Dechmont Law 10k Trail Race 4/6/06
A small contingent of us showed up to do this 10 K Trailrace on the fringes of Livingston. In fact there were only three of us: Karen, Rab and myself. Fortunately, we had brought our extended families along to make up the numbers and cheer us on. Most of our supporters also competed in the 2.5 K fun run. My kids had a whale of a time. This was the first time they properly entered a run and just having their number was enough to keep them happy for quite a while. I wasn't going to be involved in the fun run myself, but Esther (6) seemed unstoppable and had to be escorted around the course. She went off like a shot and had to be slowed down considerably to ensure a safe finish. She did extremely well finishing 20th in just 13 minutes, imagine how proud I was. In the meantime Patience and Saskia (4) had found themselves a shortcut, which was just as well as Saskia spend most of the "run" on mummies shoulders.
Dechmont LawAfter my experience in the 10K in Dunbar two months ago, I had decided to pace myself a bit better this time. Back then, I had come down with a bad cold the night before, and had gone off at a pace which might have suited me better fifteen years ago. As a result I had to walk two or three times during the race. The conditions for this race were perfect; dry, not too hot, and there wasn't any mud to speak of on the course, which ran in a convoluted way through a beautiful woodland setting. There were about 110 competitors in the main race. After the start it went uphill through open terrain for about 500 meters after which we all disappeared into the wood. Here, the track was quite narrow at times, but by then the pack had spread out enough and we weren't getting in each other’s way too much. After 3K we re-emerged in the start/finish area for the first time, to do a smaller loop the other way. I had settled into a comfortable pace and by the time we went past the start/finish area for the second time I had moved up a few places. The last loop was about 5.5K. For a some part it ran parallel to the M8, but there was enough greenery, and the track was challenging enough to be able to ignore that. After a final climb to the highest point of the race, coming back to the finishing area (for the third time) was a delight. About 500 meters down the hill on smooth grass seemed to take no effort at all. I finished 20th in 38:13 and I have to say I was more than happy with that. Karen was 29th 40:31 and first in her category. After an impressive sprint, Rab ended 52nd in 43:27.
In summary we all agreed this had been an entertaining run. Very well organized, and importantly, for a Dutchman living in Scotland, very good value for money.
Report Leo Zijerveld
