Tour of Cydeside: Bellahouston Belter

The 10K finale to the Tour of Clydeside is hosted by Bellahouston Harriers in Pollok Park on the Friday evening. This year, the ‘tourers’, now feeling properly warmed up by the three (or four) races of the week, were joined by a good crowd of random runners. This route, running anticlockwise this year, follows two loops of the road through Pollok and most of it seems to be on the pavement that contours the park.
My cumulated total time from the previous races meant that I was pretty safely sitting in third female position and as the race began, I fell quite quickly into a comfortable pace trailing the second woman, and found myself passing some of the vests that had been well ahead of me throughout the week with relative ease. I find it so interesting that some folk you race alongside seem to drain your energy by running erratically and reactively against you, whilst others help you retain pace by matching you cooperatively. Reaching the final road section for the second time however, I felt able to ignore the elbows and spurts of those around me and retained sight of the second woman up to the final corner. I knew she had a good 38 seconds ahead of me and hadn’t closed the gap between us at all during the race so was happy to trot in behind.
Paula, Pat and I completed the series and although not officially recognised, had there been one, we would have taken the women’s team prize for our tenacity and determination. Paula did take the V40 women’s prize. Well done ladies on your excellent week of training and to Chris for your great performance over the week.