Loch Leven Half 15/05/10
It was a bright but breezy day on Saturday for the Loch Leven half marathon. Marc gave a lift to Willie, Caroline, Michael N and me (thanks Marc) and we met up with Graham, Katie, Phillipa and Tom (not running - on camera duties instead) in Kinross. We warmed up by doing a recce of the last half mile of the course. Willie has a good eye for detail and pointed out that the new school at the edge of town was a good landmark to aim for at the end of the race. We also noticed that there was a fairly stiff headwind so those last few miles back to Kinross were likely to be tough!
The race basically involves running anticlockwise around Loch Leven, starting just to the south of Kinross and finishing at the rugby club in the north of the town. I ran the first few miles at just over 6 minute mile pace and then increased the pace slightly as we turned left to run along the south of the loch with the wind behind us. I kept up the pace for the gradual incline at mile 4 and was steadily moving up the field. The toughest hill of the course was at Scotlandwell and I shortened my stride slightly to make it up to the top without using up too much energy.
After going through Kinnesswood I spent the next few miles gradually catching up the Edinburgh AC runner ahead of me. I was hoping that if I caught him then we might be able to beat them for the top team but it was never going to be as there were another two Edinburgh AC runners ahead of me.
I was really pleased to go past the 10 mile mark in under 1 hour as it was the first time I'd ever done this. However the next few miles were into the stiff headwind so would not be easy. I eventually caught the Edinburgh AC runner at the water station and ran with him for the next few miles. As we turned left off the main road I knew that there wasn't too far to go and sure enough it wasn't long before the new school came into view.
My legs felt like they were running on empty now but I sensed that the same was true of the Edinburgh AC runner. I made an effort to increase the pace and managed to pull away from him. It was good to finally turn off the road and into the playing fields to cross the finish line. I was really pleased to find out that I had finished 10th.
Note to self: If it is sunny and you're wearing a running vest then you really need to put sun cream on your shoulders!
Report Gareth Green
Photos - many thanks to the excellent roadrunpics who took the photos
Website / results here
This photo sent in by Fifer Sandra Aitken through facebook. Thanks.
