Hugh Wilson Memorial 10k

Such is the allure of the Hugh Wilson Memorial 10K in East Kilbride that some Westies members will take incredible risks simply to appear. Take, for example, current high-flyer Brian Bonnyman, who yesterday told Louise that he was just “going for a run with the boys”. You could stretch a point and say that this was indeed the case, but as Brian explained, ” If I had asked her if I could run a 10K at East Kilbride, she would have simply put the foot down!”.

Bonnyman’s fearless, and some would say wreckless, behaviour was rewarded by an emphatic victory over arch-rival Mark McColl. Bonnyman did indeed seem confident in the car out to EK as he chatted interminably to colleagues Cameron and Calder about the Forfar running scene. The journey did seem to take longer than usual, both Archie and Dave mused afterwards.

In the race itself, Mark took off confidently, keeping ahead for the first 7K, but Brian coolly pulled him in, eventually finishing a clear half-minute ahead. Such is the rivalry between Bonnyman and McColl that the latter refused to accept a lift in the same car. Or is it simply that Mark has already heard Brian’s recounting of the Forfar Roadrunners 6-mile championship once too often?

Surprisingly, third Westie home was Don Reid, showing a fine pair of heels, albeit on home territory, and thereby justifying his award later on that day of the Westies Runner of the Year Trophy. League leader Gibson struggled a bit in 4th place and did indeed look like someone who had been on a bender the previous night…but doesn’t he always? He didn’t miss the opportunity, however, to remind Mark that the last time he had run this race was 2 years before the young whippersnapper was born.

The real excitement of the day came behind Gibson. Archie was way ahead of Dave after about 2K, but over the next 7K, Dave gradually narrowed the gap, until with about 700 metres to go, he was lying at Archie’s shoulder, waiting to pounce. Just then, disaster struck as Archie, following the man in front, took the wrong turning, allowing Dave to build a 50 metre gap before realising what had happened. This is reminiscent of Dave’s last-bend victory in similar circumstances over Brian at a race in Pollok Park several years ago (ahhh, these were the days!!!). For Archie, EK is becoming a bit of a bogey race, having managed to get lost shortly after the start 2 years ago.

Behind Archie came the other Big Al (Wilson), who appeared along with his personal coach Couch. Although Al finished comfortably ahead of Ian Struthers, his finish was nowhere near as blistering as that produced by Couch 12 months ago.

Helen was the only woman out yesterday. Only a week ago, Ana had been adamant that she would be there. Rumours were abound all week that she was making alternative arrangements. It seems that her explanation of being in “Luss with Steffen” had been slightly misinterpreted; its shuld have been “lust with Steffen”. ‘Nuff said!

Helen ran steadily throughout the race, passing Drew in the latter stages of the race with the crushing statement that she was “taking it easy in case I get a stitch”, at which point last year’s Winter League champion simply crumbled.

In the Women’s league, Helen’s full points have catapulted her to top slot. Despite his relatively poor finish yesterday, Gibson has extended his lead because of the double-points-after-5-races rule. Don has jumped into 3rd spot.

0 replies

Leave a Reply

Want to join the discussion?
Feel free to contribute!

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.