Not much needs to be said about this. Warm evening, cloud cover, run as hard as you can. It's going to hurt.
Those nice folk at Run and Become put this on and charge £1 per person. Teams of three, everyone runs a mile. Some of the fast folk do it in a little over 4 minutes, most take longer. And pull faces in the last hundred yards. It's a painful business, but pain = gain.
A few Porties have been coming along to these races and it certainly rewards you to race frequently and get the pacing right. A lot of folk starting sharpish and finishing blunt. It's an easy thing to do. I was here unexpectedly. I was signed up for the Tour of Fife but was having doubts as it clashed with a couple of other things I want to do. And then there's the time and expense of travelling. Then new PRCer Mark (we ran Edinburgh marathon mostly together,) asked if I could paint his new flat and that knocked it on the head.
I asked Duncan and Gareth if they were up for making a team and they agreed although Gareth was saying his legs were heavy from his second place at Ballater 10 miler at the weekend. Great to see him back racing. I was hoping to be faster than the 5.12 I did last time I did these relays. I felt I was in better shape but also a bit older. I reckoned I didn't have a sub 5 but hoped I wouldn't be slower than last time.
My memory of last time was PAIN. While it was maybe a tad less painful as I am in better shape I think I should do a few more of these and see if I improve with practice. Or just run faster. I set off (leg one) in a group blocked by some slower runners I was surprised to see at the front. I had to jump through the space to catch up on Johnny and Roy Buchanan (no relation.) I had made a note not to go out too fast so stayed about there till after the turn then overtook Roy and watched Johnny slowly but steadily pull away. Kevin's son Callum was around and after a bit went past. By the final turn they were both going strong and I was gasping. I believe Callum went past Johnny - the benefits of youth, and one of the fastest PRC times of the night.
As I staggered about recovering I took some photos of folk. There was spotting rain. We stood about for quite some time while the results were sorted superfast and prizegiving was held. I think just about the only PRCer winning a medal was Jim Scott who along with 2 non-Porties won the m50 team. (And Jim had done the Meadows Tuesday night session last night. No mean feat.)
Porty A team
I ran home with Richard who took us via Haymarket onto the cycle path. To add some miles in case we hadn't had enough exertion for the evening. He said he ran some of those miles faster than the one in the Meadows.
Well done to all the Porties for turning up to this race - great to see such support for a local and well worthwhile race series. Many thanks to the Run and Becomers for putting them on.
Results should be here soon:
http://run.runandbecome.com/event/edinburgh-3x1m-relay-310713/
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