Moffat Festival of Running 15k, 11.7.06
This was my third year at Moffat, Dom’s second and Paul and Teresa were there for the first time. I really like this race, but find that hard to understand myself as normally when anyone mentions ‘hill’ and ‘run’ in the same sentence I can always find something more pressing to do. Rearranging my tin cupboard, matching odd socks, that sort of thing. But there is just something attractive about this race. It is very well organised and really friendly, and there is a lot of local support. It is quite a distance to go, and I was glad not to be designated driver on all those winding roads – well done Dom!
Tuesday’s weather was good – it had been sunny but was cloudy and dull by the time the race was due to start. The field seemed smaller than on previous years. A few very late entrants came to join with seconds to spare, then we were off. I started behind the others and caught up with Teresa just before the one mile mark and we puffed along together for a bit. How do some people manage to run quietly? At a mile, we could just about see Paul and Dom disappearing into the distance. Unusually for the way I have been running recently, I felt quite strong after mile one which was sub 8 minutes and continued at that pace for the next couple of miles. The first three and a half miles are gently undulating, very rural and pretty. Lots of sheep, cows, horses, but no genetically modified rabbits on this outing. The great thing about having done this race before is knowing what is in front of you and by the time the hill was in sight I had psyched myself up for it. The first year I ran here I ran all the way up. Last year I couldn’t, and really lost my pace. So I was determined to run the whole one and a half miles this year and did so with the help of my new secret weapon – Virtual Bert, who was somewhere at my left shoulder repeating ‘eyes down, use your arms, focus on something ahead’. It worked. I ran past quite a few others and from the foot of the hill to the top not a soul overtook me. In fact, from the foot of the hill to the finish line only five people overtook me, making me pleased that I had paced it right. Last year I wobbled at the top and couldn’t get my legs to go into a downhill gear, so I had been out training round Arthur’s Seat and the Hermitage, practicing going down hill. This paid off, and I feel I recovered quicker than previously and got into a decent rhythm. I had to pause in my self congratulation when a couple I had passed on the hill flew by. I caught up with one of the pair at just after six miles. This was Calum from Annan and District Athletics Club, and we ran most of the rest of the race together. Calum’s company was much appreciated – he made me work to keep up with him and I was working so hard I could barely answer his questions as he chatted away. Local Man Gets Word in Edgeways Shock. I was particularly proud of keeping up with him as the girl he had been running with was 20 years younger than me! I could feel myself flagging after 8 miles but managed to keep the pace up. I know I struggle when coming off a hill and onto the flat and had been trying to incorporate this into training. But I was really struggling by now and waved goodbye to Calum. The last .2 of a mile into town is incredibly hard work. I tried not to lag too far behind and the finish line definitely seemed less distant than previously. I was able to pick it up and attempt a decent finish, not far behind my new best pal. Dom and Paul were just coming back to the line, having grabbed a drink. They had finished close together at around 73 minutes. My time was exactly 76 minutes, something of a record for me. I was really pleased as for the first time in ages I had felt in that zone where you are running hard, enjoying it, and running well. My pb for this course had been 78 something – I can't find archived results on the horrible new Scottish Athletics website – so a real improvement. We went off to cheer in Teresa, an extremely rare experience for me. She hadn’t enjoyed the race as much as she had been feeling under par, but almost immediately said she would do it again.
Disaster then struck! Paul’s partner’s camera ran out of battery prior to the obligatory post race photo. However, a friendly passing Motherwell RC person agreed to take a picture and send it on, so by the time you read this there should be photographic evidence of our endeavours.
It is a good event: small, friendly, well organised, lots of water stations and marshalls, lots of tea and coffee. Several runners asked about Portobello - perhaps we should really make our presence felt next year and bring out the A Team – over to you lot in Gordon’s group!Report Fen Parry
Photos kindly sent on by Kenneth Muir of Motherwell AC - what a gent!
