Well that was a tough one ! When we were sitting in the car waiting to board the Arran ferry i was praying for rain ,or at least some cloud for a hour during the race and then a week of glorious sunshine, as we were on staying on the island on holiday after. Didnt work out like that....it was boiling by mid day,the hottest i can remember it being for this race since the first year i ran it in (gulp) 1994.
From that first year i ran (and blew up big time!) in 94, i think i ran this race every year til 2006, with mixed results.So not having ran here for 5 years i was really looking forward to it ,being injury free at last and having done some really decent training in the weeks leading up to it.I felt pretty good in the first few miles but miles 6 to 8 over the moor were hellish due to the heat and the swarms of flies.Luckily when we turned back on to the string road for the 5 mile run in home there was just enough of a breeze to take the edge of the heat and i felt a lot better. I ended up 4th in 1.19.58. Would have been disappointed with that time before hand but i reckon conditions cost me a few minutes (dont think i've ever ran well when its really warm).Was first vet 40 and didnt realise til after it was also the Ayrshire Half Championship so get that as well.
PS- James Richardson made his competitve debut the following Saturday at the Shiskine Sports day in the under 2s race. A stumble 2 metres into the race (and the fact he cant walk yet)cost him gold but he'll be back next year to avenge this defeat!
A decent enough run on a wet miserable day but the sore throat i had was to develope into a full chest infection straight after this .Probably shouldnt have run but hindsights a wonderful thing.......
The worst i've ever felt going into a race! Came down with something after training at the club tuesday night and didnt run a step til i got to Houston on the Sat. Throw in James also being ill = no sleep for a few nights and an 8 hour warm-up courtesy of Royal Mail pre-race meant i wasnt expecting to be flying.Turns out i ran ok time wise but felt hellish.Jamie got us of to a great start in 4th place,handing over to David who had a stormer taking us up to 2nd.Pat then ran solid for the 3rd leg finishing 4th which i maintained . Never saw results so dont know how Irvines other 2 teams were placed but it was good to see George back racing again for the 1st time since Feb.McAndrews straight from work next week before the XC relays for the following 3 weeks.Luckily i've got time off for the West,Ayrshire and Scottish relays so will get a wee chance to run them fresh
Looks like i'm the winner breaking the tape here( but its just a fault in the picture!) A decent enough run considering i've been on hols and not trained that hard since the Arran relay .5th place in 34.54 ........fastest for 5 years! Time to sharpen up for the relays.........
Another boiling hot day in Arran! Luckily the strong headwind kept the temp down a bit on the 11.5 mile leg i ran (1st north) where i finished 3rd in 67.23 .Last minute call offs meant we had no chance of getting near eventual winners Central but the 6 who ran all had solid runs to finish 3rd team. 2nd race in a week for me and i felt it !
