This week I rustled through my sources for some Scottish races to report, but there was nothing. It was like going to the fridge in search of a beer at 4am during a Saturday night soiree with the Hare and Hounds in a student flat. Nada, nothing.
I did ask the Good Lady if she might adorn a Central vest, pin on some numbers, and run a couple of laps of Stirling Castle to provide some content, but the suggestion went down as well as a pair of Karrimor running trainers on Christmas morning.
In the absence of events this week, I have reverted to carrying out a belated review of the Scottish Invitational 5K Event at Lochgelly on 29th November.
Little Moscow
Moscow
In the not-so-distant past, Lochgelly and surrounding areas used to be termed "Little Moscow" particularly so during the period when the constituency there, astonishingly, returned a Communist MP to the House of Commons from 1935 – 1950. Having agreed to marshall at the race, and travelling through on the day under the gloomy fog that wouldn't lift that morning, it was rather like crossing the Iron Curtain in a John La Carre novel. On approach to 'Fife Cycle Park', I felt that I should have pulled up on the road side outside the venue, flashed my headlights to "Control" (Alex Jackson MBE), and await a similar flash-of-the-headlights response to permit controlled entry under the shadow of the high fencing and dense network of CCTV cameras that consume the place.
Little Moscow (Lochgelly)
Ladies First
In the endurance game, and even when one is in form, it can be all too tempting to just let the group do the work in the early stages and sit back. You first, no you, no you, no I insist, you go first. Not so for Annabel Simpson. Fully confident in her ability and her fitness, she dared the field to go with her, and they politely declined. She ran the whole thing solo in 16:28, a paltry 3 seconds off her PB from 2018. It was a clean pair of heels from gun-to-tape, and it was a sight to behold.
Annabel Simpson and lots of daylight
Annabel was richly rewarded, as every Scottish Athletics victor is, with an interview with the venerable Peter Jardine, in which she recognised her victory with ease and grace.
In exceptional company, Naomi Lang enjoyed a superb run as she took 2nd in 16:44mins, which was a considerable road 5K PB for her. This was the first race that Naomi ran in 2020, which really brings into focus the torried year we have all endured. Rebecca Johnson in 3rd place in 16:51mins, and Morag Millar in 4th in 16:53, her first run back since giving birth less than six months ago. The rapid return of Morag to training and competition bodes well for her 2021.
In fifth place was Megan Keith in 17:00mins, a 5K PB for her, and illustrates her comfort, as an U20, in rubbing shoulders against the best women in Scotland.
The Men
Off the gentlemen went on their five lap course. Near the conclusion of lap one, the charges had already split into two, with the lead pack comprising Ben Greenwood, Kris Jones, Ali Hay, Jamie Crowe, Jonny Glen, James Donald, Ryan Thomson, and Ben Potrykus, all champing at the bit. Into the second lap, and Ben Greenwood was searching for the emergency escape button having perhaps started too keenly.
Into the third lap, and more begin to drop leaving Crowe, Jones, Glen and Donald all to the fore, with Ali Hay, Thomson and Potrykus just behind.
On to the fourth lap, and then there were three: Crowe, Jones and Glen, with just the beginnings of daylight beginning to show between the top two and Jones. Yet again, we see the toe-to-toe fight between the Coe and Ovett of our day; Crowe and Glen.
With his muscular frame, and his bulging calves, it rather looks like Jonny Glen has been assembled in the white heat of a Clyde Shipyard by a squad of lads that smoke forty-a-day, and eat asbestos for breakfast. If King Crowe floats like a butterfly, then Jonny Glen stings like Her Majesty's Type 42-class Destroyer, smashing his way along the tarmacadam road with power and fortitude.
Into the fifth and final lap and the climax of my day out in the Red East. The top three fairly close together, with King Crowe having led the majority. Then with about 45 seconds as they near the final corner, Glen pulled out to the side of Crowe, tested the water, saw that he liked it, and pressed ahead. Crowe didn't let Glen have all his own way and stuck to the back of him like some firmly applied kinesiology tape. However, and into the final home straight, Glen, through what must have been a very solid lockdown, propelled himself away for the big W, and a credit to him for doing so. It was mightily impressive in the fine company he was keeping that day.
with around 45secs to go...
In third place was the indefatigable Kristian Jones who had held with the top two for almost the whole way round. He will no doubt be a bit disappointed that he didn't hold until the home straight, but on any other day, it is likely he would have been right in there at the end. In fourth and fifth was Sean Chalmers and Joe Arthur. Both Chalmers and Arthur paced themselves to perfection, having been back in the chasing group at the start, and come through brilliantly towards the end.
In sixth place was the Peter Pan of Scottish distance running, Ali Hay. As time progresses, he defies the ageing process and continues to quietly distrubute a sombre thrashing to the three generations of athletes that have come after him. How many more generations of 18-20 year olds are going to have to go home, and through a stream of tears, explain to their parents why they got lit up by a dad of two in his mid-30s? Likely many.
Reflection
When driving home West to regale the Good Lady of my day out in the East, I was reminded that our sport is not one of socialist-inspired equal distribution of honour, nor is it one free of class hierarchies. Ours is a sport that adopts pure unadulterated hierarchy. Every performance at Lochgelly, and therefore every person, is measured to within one second of each other (or one one-hundredths of a second if you are fortunate to have Dave Finlayson's expert photo finish team in place). All these people are then put on a public board online, so we are absolutely crystal clear on where everyone sits within our sport; where the winner is, where the loser is, and where everyone else sits precisely in that context.
We live in a society that too often sanitises the competitive and hierarchial reality of athletics. Let us not lose sight of the fact that, therein, lies the joy of our sport.
On a lighter note, every athlete there that day owes a debt of thanks to Adrian Stott on spearheading the organisation and delivery of the day. Adrian is like Mr Motivator, but without the colourful spandex outfit and the Jamaican ancestry. He was all smiles and positive energy as he tirelessly bounded from point to point on the course (with a pineapple nestled under his arm), ensuring that everyone was safe, well, and looked after in his company. Lochgelly would not have happened without him, and he is a credit to the sport which he dutifully serves.
The Last Lap
After exhaustive research around the dinner tables of the proletariat Scottish Athletics community this week, the decision was reached that the Order of Lenin Award should go to Annabel Simpson. A performance that was as fearless as it was dominant, as majestic as it was inspiring.
Love a bit of background , almost a hill race .
ReplyDelete