Dunbar Belhaven Boundary 10K 4/04/09
First Ian's report...
The day started with being sunny and bright, with a cold wind biting, just enough to keep you from overheating. 4 intrepid Portobello runners, Jim Scott, Douglas Young, Gillian Mckelvie, and Ian Brodie travelled to Dunbar to race a well known and well orginized event.
With the sun on our backs we set off in the usual manner with Jim firing out at the front, and the 3 of us fighting to get into contention!! The last mile and a half through the woods sheltered us from the now quite strong wind that was cooling us down too quickly. After we had completed the race and duly received our can of Belhaven Best, the best bit was yet to unfold.
The prizes had all been given out, and we then realised that Gillian should've received a prize, and after some diplomatic interventions from both Douglas and Gillian, Gillian got her prize, and we all went home happy!!
It was very nice to see Douglas's wife Jennie there supporting us. Thanks to Jim Scott for giving Gillian and I a lift in his small, but barely comfortable car, and for giving me a right good slagging on the way home. A great day out.
Report Ian Brodie
Douglas's version...
A small but select group of porties turned up to run this year’s Dunbar Boundary 10k. Namely, those who weren’t running the half marathon the following day. In addition to me, Jim Scott, Gillian McKelvie and Ian Brodie there were two or three new members whose first claim club is not (yet) Portobello.After days of sunshine Saturday broke with showery rain and cold, blustery winds. By start time the rain had stopped but the wind was picking up. So much so that the two large wind turbines in the adjacent field were making a noise like an express train going by. The wind strengthened throughout the course of the race and seemed to change direction such that most of the time it blew straight into face of the runners.
The course leaves the Hallhill Healthy Living Centre and makes its way down to the harbour through cobbled streets and what must have been the heart of the Dunbar fishing industry a couple of generations ago. There are quite a few jinks and turns here and throughout the course, all well-marshalled by a large body of volunteers.
Of course, going down to sea-level means coming back up to the main road level and although this isn’t far there were a couple of points where my Garmin readout went sharply into reverse. I kept sight of Jim Scott for about 3 or 4K but then settled into a high 7 minutes per mile pace which kept me on target for my time of last year (I don’t race against the clock now, but rather the calendar). The final 2k of the race is mainly through woodland, approaching and then veering away from the direction of the finish several times until a tarmac road that leads to a field marked with a nice athletics track and into the funnel. Jim Scott came in at 42:46, hauling back some form after a tricky back operation. At 46:02 I managed to knock 30 seconds off my time of last year while Ian and Gillian both came in within the next minute and a half. Club member Gareth Mayze (left) who races for Teviotdale turned in an impressive 35:16 to claim 3rd place overall.
One niggle after an otherwise excellently organised and provisioned race was an unresolved category mix-up which meant Gillian should have received the 3rd FSV trophy. When this was pointed out she was given a 24-pack of Belhaven instead. Although this suited Ian just fine, as a matter of principle the race organiser should have asked for the trophy back from the woman who won it and who did a ‘Fred Goodwin’ by deciding to keep it although she knew it was an error – even before she picked it up!
All in all though, a good race in a clubhouse with a nice atmosphere and facilities.
Report Douglas Young
Photos Ian, Jennie etc.
Dunbar Website - with link to race photos and results
