The Southside Six

On Sunday 6th November, I ran The Southside Six.  Interestingly, I have waited about 18 months to run this race.  This event is small, limited to about 300 entries (I think) and sells out within minutes of entries opening online.  Last year I set my alarm to remind myself when the entries opened, I logged on, I opened the entry page, and clicked refresh repeatedly until registration was available.  I sped through the registration, and secured my place.  15 minutes later it was sold out.  Now all I had to do was wait until the race day and run this amazing little race.  Except Ruby arrived.  2 weeks late.  With a two week old baby, there was no way I could or wanted to leave Kata and Ruby all day to go run a 26km (16 mile) race.  So I missed out.  Also, when I entered last year, I got a Southside Six buff that has been sitting in my drawer ever since, never worn as I can't wear the buff of a race that I haven't ran.  And so it was that I found myself this year. setting my alarm to remind myself when entries opened, logging on, etc, etc, etc. 

Except this time, the day came, and I ran the gosh darned race.

I woke up feeling rubbish. Coughing.  It was a beautiful autumnal day but it was freezing.  I mean really cold.  The race started (and finished) in Queen's Park and all the talk amongst the runners beforehand was about how cold it was.  As a rule of thumb, it's better to wear too little than too much for running/racing, but it was painful to stand outside in shorts.  In the end I opted for my merino wool long sleeved base layer and a pair of gloves and I think this was the right decision.  I was never too warm and in the shaded sections of the race I was still freezing.

Queen's Park.  Nice day for a run.

I need to mention the portaloos.  I have never seen facilities like this at any race or anywhere outside a 4* hotel.  They were the cleanest, best stocked portaloos I've ever seen, with hand sanitizer, a choice of soap, and unbelievably....toilet paper! All that was missing was a wee guy with a basket of aftershaves and who turned the tap on for you. 

The race is 25km (15.5 miles) so just a bit further than a half-marathon.  It's a similar distance to the Seven Hills race that I ran earlier in the year, but without the hills, so I was aiming for a finish time around the 2 hour mark.  We congregated at the flag pole in Queen's Park.  I am sure I remember my dad telling me once that the flag pole marked the highest point in Glasgow, and whether I am right about that or not, the panoramic view of the city was stunning and it made me think that come the end of this 25km race, it HAD to finish with an uphill.  I'd deal with that when the time came. 

Before

I didn't hear the pistol or air horn or guy shouting "Go!".  I noticed that people around me had started to run and so I followed suit.  We headed downhill (!!!!) to the first park on our route which was to be Kings Park.  I was only 1.5km into the race before I heard my first shout of "HBT!".  Remarkable given I was all the way out here in the West coast running a small race - the shout came from a fellow runner, from Bellahouston Road Runners.  Thanks to that guy.  I reached Kings Park without event and received my first coloured sticker to prove I'd been there.  From Kings Park it was on to Linn Park.

Hands up, I'd never heard of Linn Park.  Turns out Linn Park is really nice.  The Cart River runs through it and it's beautiful.  There were lots of supporters here cheering us on, and things were going quite well as I collected my second little coloured sticker.  Onwards to Rouken Glen. 

It's a long way from Linn Park to Rouken Glenn and it's pretty much buy traffic and noisy roads the whole way.  I wasn't much fun.  I was really struggling and I looked at my Garmin to see I was about 9km in - still a long way to go and I was shattered.  I couldn't get any speed in my legs.  My lungs were fine, I could have held a conversation, but my legs were so heavy.  About 3km later I reached Rouken Glen.  I haven't been in Rouken Glen for years, and as I entered and ran through, I had flash backs to a VERY long time ago.  In 2001 I worked for a company in Paisley called Ciba Specialty Chemicals.  I was 21.  A few of us decided we would run the nearby Rouken Glen 5km race and went out a few lunch times to "train".  There was also a 10km race which one of the guys ran, but for me at that time 10km might as well have been a marathon it was so ridiculous a proposition.  Anyway, I ran the race, finished, and vomited into a bin.  It is crazy how much fitter I am at 36 than I was at 21. 

So Rouken Glen was nice, I got my sticker, and I was struggling big time.  Onwards to Pollok Park.

Pretty sure that when it comes to number of stickers, I won.

Darn you Pollok Park.  Darn you to Heck!  If I never see this park again it'll be too soon.  Or maybe just if I never RUN through it again it'll be too soon.  Not long ago I was running trough Pollok Park in the Great Scottish Run and I was knackered.  Well here I was again, running uphill and down dale in this, the largest of Glasgow's parks and shattered again.  I could barely bend my legs but I didn't dare consider a DNF, I had to earn that buff!  Onwards I strove therefore to Bellahouston Park. 

Bellahouston Park was also part of The Great Scottish Run course and again came with memories of exhaustion.  This was actually considerably worse than the Great Scottish Run because while in Bellahouston Park they sent us up a steep set of stairs to the top of a very big hill.  I have fond memories of an early date with Kata at this exact spot and I did think about that at the time, but the pleasant reminiscing did nothing to dull the pain in my legs.  At the top of the steps I was rewarded with my penultimate sticker and I pushed on to from whence I came.  To Queen's Park.

After

I really remember trying to push hard for the final stretch, aware by now that my 2 hour target was burst, but trying to keep it respectable.  I literally couldn't bend my legs.  I was cold.  I was exhausted.  I was not enjoying myself.  I craved the finish line.  I must have looked as bad as I felt because I was overtaken by another runner who asked me if I was OK.  Entering Queen's Park, I saw the stairs to the finish. 

I know now that this is what they actually looked like...

The Potemkin Steps

This is what they looked like at the time... 

Queen's Park Steps

I can't remember where I got my final (gold) sticker, if it was at the top or bottom of the steps (I was delirious) but I remember two girls fighting over giving me a sticker and I ended up with two.  I've still got it :-)

Actually delirious

I crossed the line in 2hrs 10mins absolutely broken.  They gave me a foil blanket to keep me warm which I gratefully received, but I couldn't get it wrapped around me because of the (freezing) wind.  I totally intended to stay for the prize giving but in the end I had to head back early to the warmth of my car.  Pity.  There was soup and cake provided which I hovered up and was very grateful for. 

I felt cold and rubbish all day.  Ruby has an apple so doesn't care. 

This was a very well organised event.  It seemed at times like every runner had their own personal marshal.  Thank you very much to everyone who volunteered and stood outside on this bitterly cold November Sunday to make sure that we gout our race - you are heroes.  I didn't hugely enjoy the course or the event due to my feeling rubbish, and I doubt I will run this again, but I have wanted to run the race for a long time and I am glad I did. 

Results are in, I finished 115th out of 301 in 2:10:24.  Hmmmm.

Great Scottish Run 2016 - Half Marathon

Last year I ran the Great Scottish Run 10k.  Now that I look back on it, it must have been the last race I ran before Ruby was born.  Anyway, I loved it and I got an unexpected PB, basically because I was carried on a wave of adrenalin and support on the course which is entirely  through Glasgow City Centre.  I straight away signed up for the Half-Marathon distance this year, and I've been looking forward to it ever since. Sunday 2nd October was the half-marathon and I wasn't disappointed.

Kata had been at a night out in Glasgow the previous evening and had stayed over.  I drove through in the morning of the race with Ruby, where I met Scott and Kirsty who would be babysitting while I ran.  So it was that my sister, brother-in-law, and daughter waved me off from the start line.  it was really funny because Ruby spotted me and kept laughing at me.  I got one last cuddle (from Ruby, not from Scott) before the air horn sounded the start of the race and I started to walk slowly to the start line.  There is a real carnival atmosphere in George Square (the start of the race) and the race itself is HUUUUUUGE.  I think about 10,000 runners ran the half-marathon, not that there were quite that many in the first (white) wave that I was in.  I started next to a guy dressed as a heart who was attempting some sort of world record for world's fastest mascot.

Ruby's Standard "Race Face"

Once underway, I ran up St Vincent St (steep and long hill - cruel) pushed on by music and cheering crowds.  It was spine tingling.  I completed the first 1km in 4:29 which was bang on my (sort of) target.  I had no expectations of a PB but I did want to run under 1hr 40mins.  The downhill section to Finnieston and The Kingston Bridge was completed in 4:21 and I made an effort to reign myself in a wee bit.  I was taking it relatively easy - to enjoy myself, but to keep my time respectable. 

 Should have realsied I'd have to share my pre-race snack

I love running over The Kingston Bridge.  I have driven over it countless times.  I have been stuck in traffic jams on it countless times.  Running over it, on the motorway no less, is just a lot of fun.  How  many races allow you to run on a motorway?  It's fantastic.  The city centre nature of this course is one of the main factors that makes it what it is and so enjoyable.  There was however, just before the bridge, a bit of a bottle neck where the road narrowed but it was close to the start so there was still a large field of runners all bunched up.  I found myself next to "Worlds Fastest Mascot" again and he appeared to have a friend running with him who was wearing a kilt and had a GoPro strapped to his chest.  His job seemed to be to run ahead and make way for his mate.  He was running ahead and shouting "Coming through!  Excuse Me!  Behind You!" etc.  That was the last time I saw "Worlds Fastest Mascot" until the very end when I crossed the line just in time to see his TV interview finishing. 

The weather was stunning, the view from the bridge was stunning, and I was in a great mood as I headed over the river and into the south side of the city.

My time stayed pretty consistent, always around 4:30/km.  The next point of any real note was in Pollok Park where it started to get hilly and as we reached the 10km (6 mile) mark my legs started to get tired and I recorded a 4:52.  My legs and lungs normally assume that after 10km we are done, so it was a bit of a shock to the body to receive the update from my brain that no, we were still going.  The 4:52 was the kick up the backside that I needed to push harder, and I did.

About 15km in, at Bellahouston Park, I started to get really tired.  Strangely, despite being tired, I rationalised that I only had "A Parkrun to go" so upped the pace.  This worked for about 3km before I was absolutely shattered and only momentum and the shame of a DNF kept me going for the final 2km.  Except it wasn't another 2km was it?  It was another 3km.  I wlways forget that a half-marathon is 21km and not 20km!  In Bellahouston Park I spotted what looked like a brown vest in the distance.  possible with a red head?  Possibly Mairead?  I thought she was too far to catch and I made no effort to, but I did pass her just as we were on Paisley Road West near Ibrox.  I think she must have been injured.  I saw two other club mates during the race.  One at the start line, Brian, and another quite near the start just over the bridge, Chloe.

 

Reunited With Ruby!

Actually, I was on the home stretch, and I swear this is true with no exaggeration, I was about 20km into the race and heading for the finish line, when I was thinking to myself, "I think that this is the first race EVER I have ran in a brown club vest where no one has ever shoute.."

"HBT!!!!"

Just as I was about to complete the thought that no one had shouted HBT at me, someone did.  Some teenagers sitting on a wall!  I give them a wee wave and they cheered.  So nice."

I crossed the line and finished in a respectable 1:35:52.  I met the family at the pre-arranged meeting, point, rendezvoused with Kata, and headed home.  I plan to run this race again next year.  Maybe Kata will too next time?

 

Steven A Laverty's "Rendezvous With Kata"

 

N.B. Kata and I got married on 15th October. :-)