Then, onto Falkirk Wheel, to join the G2E race at the second checkpoint (about 22 miles in). I arrived too late to see the first two runners, Bob Turner and Grant Jeans, but in time to see Rob Soutar, Gerry Craig, and Duncan Oakes run through together in 3rd, 4th and 5th, looking comfortable. No stopping, straight through the checkpoint - and I got a smile and wave from Rob and Gerry, no stopping for hugs, lol!!
I had a chat with the marshals - amused when one of them asked "Do you know someone running today?" - and as other runners started to come through, I helped hand out drop-bags, and cheering everyone through with a 'well done', or a 'doing great' type comment. Sandra McDougall and Ian Beattie arrived from the canal path - also here to spectate and support. They'd done the same as me, running Falkirk parkrun in the morning, before heading off to the canal to see runners, and they were going to be popping up at a couple of other spots on the route. They didn't stay at the checkpoint, though, and headed off just as Julie Clarke was arriving. :-) I'm sure it wasn't on purpose, hehe.... ;-) Julie and I chatted, cheered runners through, and handed them drop-bags while the checkpoint marshalls recorded numbers and helped refill bottles and bladders with water, etc. I'd cheered through Neil, Izzy, Gavin, Craig, and more, (having provided Izzy with a drink of hot tea, as she'd requested!!) and after John Sneddon had been through, suffering a bit, we stayed a little while longer before deciding to head into town. We came to the conclusion that it was better to be at the finish line for the winners, than find other spots on the route, so we had a nice cushion of time for us each to drive home, leave the cars, and get a bus into town to meet at the finish area. As it happened, we both arrived around 2pm, long before the first runner was due in, so we met at a cafe across the road and had a spot of lunch and chat instead!
We went across to the finish area for maybe 3-ish, Grant Jeans who had been running closely behind Bob Turner earlier on, had confidently predicted his finish time at around 6:10 (so 3:10pm), which would have been a huge course record, but when we got to the finish area at about 3pm, we found out that both Grant and Bob had dropped out at one of the later checkpoints. I knew this meant that Rob Soutar was on for a good win, but also that we had a wee wait ahead, but other supporters were starting to arrive, including Sandra and Ian, and John turned up having DNF'd halfway through, and the time passed pretty quickly - suddenly, the call went up that the first runner was approaching, and round the corner came a smiling Rob. :-) Absolutely thrilled for him, he ran a great race, finishing in 6:51:20. Gerry finished third, with his mucky legs and rubbish tucked into the back of his shorts, and a big jump and heel-click at the finish line. William Robertson finished 5th, a wee bit concerned he'd had to drop his veganism during the race because he'd had a race nutrition calamity, and ended up with nothing to eat for the last 10 miles, accepting a wee bit of cake from someone to keep him going! What happens on race day.... ;-)As other runners started to finish, I was really enjoying chatting and hugging everyone, including a runner I later found out to be David Ross (not the Scottish one, lol, one from that there Engerland who runs a frankly crazy number of ultras every year....) who'd ran the whole route with a strapped-up shoulder that he'd dislocated the week previous during an 80k race - he was struggling trying to take off his merino top without it hurting his shoulder too much, and if a sweaty ultrarunner is struggling to get out of his clothes, who am I to just stand by?? hehe!!
Donald and Elaine had arrived, to spectate, by this point, and we were all wondering why Craig Mackay hadn't finished yet. I mentioned he'd been having problems with his IT band earlier in the race, so when we spotted his update on FB saying he was walking it in, we told him to man up and get to the finish line!! While we waited, other runners we knew were arriving - Izzy Knox was first female, with a fantastic run from her, finishing well over an hour before the second lady!! She was absolutely gutted to find one of her toenails hanging on for dear life afterwards - she's never lost a toenail before, and whined plaintively that how is she supposed to get married with only 9 toenails! Elaine pointed out how many toenails she's lost as a runner, but that didn't seem to help the wee pouty-faced race winner, lol. Roly McCraw had a great race, and Neil Rutherford finished (I told him he still owes us a Spine Race blog post!) before heading back out to find Sarah who was also running. Gavin came in, and was presented with cake from Julie, which seemed to make the 55 mile run worth it. :-) (Who can argue with cupcakes at a race finish line?!!) - still we waited for Craig... Well, Izzy and I wandered along to Costa for a big mug of tea, but that's kind of like wating, right?
Donald walked up past the corner to watch out for him, and so when one runner passed him heading happily to the finish, and Craig stumbled along painfully behind, Donald apparently became the wee devil on his shoulder and told him a sprint finish would catch the guy in front. So, that's what Craig did - a mental 100m sprint finish, flying right past the guy at the finish line, arms and legs spread wide in front of the race photographer as he flew over the line and ended in a heap on the floor. Turns out the guy he'd just stolen a moment of finish line glory from was a first time ultra runner... Julie and I gave Craig SUCH a hard time for that, haha!
We stayed a while longer, before I decided I was going to head home for dinner, getting home around 8pm-ish. I'd been out of the flat for 12 hours, but that's a pretty good way to spend a Saturday, I have to admit. :-) Happy Sarah. Roll on the HOKA Highland Fling!!!! x x
Great results all round :-)
ReplyDelete35:21 for a hilly 5k is brilliant. A PB too. You really can't ask for more!!
Cheers - oh, but I can ask for more, and I WILL deliver. :-) :-) :-)
DeleteThe nice thing is that the PB for the route came naturally. PB's with running isn't your primary goal for the year but thanks to the wider goal of good health and weight-loss these great results are just happening as consequence of your better health.
DeleteRunning races is probably a pretty good measure of your health progression, it taxes not only your power to weight ratio, but your aerobic fitness and mental resilience as well. The mental resilience side is so stressed by doing weights as it's just a short burst of intense exercise. While running a 5k hard really taxes your resolve to keep pushing.
Which really shows just how you've come along so far with the whole health package, which is just fantastic.