On Saturday 14th November I ran the Braids XC race, and was supported by the newest addition to the family, my amazing little daughter, Ruby. Let me take a minute to update everyone on how that wee bump that Kata ran Blackrock 5 with all those months ago, came to be a wee person that was supporting her Daddy at last weekend’s race.
Ruby Piroska Laverty was born on 23rdOctober and she and kata are doing brilliantly. Ruby is thriving and although just 3 weeks old, she is growing in front of our eyes and having her in our lives is a joy. Yeah, she can be grumpy, she takes up all of what used to be o free time, and is severely restricting my racing (I missed out on Southside Six), but every time she stops to stare at us and you can see her wee mind working away and thinking things over, it’s worth it 1000 times over. It feels like she has been here for 3 years never mind 3 weeks and Kata and I are absolutely over the moon, or as they say in Hungary, “we could catch a bird”.
Here is the amazing wee girl…
Bless.
So Ruby made her HBT debut on Saturday, and along with Kata came along to watch me run around The Braids Hills twice. I’ve missed a couple of The Borders XC series already this year due to looking after my daughter, but this race was only a 10 minute drive away so thankfully I was able to make this one. The race is organised by Edinburgh University Hare & Hounds running club, who are closely associated with HBT. I have both walked and ran The Braids several times before so I was quite familiar with the course which was a kind of XC trail race with a wee steep hill thrown in for good measure. Traditionally in XC, the men and woman run separate races, with the women’s event being shorter. This is always controversial and on this occasion both the shorted and longer events were open to both sexes, with a few people running both. I don’t have time for that sort of nonsense now so I signed up for and then ran the longer “10k” event (really it was 9.35k) that was 2 laps of the shorter race’s course.
Blessed.
I think the race started early and as I was walking to the start line everyone already assembled there started running, so then so did I. This meant that I started from the back and was caught in traffic for the first 1km or so in a narrow, uphill section of the race. It didn’t hinder me too much if at all though, as the field was strong and made up of what seemed to be 90% club runners. As I pushed on up the hill trying to find gaps to press ahead through, I saw familiar runners around me that both I should be beating, and runners that should be beating me, so it was a chaotic first 1km for everyone. The hill section of the race was the first 2km of the first lap and it is a short, steep, and tough climb, tackled before you have caught your breath. Once at the top, the trail down was very narrow and rocky. I was stuck behind a slower runner ahead of me who I had time to notice was wearing entirely inappropriate shoes and was struggling to stay on his feet on the slippy descent never mind race! Once I managed to get by him I made up some time on the downhill (I love my Salomon Fellraisers). As is traditional for XC, the weather was cold and wet. The rain stayed off for the race, but underfoot was muddy and there were several very large, deep, and unavoidable puddles that had to be ran straight through – no matter, once you have ran through one big puddle, your feet can’t get any more wet. The rest of the course was pretty much flat with some very minor ascents and descents. I ran as fast as I could, mercifully overtook a runner with a large, stuffed toy cow on his back, and on the whole made my way up the field. I was also overtaken a few times but on balance I’d say I improved on my place pretty regularly and consistently.
A fraction of a second later and this would have been a fantastic photo. Unlucky, Kata :-)
Muddy as usual.
Support for HBT was strong from the (mostly) girls of HBT who’d ran the pervious even and were now cheer leading, and also from the Hare & Hounds. I heard some personal support for me as I neared the end of the first lap as (I think) Anna and Amelia shouted something along the lines of “Go Steve! Who’s the Daddy?!” which made me smile. The best was yet to come as I reached the start/finish line to start my second lap and Kata was there with Ruby. Ruby looked unimpressed (she may have been asleep), but I’ll always remember the first time my daughter turned out to watch me race.
Tackled the hill for the second time, ran around the course again, and finished is a respectable 45:35 197th out of 253. Not since last year’s Borders XC races have I been so far down the field. It’s to be expected, the competition is very strong.
Me, Kata, and Ruby. All winners :-)
Worth noting that as I tried to catch a runner ahead of me, I changed my running style again just as I did on The Great Scottish Run 10k. I relaxed and tried to be more graceful, and just as I did the last time, I made up the gap and passed the runner ahead quite quickly. I think I am definitely on to something if I can just remember to try this from the start the whole way around next time.
Well done to Rachel who won the 5km event, then ran the 10k and finished 5th!
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