What a lovely day, first day of official summer time. There was a wee frost on the ground but my crocuses were in full bloom this morning…. must mean one thing, time for Garioch.
After a great day volunteering at Parkrun yesterday, listening to all the PBs come in when barcode scanning, I was really excited about the run.
Arrived at the race, there was an excitement in the air as the 5km had just started and the leaders were coming in… well done to Kyle and Callum who were both winners in the 1/2 marathon and 10km respectively after completing the 5km race first… WOW.
After meeting up with the fellow rebels it was time to make our way to the start of the 10km. I had taken a Torq gel (banoffe flavour) but it was very sickly sweet.
The race started and I comfortably got into my stride heading to the Morrison’s roundabout and then turning right up the hill past the hospital. It felt quite hot at this point but the first 2 km went past well until over the flyover towards polnar dam. The gel I had wasn’t sitting right and with my excitement with the start pace I knew it was going to be a tough morning.
Settling back into a comfortable pace we rolled through the hills by the dam and back towards the back of Inverurie were it became apparent a few of the km markers were off but in days were watches give you feedback every so often I was able to keep in check with the leading lady. Her technique on the hills was fantastic and hopefully encouraging each other on we completed 7km and now were in a mental battle in the housing estate. The sun, wind, hills and mileage in the legs were taking their toll and the pace from myself dropped, but soon enough all the climbing was rewarded with a lovely down hill section past a rapturous crowd heading back to the finish line.
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The medal around the neck, 10km in the bank and a 5yr best over the distance was achieved. It was now the turn to cheers everyone else in… and there were so many great performances from Metro runners, rebels, jogscotland Kintore to mention a few.
A massive thanks to the organisers, sponsors and everyone for cheering!
Just sat down at Inverurie Golf Course for a lovely carvery…. I’ll have chicken and beef please!!
Thanks for reading
Run Long and Prosper
James
