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Haile Gebrselassie's last competitive race. I couldn't resist the opportunity to tell the grandchildren that I had ran in the last race of a legend, and possibly even deny Haile's to tell his family about the time he once ran in the same race as Steven Laverty! As it turned out, HG (as I am now going to call him) wasn't able to take part due to his sister being ill. Unfortunate, and hopefully his sister recovers well.
As it turned out, it was a fantastic event anyway and I have already signed up for the half-marathon event next year. The festival atmosphere around the 10k and half-marathon races was the best I have ever experienced, and Glasgow has really shown Edinburgh how to put on an event. Running through the city centre was amazing, the crowd were present all around the course, and the support was fantastic. Glasgow is a different type of city from Edinburgh for sure, and I think much better at putting on this type of occasion.
I had been working this weekend and after a 20 hour shift finishing at 1am, I awake at 6:30am totally befuddled. I had no idea what was going on when my alarm went off, where I was, or what my name was. I got up anyway. Kata kindly got up to give me a lift to the train station from where I made the short trip to Glasgow. The train was full of runners (who else at 7:45 on a Sunday morning) and the festival atmosphere was already building. It was standing room only.
7:30am, delirious, and ready to run
I arrived at Glasgow Queen St Station and stepped out into George Square and into the middle of a party. The music was load, and there was barely a patch of ground to stand on never mind warm up. I therefore went to my starting area early and joined in the group warm up that was orchestrated by a man in a leotard standing on top of a crane! Turns out I was in a different (and faster) wave than I thought I was at the start so it's lucky I decided to get an earlier train. We got underway at just before 9am (race started was none other than Paula Radcliffe) and I started the run up the St Vincent St hill.
People's Palace
Now....I had no expectations time wise for this race what so ever. It is a hilly course, starting up a steep road, and later on crossing The Kingston Bridge which as well as being the highlight of the race, is a very large and steep road bridge crossing the River Clyde in the centre of Glasgow. That combined with the lack of sleep, I was happy just to take part and complete the race. My only aim was to run in under 45 minutes because...well...just because.
There was none of the usual delay at the start. Everyone around me set off at a good pace which was great - no dodging and weaving required. I completed the first 1km and crested the big hill in 4 minutes 20 seconds. Not bad! I then settled in to just running at a decent pace and taking it all in. I remember a guy standing outside his shop with a microphone and speaker, blaring out what I am ignorantly going to call "Bollywood type music" and doing amateur commentary on the race. It was hilarious and I dare say wouldn't happen in Edinburgh. At 3km we crossed The Kingston Bridge and it was a thrill to be allowed to run over this major road artery and cross the River Clyde. I just kept looking left and right and taking it all in.
So true.
Shortly after the Kingston Bridge I witnessed the most broken corner cutting I have ever seen in a race. Sometimes in these big events where the road is congested, runners will cut a corner marginally so as they don't need to stop or slow too much. But what I saw here was shocking. This guy must have knocked about 200m off the race distance - at least! Someone near me shouted "Oi!" at him and a nearby marshall yelled at him too. What was the point in that? I hope he was embarrassed. If it had happened at the sharp end of the race it would have been a clear disqualification.
Glasgow Green and the finish
Starting to get tired at about 6km (and heading towards Ibrox Stadium) I noticed a runner ahead of me whose style looked absolutely effortless. I tried to copy them and be more gazelle like, and what do you know, it had an almost immediate impact. I've been running for a long time now and copying this one person in the middle of a race made a huge difference. Within 500m I'd left the person I was copying in my wake!
Crossing the River Clyde again (this time at The Squinty Bridge) the crowd was now several people deep and the hairs were standing up on the back of my neck. I didn't feel tired anymore. Heading in to Glasgow Green I felt heroic and realised I was now on for a totally unexpected PB - mostly due to the fantastic support and my new, languid running style. I crossed the line in 42:11 which was fantastic.
Post PB Selfie
Unfortunately I was back at work that day so had to shoot straight home to Edinburgh. I felt guilty about leaving the party early, but I had to, and that's why I decided to sign up for next year straight away. This was a highlight of my running career and I can't recommend it enough.
I was 9.6km into the race before I heard someone shout at me "H...B....T!!!!" A new record.
Yes, but 281st out of how many?!
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