On Sunday, Corrie and I headed up to Crieff for the Famous Grouse 10k. Neither of us had done the race before or even been to Crieff so we were keen to see what it was like. After missing the junction on the motorway to Stirling, we made our way cross country to Linlithgow and eventually found our way back onto the M9. We arrived with 20 minutes to spare, just enough time to get our numbers, listen to the race briefing and make our way to the start. The website had described the race as multi-terrain with 350m of ascent. And it wasn’t wrong. After heading out of the playing fields we headed onto a trail and began the uphill slog. It was in some ways similar to the Balmoral 10k, with a piper at the top to signal our arrival! Though not as steep as Balmoral, the uphill seemed to go on just as long, if not longer, making the first few kilometres pretty tough. I was in a good position. I knew Edel from Lothian Runners was way ahead and I’d never catch her. I’d been past a girl going up the start of the hill, and I couldn’t see any other girls ahead, so by my reckoning I must have been in second. The race continued through some beautiful scenery, and the weather was good, so I was trying to admire some of the surrounding landscapes while paying attention to what was underfoot. With about 1.5km to go I made the mistake of looking round to check who was behind. I spotted a girl hot on my heels. She caught me up not long after and I just couldn’t keep with her pace. She opened up a gap of around 20m. As we made our way back into the playing fields for the finish I picked up the pace to try and catch her. For a moment I thought I might be in with a chance. But she too picked up the pace – I came in 3rd by around 10 seconds. My finishing time was 44:11. My slowest 10k time for a while, and evidence of what a tough course this is. However, I very much enjoyed it and thought
this was a unique 10k which I’d definitely do again. The finishing ‘goody bag’ comprised a miniature bottle of whisky and a whisky glass. And I got £30 and a picture with The Famous Grouse himself for my 3rd place efforts. Corrie enjoyed her run too and even more so her picture with the Famous Grouse. Fellow CAACer Nigel also had a storming run coming in the top 10!
This was the usual Meadows 2 miler, but with added fun last Wednesday, as it was the 20th Anniversary of Run and Become. There were loads of people running and lots of prizes in the 20 theme. Great turn out by CAAC - we managed 20 runners, bagging ourselves a team prize for reaching the target number. Perfect running conditions - warm and no wind. Relatively pleased with my time (exact same time as previous) given my lack of short fast stuff recently. Still a way to go to get my sub 12 minutes though! Lower down in the positions given the extra runners. Really fun evening though, and great atmosphere. This time next week will be the start of the Tour of Fife!
