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Balloch to Clydebank 1/2 Marathon

Torrential rain, howling gale. It must the be start of another Baolloch to Clydebank 1/2 Marathon. Rumour has it that back in Clydebank it was warm and dry, but that could be because the marshalls were in the tea shop....

I think 5 Westies toughted it out: Chris, Ellie, Tony (his annual Westies appearance), Johnston and Muffy. But I might have seen Scott McK at the start. Did I? No results yet, but I am certain that all Westies finished well before me.

Apparently most of the runners (including myself) took the wrong course and stayed on the cycle path too long (we approached the Westies roundabout from wrong direction!) but there were no marshalls to tell us otherwise.

Enthusiastic greetings from all the Westies marshalls were much appreciated.

I found the whole thing less of an ordeal than last year, but this could be because I was running slower. Still it is all good training, and along with the banana, there was an "interesting" piece of glass as reward. Not sure quite where I will put in. Suggestions?

Posted by Muffy Calder on Mon 10 Mar 2008 | 12 comments

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  1. Ellie said...

    I spent the rest of Sunday trying to work out how they managed to get those wee runners inside the piece of glass, and eventually decided to put it in the freezer and use it as a giant ice cube for my celebratory G&Ts.I was somewhat put off by the freezing downpour at Balloch, but given that the buses had atready turned back, the rain provided a huge incentive to dig in and get home asap. Cheered on by the multitude of yellow Westies en route (more energising than a vat of Honey Stinger), I somehow managed to keep a steady pace and maintain position as the slapping feet of a runner behind me grew louder up the avenue of rubbish bins to the finish line...no idea if there was someone behind me or not, and don't even know if it was a pb, due to tardy result posting and lack of watch, but overall it felt like a good training run.Cheers for the support everyone.

    Monday 10th March 2008 9.32am

  2. Mfyfu said...

    I think I need to work on my typing skills. Please readtoughed for toughted, put it for put in.

    Ellie has brilliant suggestion, I can't wait for my next G&T (I stuck with the celebratory Rioja last night).

    Monday 10th March 2008 9.57am

  3. Ellie said...

    Results now available here (I hope), not as snazzy at Chris's formatting:http://www.garscubeharriers.co.uk/documents/B%20to%20C%2008%20Results.xls

    Monday 10th March 2008 2.01pm

  4. Chris said...

    In fact 7 Westies in total running - including new recruit Craig Docherty and the return of former Westie Crawford Spence.Well done to Ellie on her first sub 1:30 HM, and first Dunbartonshire lady.

    Tendinitis in my right ankle meant my race wasn't the most enjoyable.I limped along in 10th place until Dumbarton, but the pain and lack of power in my right foot meant I felt like stopping at every pace. I've never been so close to dropping out of a race, but you still need to get to the end somehow. The final 3 miles I almost ground to a halt, watching runner after runner go past. Ankle now strapped and been told by physio not to run for a while.

    1 Paul Arcari , 1:09:0722, Chris Upson , 1:20:0459, Craig Docherty , 1:26:2560, Johnston Orr , 1:26:2575, Ellen Homewood , 1:29:0687, Crawford Spence , 1:30:42135, Tony Ritchie , 1:36:51212, Muffy Calder , 1:43:57

    Full Results

    Monday 10th March 2008 2.49pm

  5. Jason said...

    Sorry to hear things not improving Chris. Maybe a good rest will allow you to save most of the Hill season though. On the other hand well done to the others, especially Ellie with her first sub 1:30 and Miffu who wasn't as bad as she threatened.

    Monday 10th March 2008 5.33pm

  6. Johnston said...

    Accidental PB (by 6 seconds) for me despite a disgustingly poor performance. I felt tired and dehydrated and just wanted to go back to bed, but decided to go ahead with this tour of some of the West of Scotland's most awful towns (Renton? No thanks, I'd rather die...)

    Started off by having a proper go at the race, but knew by 1 mile I was off-colour. Craig caught up with me at the 5-mile water station, I pushed on for a bit but got dropped by folk I had beaten 2 weeks ago at Kirkie, then dropped back to Craig again around 9 miles, and we jogged along together and tried to motivate each other to get to the finish. (Craig had already run out to Clydebank, so was understandably a bit slower than usual.) Happy to trot along the last 4 miles side-by-side, and nice to see all the Westie marshalls (apologies, both Craig and I were travelling incognito). Didn't even bother to push for the finish so the time was a real bonus for both of us.

    Plus points - a PB on an awful day for me; less than a year on from my first ever Half, I'm more than 6 mins quicker; 3 PBs in 3 successive races.Minus points - ran like a cow; skelped by my peers; can do much better than this.

    Well done to the other Westies who ran (and limped). After a day of rest, it's back to the training for me.

    Monday 10th March 2008 7.25pm

  7. scott 'the apparition' mc said...

    sorry muffy. checked with the wife and sorry to report that it was not me at the start. she did suggest it may have been another bald runner with bandaged leg and a large arse. shit, and i thought i was the only one...time for a new look!

    Monday 10th March 2008 9.08pm

  8. Myffu said...

    Dear Scott

    Well if you ever do need an alibi, clearly I am your first port of call. Your a**e didn't look *that* big in those shorts...

    Tuesday 11th March 2008 8.35am

  9. Craig said...

    Well done to all who took part and marshalled.Extra props to Ellie and Johnston for P.B.s.Hope the ankle holds up Chris, valiant effort,you did not look well when Johnston and I saw you at the end.

    Tuesday 11th March 2008 5.23pm

  10. Chris said...

    Cheers Craig. Your 8-mile warm up sounded an interesting idea. I'll be taking a break from racing for a while now, until my ankle settles down. I don't want to feel that rubbish in a race again, if I can help it.

    Wednesday 12th March 2008 9.41am

  11. scott mckendrick said...

    chris...welcome to my world. you mean you usually feel good running???

    Wednesday 12th March 2008 10.37pm

  12. Chris said...

    Maybe I'd just forgotten how rubbish I should feel whilst running... and that was in fact normal....

    Thursday 13th March 2008 2.02pm

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