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Alloa HM 18 Mar 07
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Okay I did promise a race report, so here goes(split into two parts) - Sunday 18th March seen the 25th running of the Alloa Half Marathon in what the race announcer said was the worst weather they had seen in the race history…… and believe me, he was right!!
Rising to sunshine streaming in the bedroom window at 7:30 actually made me think that just maybe it was going to be a good day after all and not what the online BBC Weather had been reporting all week. Unfortunately when I walked out the back door 30 minutes later, that thought had vanished as a flurry of snow greeted me. With the flurry only lasting about 5 minutes, the drive through to Alloa was quite pleasant, especially looking over towards the snow covered Ochil’s and bright skies.
Got the car parked just after half eight and made my way up to Lornshill Academy where the race starts. Met up with one of my club mates who was already their having brought a friend through, had a coffee and then spent the next 15 minutes discussing the running gear for the day, “is it vest & shorts or is it long sleeved top, vest & shorts, do we wear gloves?”, you name we discussed it. More club mates arrived and the discussion continued. In the end I opted for the shorts, long sleeved top and vest option; felt I would still be too warm if I stuck the gloves on too.
9:50 and I headed outside, no not so I could stand in the cold for 10 minutes, but so my Garmin could acquire its signal. A minutes silence was also held in memory of those who had helped in the race over its 25 year history that were no longer with us. At 10am on the dot the gun went and a mad scramble for the 1st corner ensued. Safely away it was a case of settling into a decent rhythm, especially with the first mile being slightly downhill which was then followed by a loop round a housing estate, past the 2 mile marker and back out onto the main road again. Another club mate- Neil passed me as we went by 3, that’s when you start heading out of Alloa up towards Sauchie and the 4 mile point, all of this was great the wind was either on your back or non existent – although it was still cold!!.
Approaching 10, we spotted the myRace car parked at the end of a farm road, that meant John or one of his photographers was near bye, and sure enough, there he was at the top of the incline by the mile marker – smile guys (myRace.co.uk is a Scottish running magazine BTW). We reached the left turn that brought us to the 11mile point, another ¼ mile and we were at the bottom of the ‘dreaded’ hill, okay its not that bad – honest!! As 2 of the other guys proceeded to run away from me…. (Note to self: remember to leave a bit in the tank for this!).
Upon reaching the top and the final water station at 12, it was time for another left turn and the final hurdle. Had a quick look over towards the Ochil’s and that’s when I caught site of the snow hitting the hill foots, you had to feel for everyone still down their. A ‘Bogie’(A runner from an Edinburgh club) caught up with me at this point and we pushed each other all the way to the finish, just managing to pip him over the line. A quick chat with a couple of club mates ensued before I headed for the showers. Went back out afterwards to watch a few others finishing, before going back to the car and heading home for a relaxing bath – and a couple of beers while watching the footie.
Cheers Baza
Jimbo, did you manage to get to the race?
however I told they ran out of water in 2017 and water station staff were picking half empty used bottles to hand back out to runners!
.... and most of the roads are not even shut (or one lane at least not even shut off to traffic)
t-shirt meant to be nice though! :-)