a bit gutted to start 2 mins behind him!

I enjoyed the run, and cheers for the beer.

BTW, I wasn't paying much attention during the prize-giving, and it may have been the fading light, but did Hamilton get a coconut? Or does he have a lovely bunch of coconuts? Or something like that?

Thursday 30th August 2007 7.13pm

Grim in yellow said...

The yellow Onitsuka trainers survived to dazzle another day, and I was chuffed (and chuffing) to have knocked several minutes off my dire time last year. It's useful to know the mileage - it would also be useful to have "Halfway", "2 miles to go" and maybe "all downhill from here" signposts...or else where was Charlie, who usually is there to shout same encouragement?Welcome back Tony Ritchie, infuriatingly fit after 3 years' lay-off (Thinks: would it work for me?). Seems like I'll soon be only the 4th fastest super-dooper Vet (60+) in the club!

Thursday 30th August 2007 7.20pm