Whilst on a recent break in the beautiful surroundings of Aviemore, Scotland I noticed in the local guide a 5km forest run as part of the celebrations of the World porridge-making championship. My partner’s nieces have shown an interest in running, which meant the kids fun run made a perfect outing for the family.
So, early on the Sunday morning we all set off to a small village on the outskirts of Aviemore called Carrbridge. Needless to say, in typical Scottish tradition, it was absolutely raining cats and dogs. Even so, as much as the thought of turning back home and not running entered my head, my nieces meant this option was ruled out very quickly.
As I’d now resigned myself to committing to running the 5km I signed up for the race and entered my nieces into the kids’ fun run. My thoughts now turned to winning this race. I knew I was in good shape as only a matter of a couple weeks prior I had ran a new personal best for the half marathon at the great north run. So I thought the 5km in the quiet village of Carrbridge would give me a great opportunity to win my first race. As my mental preparations were taking shape, the kids fun run started with the organiser kindly allowing everyone to enjoy watching a great and enjoyable spectacle.
Next up was the grown ups’ 3km and 5km forest run; first was a lap around the field then taking off through the forest. Within the first few hundred yards myself and two other runners were setting the pace. Due to the overnight rain followed by the morning downpour, footing on the ground surface was very difficult to find, with the forest run being more like a full-on fell run. Needless to say my footwear choice of road running shoes (Brooks Glycerin 7) was not a good option but it was all I had with me whilst on holiday.
As the race reached the 2km mark I began to realise, I was still in third place, tucked behind the lead two runners. I knew the pace was fast – to be honest a little too fast for me – I presumed the two front runners were doing the 3km so was somewhat surprised when we reached the point for the 3km runners to turn left and the 5km runners to turn right. Both runners turned right onto the 5km course. At this point 2.5kms in the pace was just too fast for me, so the lead two runners started to slip away and there was nothing I could do about. I decided it was best to let them go and concentrate on maintaining third place and a podium finish. So for the next 2.5kms I hung in and maintained a steady pace, whilst seeing the lead two runners increasingly pull away from me.
As a pulled into the final straight I couldn’t even manage a sprint finish but proudly crossed the finish line in third position and a proud 19 minutes 50 seconds. Well I should have been proud apart from one minor fact I’ve missed from the post until now. The two leaders, who beat me in the race, were young school children, with not even a whisker of facial hair! Even when I received my third placed medal and wooden spurtle (connection to the porridge championship) it came to light the winner was still in primary school. Yes, you’re correct he was 11 years old. But rather than be a sore loser I went over and congratulated the winner (Lewis Holmes) and found out he was ear marked for future running success. This did nothing to quell the mockery from my friends, not to mention my nieces, for being beaten by two small children! And so despite achieving a podium place, the moment was somewhat tarnished and I couldn’t even blame my running shoes!
P.S. Thanks to the organisers of both the world porridge championship and the forest run. On a drenching Sunday morning this quiet little village of Carrbridge was quite a sight to behold, with a warming community feel. Everybody was able to enjoy the atmosphere of the fun run, the lovely porridge and the wide-ranging family entertainment on offer.
No need to hold your head in shame 19min 50sec is good going. There aren’t many people who can run that fast! I’m sure many people experienced the same embarassment at the feet of haile gebrselassie’s in his younger years!