Category Archives: race-reports

Cowalfest 10K and 5K Trails Races winners (click to enlarge)

The Cowalfest 5K Fun Run and 10K were once again well received on Sunday (12 October) with runners coming from as far as Perthshire to participate in the stunning setting of Benmore Botanical Gardens. The weather was perfect and times were fast in the well attended 10k.

David Millar defended his 2013 title in a blistering 34 minutes, followed closely by Dunoon Hill Runners own David Walsh, Lisa Marshall and Pam Forsyth. Local Sam Way also ran a very keen race to finish first veteran male, followed by Marion Houston picking up the female veteran trophy.

In the untimed 5K Fun Run, a large number of participants, some out for their first time, had a fast race with local Dominick Kerr picking up the trophy very closely followed by Nicky Ritchie. Clare McFadden running for Dunoon Hill Runners lifted first female home while Mhairi Hunter won the first local female, all runners of course received a finishers pottery medal specially designed by Blue Sky Craft and a goody bag.

Organisers said: “The Cowalfest committee would like to thank all staff at Benmore Botanical Gardens and the shop and café, volunteers and marshals without whom the races would not be possible, sponsors including Run4It, 9Bar, SCOTTISH RUNNING GUIDE, Purdie’s Dunoon, Fynest Fish Inveraray, Argyll Holidays for providing our much needed water station and junior goody bags, Winston Churchill Venison, Loch Fyne Oysters, Fyne Ales, Blue Sky Craft for the pottery medals and Ken Clark Photography for providing the runners with some very special mementoes. Look forward to seeing you all next year.”

Photos courtesy of Ken Clark Photography can be found here.

Photos courtesy of Alan G Forsyth Photography can be found here

Race results are here.

Dunoon Hill Runners were well represented at the Glencoe Marathon and Mamores Half Marathon on Sunday 5 October 2014.

Race results are here.

The Sunday morning ferry to Gourock was abuzz with nervous anticipation as 10 Dunoon Hill Runners plus their supporters made their way to Glasgow for the Great Scottish Run 2014. The weekend saw the city invaded by runners of all ages and abilities, and the Dunoon club was represented in both the 10K and the half marathon.

Dunoon Hill Runners’ Richie Longster

The starting point for the races was George Square where there was a real sense of celebration as various sports personalities participated in the build-up commentary to encourage everyone who was competing. The half marathon itself was led off by the elite runners, including the great Haile Gebrselassie, as well as Commonwealth Gold Medal 2014 marathon winner, Michael Shelley, and last year’s GSR women’s winner, Susan Partridge. Dunoon Hill Runners were scattered across the following 3 waves that headed up St Vincent Street and over the Kingston Bridge. They were soon enjoying the sights and sounds of the race including pipers, drummers and the many spectators cheering them on. With the club vests proudly on display, shouts of “Come on, Dunoon!” from the Glasgow crowd spurred the Cowal team forward. Despite a previously ominous forecast which had resulted in the organisers advising everyone to prepare for cool and wet conditions, the rain largely held off and there was only one refreshing torrential shower.

Roger and Kristine Stewart, Bobby Good and Linda Good of Team DHR

This year’s course was different from last year’s and contained a few more hills which, despite not being on trails, were right up the Hill Runners’ street! The course took in Pollok Country Park and Bellahouston Park before heading back alongside the Clyde to finish at Glasgow Green. The race was won by Stephen Mokoka of South Africa (61:25) and Edna Kiplagat of Kenya (67:57), with team Dunoon Hill Runners not too far behind.

It was great to see the Dunoon Hill Runners club represented for the first time at the Great Scottish Run – an exciting and special event in the Scottish racing calendar – with each of the DHR team successfully completing and a few firsts and personal bests achieved.

DHR runners were: John Colquhoun, Sarah Colquhoun, Pam Forsyth, Bobby Good, Linda Good, Jamie Laing, Richard Longster, Suzanne Longster, Kristine Stewart, Roger Stewart

Race results can be found here.

Photo gallery below courtesy of Alan G Forsyth Photography

by Kenny Taylor

Run completed by: Jack Arnold – Bellahouston Harriers and Kenny Taylor – Dunoon Hill Runners and Westerlands Cross Country Club

Clyde, the aptly named mascot, was one of the stars of the recent Commonwealth Games held in our home city of Glasgow. The Thistle themed character appeared at venues, around the city and even managed to be cast in steel for his own series of statues across the city. Inspired by the success of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow two school teachers on their summer holidays with too much time on their hands set off to run all 29 Clyde mascots on Wednesday the 6th of August.

After studying the map we decided to start out in the west of the city and met in the Botanic Gardens. Together we estimated that a 13 mile easy paced trot around the city lay ahead of us and we set off in high spirits.

There are 29 Clydes in total spread across the city and the early morning saw us move onwards to Victoria Park before circling back to the Clyde at the Riverside Museum. 3 Clydes down and we were approaching 5 miles on the Garmins, not the easy start that we had expected and perhaps the first signs that the Geography teacher should not have been in charge of deciding the best route to navigate the city. Doubts were starting to creep into our minds about the size of the challenge ahead of us.

Mid-morning saw us check off a number of West End Clydes in relatively quick succession including those at Yorkhill Hospital, Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Kelvingrove Park.

Re-energised we moved through the city centre collecting more QR codes on Sauchiehall Street, Buchanan Bus Station and Queen Street Station. The QR codes on each statue were scanned using an app to chart progress towards completion of the trail. Looking online many families had taken this up as a challenge over the duration of the Games and we met many on route keen to be photographed with Clyde and positive about the Games.

After queueing for a photo with the Big G in George Square (not technically a Clyde Statue but part of the official Clyde’s Trail route) and collecting another two Clydes on Buchanan Street and St. Enoch Square we broke for lunch and reevaluated our route. We were 1/3rd of the way through our challenge and at the 9 mile mark. And it was lunch – we were meant to be in the pub by lunch!

Unperturbed we made out East passing through Glasgow Cross and Parkhead before touching base with Clyde in Tollcross Park home to the swimming events during the Games. By this point fatigue was setting in but we managed to sum up the enthusiasm to bound back towards the city centre at 8.5 minute mile pace – our fastest of the day. Clydes were scanned and photographs were taken at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome and Bridgeton cross before we made our way to Glasgow Green. Security was tight and we had to get the long lens out to photograph the second giant Clyde of the day due to the dismantling of the Games Park.

Legs were tiring fast so we stopped for second lunch on the banks of the Clyde. A quick scan of the Garmin showed we had passed half marathon distance expected and were now sitting at 15 miles. After looking at the map again we realised we had to cross the city en route to the BBC before crossing for statues in the South of the city. Heads down time as we collected statues at Broomielaw and Lancefield Quay before catching glimpse of the Hydro and Exhibition Centre where so much great action had taken place the week before.

Crossing the Squinty Bridge and heading to the BBC we were buoyed by a chance encounter with an ex-colleague visiting the Science Centre with his son – in true Glasgow spirit we were reminded that our little jog was nothing on his mammoth task of entertaining a toddler for 6 weeks.

Desperate by now to finish we checked off Ibrox, home of the Rugby 7s, and made the long run along Paisley Road West to visit Clyde in The Gorbals before cutting south to Hampden and our temporary athletics stadium. Another pit stop saw a few more energy drinks guzzled and stockpiles of sweets replenished for the home straight.

Map out again we decided to head to King’s Park before finishing the route in Queen’s Park with the final statue and giant wooden Clyde sculpture. Whether it was fatigue, delirium or poor map reading skills again the King’s Cross Clyde proved the hardest to find at a time when we would gladly have kissed his feet to appear in front of us. Feet shuffling much more slowly we quickened the pace yet barely noticed as the watches died on us. 6 and a half hours later we finished having clocked up an estimated 27 miles – passing our personal furthest distance of the marathon without even planning it.

The beer, crisps, chocolate, coke and lucozade consumed at the nearest pub to the finish line went down a treat and sore legs were glad of a seat. Given the buzz that we witnessed as we visited each statue it was sad to hear the next day that the Clyde on Edmiston Drive had gone missing, presumed stolen, and that the other outdoor statues were to be removed for safe keeping. Despite what people who know us might say we both have strong alibis of being asleep the next morning when he was knocked!

The trail was great fun but maybe not the casual run we had anticipated. People Make Glasgow who monitor and promote the trail said on Twitter that we were the only people they had heard of who had actually run the trail and it is not surprising. Despite how much tougher the route panned out than anticipated it was great to be out and about and soak up the last of the Commonwealth spirit and we both had a great laugh the way you only can when things do not quite go to plan. It is sad that the challenge is no longer there for others to try but gives us both the best shout at a course record we will probably ever get!

In numbers the day panned out as follows:

• 29 Clyde statues, hedges and wooden replicas of the mascot himself visited
• 7 miles covered across Glasgow in total – the furthest either of us had ever run – Jack also ran 2 miles to the start line!
• 12 (approximately) strangers who expressed interest in our tour of all the Clyde mascots
• 7 hours – yip 7 hours on our feet
• 6 parks visited (Botanics, Victoria, Tollcross, Glasgow Green, Kings Park, Queens Park)
• 3 the number of Clydes who had their QR code removed meaning our score card is not perfect (we do have a photo at all 29 destinations though
• 3 bottles of energy drink each
• 1 Clyde that had to be viewed from a safety perimeter fence which Jack and I tried to breach
• 1 Clyde covered in rice and curry sauce
•  0 the number of times our epic adventure retweeted or trended on Twitter despite trying to drum up support throughout the day online!

See our activity on Garmin.

… in which I almost matched the winner’s finish time

by Pam Forsyth

For some reason, I had been particularly nervous in the lead-up to this race – much more so than the Great Scottish Run half marathon (also in Glasgow) last October, for example. It struck me the day before the race, that I had lost more sleep, fretted more and generally been a right pain in the backside more sensitive in the preceding week, which begged the question – why?

The trouble with training for and running a 10K is that the focus soon becomes the time in which you run it, as opposed to the distance itself. And that translates to … suffering!

The morning of the race saw me with stomach butterflies. Before leaving, I had had a brief look at Facebook and quickly saw a couple of updates which indicated that the previous day’s Kintyre Way Ultra/Relay/Epic had been a great success for Dunoon Hill Runners. The pressure was now on to not let the side down with my small effort. On the way to Glasgow,  I stopped at Tesco to use their loo (sorry, Tesco – I didn’t buy anything) and I noticed how my hand was a bit trembly as I reached for the tap. How ridiculous, I thought.

Parking at Ibrox was much easier than anticipated and I was pleased to see a large bank of portaloos in Bellahouston park (there were more at the start line too). It must be said that the Great Runs are all highly organised and provide more than adequate facilities. Being a women’s event too, the portapotties were clean and usable (no elbows required!). What a luxury.

Inspired by elite Scottish athlete, Susan Partridge, whom I’d just seen warming up (if you could call her fast pace a warm-up), I jogged over to the start line. When I’d originally received my race number in the post, I recall staring at it in an attempt to figure out what coloured wave I was in – my bib didn’t have a colour. Panic! Then I realised, white is a colour. This shocked me a little as I’d been far from the white wave in the Great Scottish Run. I therefore associated it entirely with very fast club runners. So I assumed there had been some terrible mistake which would result in me being swept along at sub 6-minute miles until the point of collapse (fairly quickly, I would imagine). The fact is that the women’s 10K has a bit of a narrower field, which bumped me up into the slightly scary world of white runners (so to speak). I noticed a certain glint in my fellow-runners’ eyes that suggested serious business. This was going to be no fun run if you were clad in a white bib.

As we assembled, listening to the thundering bass of the count-down “heartbeat” (seriously not helpful to the tense, nervous headache that I was developing), something caught my eye. It was a sign … quite literally. It read “50 min pacer”. She stood beside me. The sign taunted me. The heartbeat thumped. The gun fired.

And we were off! Suddenly, I realised why I’d been nervous all week … this was the moment. I was going for sub-50 minutes! My watch was reading sub 8-minute miles … I could do this! Or could I? Gosh, it was awfully fast. And didn’t I know that the worst thing to do in a race is go out too fast? And hadn’t I not done much speed training due to injury? And wasn’t my heart rate reading a little on the high side? Never mind, I would stick with the 50 minute pacer lady like glue, if only she’d stop speeding up.

I recall the witty banter among the Great Scottish Run runners last year, the cheers from the crowd gratefully received, the drums, the pipers – I think they were all there on Sunday too, well apart from the witty banter (all I could hear was huffing and puffing from the serious white wave runners). Yet I wasn’t encouraged one iota by any of it. My only focus was 50-minute-pacer-lady, and breathing. On I ran, still keeping below the 8-minute mark, albeit barely.

Then something bad happened in Pollok Park at around 33 minutes. I would describe it in the classic terms of hitting a wall, or the wheels falling off, or blowing up. Physically, the tank suddenly felt empty and I had to resist the urge to walk/collapse/hail a taxi. How can this be happening, I wondered? My brain kicked in with the obvious conclusion – you went out too fast. You can’t run this pace. You are an idiot. Etc. Forced to slow down, I fumbled desperately with my water bottle and contemplated the embarrassment of a DNF. As I watched 50-minute-pacer-lady running off into the sunset along with my hopes and dreams, I discovered that I was actually still moving and that my revised goal was now to continue to do so. I might not set a PB, but perhaps I could avoid a PW (Personal Worst). Maybe I could even start to enjoy the race. It was only later, when I’d reviewed the information uploaded from my watch that I realised, I had been running up a hill (where had that come from?!). In addition, in contradiction to the weather forecast, the sun had come out and it had been really quite warm. It had been a very sweaty hill.

And so I trotted along for a bit, taking any small mercies that I could out of the situation. I became aware of a pacer passing me and despondently accepted that this must be the 55 minute one. To my astonishment, I realised it was not – it was my 50-minute-pacer-lady! How was that possible? Had I entered some kind of time warp? Or had she stopped to take her jacket off? I suspect the latter.

So we were off again! Like a greyhound after a rabbit (or more like a donkey after a carrot), I was infused with renewed hope as I chased down the ever elusive pacer-lady. The crowds cheered, the pipers played, the elephants danced (or I could have been hallucinating) all the way to the finish. I vaguely recall running past a bank of photographers and I summoned up a grimace, absolutely not giving a flying fig about how I looked in tomorrow’s Daily Record. It was all about survival now.

As I dared to view my cumulative time on my watch, my heart took a little dip upon realising I was not going to break 50 minutes, but would instead come heartbreakingly close. Indeed, my finish time was 50:35 … 35 little seconds between victory and total desolation. OK, I exaggerate. The truth is, I felt fairly content that I couldn’t have bettered that time. I left it all out on the course, as they say (at some point, I may go back and collect it).

Walking back to the car at Ibrox, Susan ran past us, warming down (does she ever stop running, I wonder?). The fact is that, at the exact time she was finishing the race in an astonishing 33 minutes 52 seconds, I was also almost finishing along with her – albeit at a slightly different point on the course.

The winner: Susan Partridge, 33:52

As I reflect on the race, it was rather special to be running alongside so many other female runners, and the impressive fitness levels made me raise my game, as did the well wishes received from my fellow Dunoon Hill Runners before the race. Thanks go to all! Sadly, I lost 50-minute-pacer-lady in the crowd, but I do owe her a big thank-you too 🙂

by Ian C Marshall

I guess it all started in a conversation with Iain Cairns….

I had not long completed the extreme Ironman race City to Summit, I had been mulling over what new challenge to set myself. Before I knew what I was letting myself in for after listening to Iain’s ultra tales I had pressed the enter button for the HOKA Highland Fling “What had I just done?!!” It was 53 miles of trail running along the famous West Highland Way starting from Milngavie and finishing in Tyndrum. 53 miles!! I remembered thinking 53 miles! 53 miles!!!! The longest previous run I had done was 27 in the Ironman event and to think I’d have to do that all again, why had I listened to Iain?!

However……

The decision had somewhat coincided with starting up Dunoon Hill Runners and my fear of never managing to push myself to that sort of distance quickly evaporated as the weeks went by and the club grew and grew. I guess in truth I was feeding on everyone’s enthusiasm and motivation for the races they were preparing themselves for. This is what helped me the most, joining up with new friends and old alike, running the trails and hills around Cowal, these guys were an inspiration, none more so than Walshy (sure he hasn’t been called that since school lol).

Lisa and Iain

On the evening before Lisa and I arrived in Glasgow, Lisa who also had entered had struggled with injury early on in her training yet decided with a push to run the first 27 miles of the route and then bail out. Given her most recent long run of 21 miles, a sensible option… I don’t tend to get too nervous about races however Lisa made up for this as she was more excited and nervous than a child on Christmas Eve! We or should I say I prepared our drop bags and got all our kit sorted, forecast wasn’t looking too bad for the morning.

At 5.30am we arrived at Milngavie along with 600+ other runners, meeting up with Iain Cairns, the atmosphere was tangible and I was soon scoping other runners kit taking note for my Christmas wish list  As usual every single person there looked fitter than I did and that was my one and only brief negative thought “what have I done?!” laughing inside rather hysterically.

The claxon sounded and we were off like well disciplined ants following the road out of Milngavie and onto the West Highland Way. The field spread out much quicker than I had anticipated and I soon lost sight of Lisa and Iain, unbeknown to me they were not that far behind.

David and David

Thirteen miles in, arriving at Drymen, I first spotted the ever cheeky and enthusiastic Ken Clark as he bore down on me with his big lens! Then a cheer from Kenny Taylor who I later found out was disappointed to see me in shorts! As we crossed over the road David Wilson (Pup) and David Walsh (otherwise engaged in the portaloo) were waiting on their respective relay runners. I was feeling good at this point and muttered a quarter of a way there to which I heard a reply “he’s optimistic”. I was soon to realise just exactly what those words meant…

Conic Hill was the first challenge of the day and like so many others found myself walking up it to conserve energy for the rest of the race. Disappointingly it was very misty and it wasn’t until descending over the other side did the mist clear and we were afforded stunning views over Loch Lomond. What would normally be a straight forward descent for me was turning into a hardship and it was at this point I realised I was not having a great run. I think we always hope on race day that everything will click and it’ll be one of those effortless enjoyable runs, however this was not the day.

By the time I arrived at Balmaha I was feeling pretty done in, that was 21 miles in with another 32 to go! I knew the next 15 miles having recce’d it with Iain Cairns earlier on in the year and felt it should go well however at the next check point Rowardennan, mile 27 I was struggling. Silke, local GP and Glenpark Harrier was there to greet me and following a stern talking too, told me to ease back. Five minutes later and having fuelled up I set off at a slower pace, aiming to recover enough that the next half would be doable.

I arrived at Inversnaid feeling much better, the slower pace and the more technical terrain brought my heart rate down and the 7 miles passed relatively quickly. I felt a surge of confidence only 19 miles left….. what was to come though can only be politely described as horrible and I confess I had moments of dummy spitting and toy throwing out of the pram! The section between Inversnaid and Beinglas Farm just served to take away what little energy I had left in my legs. Remarkably though I still felt better at mile 41 arriving at Beinglas Farm than I did at mile 27 and I was also told that Lisa had continued on beyond Rowardennan! The Glenpark Harrier girls were there again to greet and assist me and even offered me a massage! It was here I knew I was going to finish and looking at my watch I’d even managed to maintain a reasonable pace but the legs were beginning to hurt.

Leaving Beinglas I ran alongside a guy from France, originally from Scotland, I guess a good ten years younger and adorned in full Salomon kit, we got on great, good chat and sharing in our pain when from nowhere that little competitive voice jumped in my head and said “come on Marshy you can’t let this guy beat you”. Seriously I thought I have 10 miles to go, completing what would arguably be the greatest physical challenge I’d ever done and I’m challenging this guy to a race and he was completely unaware of it! Even so I couldn’t help myself and I pushed on and dug deep eventually shaking him off and from somewhere I found the energy to run all but the long climbs, even catching a few guys on the descents whose quads were obviously destroyed. The last 3 miles approached as I came off the hill when the arch of my left foot either strained or went into cramp, whatever it was I was in pain. I realised I was on for a sub 11 hour race, previously aiming for sub 12 hours, I recall Ken Clark at the farm with 2 miles to go snapping away with his camera, I barely felt I could muster a smile.

Soon I could hear the faint sound of bagpipes in the distance, knowing that I was close to the finish line, rounding several corners the ground opened up to a huge long red carpet with a massive inflatable arch at the end. The carpet lined both sides with supporters cheering encouragement, suddenly all the pain and stiffness evaporated and I crossed the line in 10 hours 55 minutes. Thirty seconds later the pain returned, my legs turned to cement and as our supporters will testify I was walking like a dog that had just been neutered! Still I managed to make the beer tent! Never again I thought, seriously that was the hardest thing ever……..

The HOKA Highland Fling is a must do race for any Ultra runner or aspiring Ultra runner. I have raced many events over the past 4 years and this was without doubt the best as well as the hardest but don’t let that put you off! It’s achievable, the organisation, the support along the way, the atmosphere, the grand finish that makes you feels like an Olympian and not to mention the goody bag… technical t-shirt, buff, bottle of Prosecco and a medal all for £32 entry! Some of us even got a wind cheater jacket (you know who you are!!).

Three days later the pain and stiffness had gone and I was beginning to contemplate which Ultras I would like to do next so honestly it wasn’t that bad…. Thanks to Ken Clark Photography and Ronnie Cairns Photography, the Glenpark Harrier girls, Lynda Nairn for her cake at the end and my ever reliable friend David Walsh for driving me back home. Got to say it, I’m proud to be part of Dunoon Hill Runners!

Congratulations to all 18 Dunoon Hill Runners who took part in the 2014 Kintyre Way Ultra and Relay Race. It was a hugely successful day for the Club with DHR relay teams taking up first, fourth, fifth and sixth places in the 35 mile relay. Six DHR runners successfully completed the 35 mile ultra distance too. A great effort from all!

Kintyre Way Ultra and Relay 2014 Results.

Photos to follow!

By Jamie Laing

This was marathon number 5 for me and I can safely say I have never learned from any previous mistakes and will catalogue a few of the key mistakes that were made this time round – and for anyone reading this my advice would be to do completely the opposite of me.

Background

After several miserable attempts at running a marathon under 4 hours I achieved a 4:02 last year. My wife has accompanied me in each of these attempts and was becoming increasingly annoyed at having to hang around at the finishing line from 3hr 50mins onwards for me to appear late, grumpy, sore and always suggesting I will never do such a stupid thing again as run 26.2 miles on tarmacked roads.

I of course recanted each time and in order to appease my better half booked a marathon in Rotterdam with the thought of bribing her with a weekend away.

Target

The intention was to use this as my second last long run prior to Kintyre. My time target was around 4:10-4:20 nice and steady and enjoy the day.

Result: 4hr:32min Monster Painfest

Where It all went wrong – 12 points to avoid:

1. Running with injuries and not seeking professional advice.
2. Failing to have a training run over 20 miles since February.
3. Thinking that two 30 something adults could have 2 nights away from the kids without going mental.
4. Having pint number 1 (IPA) at the airport followed by 2 (Guinness) and then a glass of wine (Merlot) on the flight.
5. Having a nice meal by the harbour accompanied by more wine.
6. Watching TV to 2 am.
7. Asking the wife in the morning “Would you be angry if I didn’t run?”.
8. Being made to run.
9. Having no breakfast only lots of caffeine.
10. Turning up late to starting pen and getting shoved back behind the 4:30 pacers.
11. Carrying only 1 gel because “I’m an ultra-runner and a marathon is a training run”.
12. Accelerating from 9:20min miles to 7:50 min miles to pass the 4:30 pacers around mile 5.

The Race

All that said I had a great day. The crowds are bonkers. They have your first name printed on your bib so everyone shouts encouragement and high fives as you pass. This was massively appreciated from the start to around mile 16. Around mile 18 the wheels feel off and the high fives were tolerated. By mile 22-24 any suggestion that “Jamie run faster” with a stupid Dutch accent was being greeted with pure anger. From 24-26.2 I adopted a run/hobble strategy. I was passed by the previously too slow 4:30 pacers and I was talking to myself with multiple combinations of the worst expletives. This strategy in tandem with my pained/manic expression helped to stem the shouts of encouragement.

The final insult was being passed at mile 26.1 by an octogenarian speed walker with a Lord Kitcheneresque First World War mouser and I could not even muster the pace to catch him.

As I crossed the line my only thoughts were to find the wife and chastise her for making me run and hope for major analgesia and sympathy. Neither of these things happened and I had to implement a post-race recovery strategy of beer and pizza.

We spent the Sunday night in Amsterdam. Our hotel was a 5 minute walk from the world famous red light district. Unfortunately a 5 minute walk was too much for me and decided to sit in a conveniently placed pub and continued my post-race recovery.

I knew beforehand that it was probably going to hurt. My ankle has never properly healed. There was a tolerable level of pain straight from the gun. It is probably the most pain I have been in whilst running. I did however genuinely love the experience and I am always amazed afterwards that my fat wee legs bounced along for 26.2 miles. I think I have lost another centimetre in height.

Running is a choice and not a punishment and although I will never set any records I feel privileged that I have the opportunity to participate in these events.

I am currently planning my next failed sub 4 hour attempt and think Loch Ness deserves another tilt in September.

Thanks to everyone that I have run with and look forward to running with some of you at the Kintyre way Ultra.

by Kenny Taylor

Thursday the 9th of April

This was my third London Marathon having run in 2010 and 2012 so I knew from the start that I already had one up on Mo Farah who was making his debut. I left Glasgow feeling confident and strong with a series of massive PBs under my belt after a great winter of training including many long runs with Dunoon Hill Runners.

Kenny 1 vs Mo 0.

I arrived in London on Thursday with fiancée Lisa in tow who was in town for a Hen Weekend. Writing this I am still not sure who suffered greater hurt or pushed their body closer to it’s physical limits – me covering the 26.2 miles or Lisa battling through 48 hours of extreme partying! Anyway more about the pain later!

Day One was straight from the marathon preparation textbook as we went straight out to an Italian to carb load and then an evening of exhaustive sitting on my derriere as we went to see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The show was pretty good but not helped by failing to feature any of the songs from the movie until the finale.

Pretty good day all round put me further ahead of the double Olympic Champion in my mind (and probably in Mo’s too – he kept talking about all the great African runners but I know he’d heard about my Innellan to Strone splits and was feeling the heat. You could tell I’d really gotten under his skin as he never mentioned me once in the press conferences).

Kenny 2 vs Mo 0.

Friday the 10th of April

On to Day Two and things started to get a little less than ideal preparation wise. I met a good friend of mine from Uni who was running his first London. Unfortunately he wanted to meet before work so I had to get up and brave the rush hour tube at stupid o’clock on a day off work. After a quick pit stop at a ‘greasy spoon caff’ we headed out to the Excel for the London Marathon Expo. This is a brilliantly organised event where each runner is required to register and collect their race number and timing chip in the days before the race itself.

Despite repeatedly chanting the mantra ‘limit time on feet’ I had foolishly volunteered to help at the Oxfam Stand. I spent five hours on my feet all in and while it was good to reassure many of Oxfam’s first time runners it was hard on the legs. I’m starting to panic that I’ve drained my body of all energy by standing for too long! Come to think of it now maybe it was the 6 mile run on Thursday morning or the interval training with the Westies Cross Country Club on the Monday night that had sucked all the energy out of my legs – oh crap I’m really starting to panic about the race now. But butterflies are good, the adrenalin makes me run faster and this will surely put me closer to Mo!

Bad day at the office – I need to write it off but I’ve let Mo back into the game and given him a glimmer of hope (I know he’s got people keeping an eye on me).

Kenny 2 vs Mo 1.

Saturday the 11th of April

Another early start as my hospitable friends had builders at their house arriving early. Didn’t matter as I’d managed to get to sleep for 11pm the night before. My legs have recovered and I am back in positive spirits. Manage to spend entire day off my feet in and around Leicester Square and Covent Garden. Strange yellow ball in the sky that I’ve not seen before – wonder how it will affect my race. Managed to carb up well the day before the race eating the following slowly and steadily through the day:

1. Scrambled Eggs
2. Chilli and Rice
3. Chicken Noodle Soup
4. Chicken and Basil Pasta
5. Spaghetti Bolognese

Lets call today a draw.

Kenny 2 vs Mo 1.

Sunday the 13th of April

Race Day is here!

My friend’s place is about a mile from the start which makes for easy and relaxed arrival on the morning of the race. Although not my first time in London it was my first marathon from the exclusive Blue start (non-charity runner) courtesy of the ballot which saw me granted a place last September (the ballot for London 2015 opens on the 22nd of April for anyone who fancies it next year. This meant that I would be on the same start line as the elite men and more importantly I would be merging with the runners from the Green ‘Celebrity’ Start at mile 1.

The start area at London is quite unique due to the size of the race – 36,000 runners. At the start of the process you are asked to give a predicted time and this correlates with your start pen. A few weeks ago I started to form a plan in mind of a target time for London and called the London Marathon office to check on this. Turns out I’d given a prediction of 3 hours and 45 minutes which saw me start in pen 5. Training had indicated a quicker time was on the cards and I planned to follow the 3 hours and 30 minute pace maker from Runners World. Unfortunately they were starting in pen 3. The superb organization at London thwarted all attempts to sneak into the higher pen so I had to make do with squeezing to the front of pen 5 which saw me right behind the 3 hours and 45 minute pace maker. At this point I should have assumed divine intervention and gone with plan b.

The elite athletes were introduced to the crowd with the loudest shout of the day reserved for Mo himself. The gun fired and 2 minutes later I crossed the start line a big improvement on the 12 minutes to cross the line at the red start. Still incredibly impressive given the number of runners.

In my mind I kept hearing keep it slow and steady but I was determined to use the first two miles to get past the two 3 hour and 45 minute pacemakers from the pen in front. Mile 1 was quite stop / startish as the road thins and people find their pace but clocked in at 8 minute 40 pace. Although slightly outside my 8 minute target pace I was happy that I had passed one of the pacemakers and that I was now getting into my stride.

By mile 2 I had passed the second pacemaker and clocked an 8:14 mile. The first few miles are all downhill so I’d known before not to go off too hard but I was very conscious of clawing back time as I’d lost a minute of my target pace already. As a result the next few miles were all under 8 minute miles. A really fun part of the marathon is when the red and blue starts meet and run side by side for a mile before officially merging. There is a good bit of banter and heckling that helps pass another of the early miles. As usual the crowds were amazing and the atmosphere at Cutty Sark at the 6 mile marker was incredible. The live music was blaring and it was the first opportunity to wave for the official BBC cameras.

Anyway after this everything went well until about mile 11. I had clawed back the lost seconds from the early stage and was bang on track for a 3 hour 30 marathon. This would be a 26 minute PB. Approaching Tower Bridge things started to feel strange though and I was getting a bit light headed and heavy legged. In the last two marathons I had felt really strong at this point and in hindsight it was a sign that things were not going well. The bridge is always a highlight of the marathon and when you come off you take a sharp right out to the Isle of Dogs and Canary Wharf. Usually at this point the very good club runners are coming back as the route backs up on itself at the 22 mile mark. I was delighted not to see any runners on the other side of the road and made it half a mile before Kipsang and Biwott came bounding down the road. It was great to see them as this is the one thing you miss being part of such a great race. A few runners later and a wall of noise started approaching from the distance. Seeing Mo and running within metres of him gave me a real boost to hand on at a time when I was starting to struggle.

Miraculously Lisa had made it from her Hen night and was waiting at mile 15 as arranged. This kept me going from mile 13 to 15 when I was really feeling out of sorts. I knew Lisa was going to mile 19 and set myself another target to make it to Canary Wharf at just off marathon pace. The steel drum band at mile 18 saw me screech to a halt in a crushing blow to my race target. I didn’t walk at all in my previous race but I could not hold on any longer. After a couple of minutes I picked up to a jog but the next two miles were a walk / run strategy as I kept burning out. I saw Lisa and my pals again but I was totally done and hobbled away from them unsure about whether I could even keep going at this point. I saw the Oxfam cheer point at mile 20 and hugged countless strangers and summoned some energy to get moving for another mile.

Around mile 22 I started to seize up again and had to move back to a run / walk pattern. The crowds at this point were awesome and I gorged on jelly babies and beans for a couple of miles. The first 3-45 pacer went by me somewhere around this point and I tried to get going again but I lost about 100 metres in about the course of a mile and still didn’t feel any better so resorted to a long walk to frustratingly recharge the batteries again.

At this point someone drifted by and grabbed me by the arm into a slow trot which didn’t feel too bad and getting talking to him I was relieved to hear a friendly Glaswegian accent. Unfortunately he only managed another four or five hundred metres before he had to stop for a walk but I managed to grind out another half mile closer to the finish. I kept going at this point but by mile 23 I felt awful. The crowds were chanting my name as there were not many walkers at this stage of the race. Disappointingly I was passed by the second 3-45 pacer around this point and couldn’t get going to stay with him.

Around this time I was handed a beer to rapturous applause outside a bar and decided there was no other way to drown my sorrows so I might as well indulge! The beer did not restore my energy and I only managed to run /walk my way to through the next mile. By 24 I knew the end was in sight and I ground out some more running just desperate to get to the end. Never had Big Ben looked so far away though and I was a sorry sight walking along the embankment, my legs cramping with every step. I stopped and stretched and high fived the population of London along this famous two mile stretch of the race. As you can see from the splits mile 26 was slow and painful but I did manage to pick up into a jog for the final stretch alongside Buckingham Palace in the Mall.

Disappointingly I finished in 4-03 minutes which was way off target pace but I have learned about the importance of having a Plan B. When things are not going well reevaluate and attack a second goal in a race. I could have dropped in at mile 11 to the 3-45 pack and I am sure I would have held on. Realistically this was probably a better goal for me and maybe I could have kicked on from mile 20 if I had started in this group. Who knows. One thing is for sure I will find out as I will definitely be back!

Thanks to all the Dunoon Hill Runners for the training advice, company, interest, support and sponsorship. My JustGiving page is open for another four weeks and if anyone is able to spare £2.62 it would be gratefully received. www.justgiving.com/kennyrunslondon