"Whit's fur ye'll no go past ye."

It’s been a funny week, the time between the Lochaber marathon and the London Marathon. Lochaber was a marathon we had contemplated doing but if and only if we were mentally and physically ready for the challenge. The training through the winter had been going well but a combination of factors resulted in us deciding that Lochaber was not for us this year. It was the correct decision as we had so much on our plate especially has we had decided to become run leaders at the Speed of Light in the summer. However, it didn’t stop us wishing we were entered as Lochaber marathon day approached.

Just to emphasis the correctness of our decision, last week I started to notice that the problem with my ankle was getting worse, this was a strange injury. I seemed to be able to run freely but after running I was limping on my right ankle for a couple of hours. It didn’t stop me running Strathclyde parkrun on Saturday. I did, however, give my freedom run a miss which gave me the opportunity to partake of the pre-race banter much of which featured the marathons both London and Lochaber.

We were having a quiet weekend but made the mistake of tuning into the television coverage of the Virgin London Marathon. There is nothing surer to get you uttering those words – must enter the ballot for next year! The event was overshadowed by the tragic death of Claire Squires in the final stages of the marathon.  Although what happened next was proof if proof were needed of the power of social networks and television and indeed the nature the sport of running when her donation site went into overdrive – testament to potential of charity runners.

The marathon does remain the ultimate challenge and will always have an enormous pull for people. Make  no mistake, the runners that complete the distance deserve RESPECT, and are worth a donation to their favourite charity, we are sure we all know someone that is looking for a donation. Go on make their day!

Thanks to Ross Goodman for the photographs

2nd Anniversary……………. Already

Over two years ago we got involved in the organisation of the Strathclyde parkrun, up until that point we were regular parkrunners and volunteers at Glasgow parkrun. We stated at the time that we would help out but that we were looking to move closer to work in Edinburgh. Funny how some decisions can change your life plans completely. We did move in August 2011 but not as far to the east as we originally intended, the reason – Strathclyde parkrun. Through Strathclyde parkrun we have gained many friends and were loathed to give them up.

Anyway I digress, this Saturday we celebrated Strathclyde parkruns 2^nd anniversary. Fittingly, Mo was race director on Saturday just as she had been for our very first event two years ago. It was on that first event that home baking was introduced to Strathclyde parkrun and it has become an established feature of our parkrun.  Mo’s rocky road has become synonymous with the parkrun experience at Strathclyde park. Several of our parkrunners regularly contribute some home baking

Saturday was no different; there were tons of home baking and goodies for the post-race celebration. However, although the sun shone, it was a biting wind that drove most of our parkrunners to their cars in preference to hanging around to polish off the goodies. That just means that there will be plenty of goodies for after the run this Saturday, well the goodies that are still in date.

I was fortunate to get the opportunity to run our anniversary event and experience that biting cold head wind on the way out and on the way back. As is my routine now I ran a freedom run before the parkrun, a chance to suss out the course so the head wind was not a shock to me. Once I crossed the line I was on the registration gig, collecting barcodes and tokens – for me that is a great gig. You get to talk to the runners and find out their run was! The parkrun experience is not just the run it’s the whole social side to the experience that makes it irresistible.

After packing up, it was off to the Waterside café to process the results and a nice warm cup of hot chocolate for Jo and a hot latte for Mo. Happy, it’s what Saturday morning were made for!

Back to the Racing

They said that there would be snow, but we didn’t believe them. Sure enough on Tuesday morning when we woke up there was snow in Harburn. Not only that but it stayed with us until the Thursday. So from shorts and short sleeved running kit it was back to the longs. Running tights and long sleeved running tops were back in the bag.

Training this week was low key with the Tom Scott 10 mile road race firmly in our sights. Tuesday saw us doing some hill work and skipping the Circuit classes – it was just too cold! In reality it wasn’t as cold as December/January time it was just a shock to the system after the glorious weather of the previous week. Wednesday was even more of a disaster, there was nobody turned up for the Beginners session. However on Thursday we ended up taking two groups out, one a leisurely 3 miles and the other a slightly more challenging 5.5 miles.

Strathclyde parkrun saw a return to pacing Saturday and we had almost all the pacing vests out. Jo was running with the 22 on his back and recorded 21:55 – not bad, Mo was running with 27 on her back and recorded 27:11 – room for improvement.

Sunday saw us once again head for Strathclyde park for the Tom Scott 10 mile road race. Maybe we should move through to the West as we seem to head there every weekend – no wait a minute we just moved from there! Anyway as always the Tom Scott brings out a large number of club runners which can be a bit intimidating. After registration, where they presented you with a wee shield, we gathered the troops and got them psyched up for the ten miles ahead.

Before we knew it we were heading for the Start line and the big race. It was a busy start with a lot of now-familiar faces. The race itself is basically two loops, a big 6 mile loop and a small 4 mile loop. We were all pretty soon in the zone and setting off in our own personal challenge – mine was to run under 8 minute miles.

The best part of race day is always the finish line where you catch up with all your group and friends for the post-race banter. All our jogscotland group that took part in what for most of them was there first 10 mile race did amazingly well – we were so proud of them. It’s a great feeling when your group achieve their goals. How did MoJo get on – well we both achieved what we set out to as well. 

Photo courtesy of Reynards Nursery

(Thanks, Andrew)

Summertime - or was it?

Last week saw a return to Speed of Light duties. With the glorious weather and the clocks springing forward, we headed for the hills or Arthur’s Seat to be precise. On Monday night the Craggs were surprisingly busy with people and runners, in particular, as we headed with stopwatch and map in hand to familiarise ourselves with paths on Arthur’s seat. Coming to a halt on the hill we looked across the Craggs and to our astonishment there in the distance was our mirror image a couple of runners poring over a map and clutching a stopwatch – it’s an amazing place Arthur’s seat where all things are possible. After an hour and a half on the hills we decided enough was enough and we headed home, noting that we really do need to up the hill work, some of these paths are pretty steep.

The rest of the week was spent with our jogscotland group taking them on longer runs to get them ready for the Tom Scott road race in a couple of weeks. Must admit, they are all doing really well but it is an awful lot easier to go out running when the conditions are so good. The true test will come when the weather deteriorates and you need to drag yourself out there.

Once again on Saturday we headed for Strathclyde parkrun for our weekly parkrun fix. Again we were blessed with perfect running conditions although for some unknown reasons we both found it hard going this week could have had something to do with burning the candle at both ends. Again something else to avoid in August!

Sunday saw April arrive and us heading into Edinburgh at five am for our gig at the Kilomathon. Surprisingly we had to scrape ice of the car! We were responsible for the Start area and had to get it set-up before the runners arrived. As a runner you never appreciate how much work goes into setting-up one of these events or for that matter how many people are beavering away behind the scenes to deliver the event. Anyway when you have The Jammys at your disposal then anything is possible. All too quickly the runners left the start area and we got the start area back to normal and headed home – home by 10:30 not bad, the rest of the day was our own to do as we wished in the spring sunshine.