Callendar Park, Falkirk, was the venue for the Nationals XC last Saturday. The weather was really mild and the sun shone for most of the day. There were a couple of shoe-deep mud patches but really you could have nearly done the course in road shoes and gone home without a shower. Which was not to say it was easy. There is something about the size and quality of the field that insists you run till yours eyes water and ears bleed. Usually the rain disguises your tears. On Saturday there was nowhere to hide.
The female course now does the same 3 laps as the males although someone must have said it needs to be longer because we did an extra lap round the hill at the start and the final distance was 6.7miles long: half a mile on top of the required 10k. No idea why. Value for money? The new course may have been longer but being different it was probably better. A change is as good... and all that. It swapped out the cinder path round the pond for more stuff over at the Antonine Wall. The climb was changed and was perhaps shorter and steeper. Or I'm older and slower. Or both.
Mary drove us there and due to a diversion we only got on the M9 at Junction 5 when we should have been leaving. After a scenic detour through Skinflats we got there. And in plenty time. In fact the men's race was not till 2.50. So plenty time to warm up while the women got under way at 1pm. I took photos in the sunshine while running about. Unfortunately by the time the men ran it was raining. Much easier to get some pics earlier. I tried to get as many of the PRC runners as possible but also took the opportunity to stand in the long queue at the portaloos. (Top tip: take your own paper. 😲) So I missed a lot of the action. Sorry.
Every hill Mary would catch up with Aileen
a helping hand!
Grace led the Porty girls home.
The less said about my race the better. I wore hill shoes as I had a 30miler the following day and didn't want to trash my feet in spikes. Nothing to do with the rumour started many years ago by Ali R about being too fat (or was it too old?) for spikes. I commiserated with Greig G on the start line, in a scene far too similar to the start of the C5 just a couple of weekends ago.
I got a decent enough start but before lap 1 was over I had drifted back to my actual position. It is always impossible to predict who will end up ahead and who behind. (Within reason.) Jamie T took more than a handful of minutes off me at the C5 and yet here we ran together for a while before he dropped back and I couldn't remember seeing him again. Craig came past (was it lap 2?) but we were both breathing too hard to say hello. He wondered if I was going to come past later. I didn't. It was all I could do to not drop a LOT further down the field. Craig had a great run and was very ebullient afterwards. I kept going in the last half mile as I could hear cheers for Gerry, a former PRCer, now Bella, catching up. The finish could not come quickly enough. I was counting the yards till I could stop.
I had noticed Grace ran 48 mins and I set that as my target. Although I was a bit quicker the only victory was not having a cardiac incident or brain seizure. There were a few I would have liked to have kept up with but there were also a few who probably should have beaten me, so I can't complain. I think Jake must be kept in a freezer and revived for these races as he runs like a man half his age, and is rarely seen between times. That's just the jealousy talking although I did notice his spikes had skinned a toe knuckle or 2. All my toes were in good nick for the long run Sunday.
So a big thanks and hugs & kisses to Alex Jackson (I didn't fold my number!) and family for organising and all the helpers and the marshals and the portaloos. 2 ideas for next time: we prob don't need the extra start loop, lovely as it was. And that burger stand. Really? I know a lot of the Glaswegians think a cheeseburger and fried onions are 3 of your 5-a-day, but if they want to push life expectancy right up into the mid fifties they might have to think more about nutrition.
One improvement (let's end on an upbeat note) was the disposable timing chip disk. They seemed to work well and you didn't have to have them taken off your shoe by ambulance staff at the finish line. Although they did require some consideration if you wore Salomon quick lace shoes that don't have laces you can tie them into. Being not much larger than a wide pandrop I just swallowed mine so that every time I now cross a chipped finish mat I register my time.
One improvement (let's end on an upbeat note) was the disposable timing chip disk. They seemed to work well and you didn't have to have them taken off your shoe by ambulance staff at the finish line. Although they did require some consideration if you wore Salomon quick lace shoes that don't have laces you can tie them into. Being not much larger than a wide pandrop I just swallowed mine so that every time I now cross a chipped finish mat I register my time.
The Porty ladies came 14th team out of 24. Men (led home by superfast Matt B) came 15th out of 42. Well done to all.
M & A both racing for the line
Mary spent the whole final straight catching up.
They were given the same time (59.02) although Mary crossed the second
mat first according to the unbiased photographer!
how much fun was that?
6.7 miles not counting the extra yards walking away
from the finish line too gubbed to put off the Suunto!
questionable taste
or the food stuff of elite athletes?
or the food stuff of elite athletes?
team photo: A Stav.!
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