A Stroll In The (Rouken Glen) Park

7:45 6.2 miles 43:33

1km 4:05 2 4:15 3 4:14 4 4:27 5 5:12 6 4:34 7 4:30 8 4:12 9 4:00 10 3:58  Average 7:01 min/mile pace

Mrs pacepusher picked Crazyboy up, whilst me and Boyracer made our own way to the race. We all met at Rouken Glen Park in good time and had about 45mins to kill whilst we waited for the start… we decided not to partake in the aerobics warm-up!

We were soon off, me Boyracer and Crazyboy all deciding to run together, aiming to get Crazyboy around the hilly course in under 44mins. Mrs pacepusher was taking care of herself, looking for a good run, but not expecting a PB over the tough course.

We, well me and Boyracer, were a bit too quick early on. Crazyboy was hanging onto us but I knew we were too fast for him. We slowed down and let him settle into a more appropriate pace. The first hill was soon upon us and some heavy breathing began. It was soon over though, and we were back on the flat, be it only briefly! Crazyboy was starting to lose his sense of humour as the hills continued, comments of, “I feel sick”, and “do these hills never f*****g end” were only some of those emerging from his mouth between efforts to breathe!

We were soon into the last 4km and the downhill section of the course. Crazyboy was battling well. I led the way, just a little ahead trying to keep the pace a little faster, whilst Boyracer ran at Crazyboy’s side encouraging him to keep pushing. We soon hit the final straight, and with some final encouragement, the three of us crossed the line together in a sub 44:00 time as requested. It was a really good run and we all enjoyed it, although whilst Crazyboy was exhausted, myself and Boyracer looked like we’d just been for a stroll, much to Crazyboy’s annoyance. He asked me, “was that just a stroll in the park for you?”, and when I said yes, he acknowledged, “I’m a long way off yet”. He’s training hard and is really starting to get back to his old pre-injury self. Crazyboy has guts when it comes to running and always digs in deep. I was really pleased with my run, it felt very easy and the hills didn’t bother me at all… roll on Sunday’s Men’s Health 10k! 

The goodie bag contained a nice bright T-shirt (although as I was given the wrong size, mine is too small), and a nice New Balance running cap. Sense of humour restored, Crazyboy modeled the goods in a ‘Westside’ stylee!

As for Mrs pacepusher, despite the hilly course, she recorded yet another PB, be it by only 12 seconds… they all count! There’s no stopping her at the moment. Speaking to Andy (from Kilbarchan AAC) afterwards though, the question was raised as to whether or not there is anything in the IAAF rules regarding taking 27 minutes off a marathon PB in one go. We think we can get her a suspension for annoying other runners by making it look too easy!