Strahaven Run With The Wind Half Marathon 2018

Luckily on the day it was mostly Run Without Any Wind. Except for miles 7.5-9 where it was Run Into The Wind.

A brutal course this one. The description had the first half being ‘mostly’ up-hill with and the second half being ‘mostly’ down-hill. ‘Mostly’ does a lot of work in the second part of that sentence, as it felt like there was a lot of ‘up’ throughout. Four Westies toed the start-line – two with beards and two without for a well-balanced team. 

I was in front with Douglas Roberts for the first couple of miles, then John Sharp overtook us taking DR with him and then Mark over took me, opening a gap of c100ft, and that was how it stayed for the rest of the race. I pushed hard from the start, maybe over playing my hand slightly for the first three miles, but managed to hold a decent pace throughout. Miles 7-10 were tough with head winds and stitches to contend with and the rest was just the usual road-racing grind.

I could see Mark slowly closing the gap between him and Douglas Roberts at about mile 11, making for a competitive finish. I wished him well but knew I there was no way I was going to be able to catch them. A quick glance behind at mile 12 saw no-one in sight so I kept a steady effort to the end, crossing the line in 4^th place with a new PB.

Well done to Mark for the podium position – well deserved!

1)    John Sharp (Inverclyde) 72.33

2)    Douglas Roberts (University of Stirling Triathlon) 74.15

3)    Mark Sutherland 74.24

4)    James Callender 75.05

82) Graham Kelly 98.12

150) Kevin Baird 107.18