Having taken a few months away from parkrun to go swanning off round Spain, I figured a few new ones might have cropped up in the mean time. At the start of last year I’d seen a few coming on, but it hadn’t been a big priority for me at that point, and hey it was only a handful. I had a bit of a shock when I counted and found 16 Scottish new courses I’ve now not done. Call myself a parkrun tourist? Oh dear. Still, it does give me a half project to start the year off with, and I’m enjoying using parkrun as a hard-ish Saturday speed session.
As with the last few years, I’ve set myself a nice big challenge for this year. I’ve wanted to run the Pentland Skyline race since I heard about it a few years ago. I really love running off road, and I like being in the hills, but the distance and relentless climbing is terrifying. Though with many races I feel I could just turn up and wing it, I’ve always wanted to do this one properly, and turn up properly prepared. The thing is, I’ve never quite had myself down as a hill runner. I love the challenge of it, but in the past when I’ve hit a hill of a decent gradient over more than a short period, my cardio goes through the roof and I’m left breathless and walking. Having spent 4 months on the flat in Spain, any hills were going to be a shock to the system, but having spent 4 months on the flat, I was really eager to get back out onto squishy inclines.
Though at time of writing I’m still not gainfully employed, this has done wonders for my running. It’s no coincidence that whilst I’ve not had a job, I’ve run the most miles in any month that I can remember. That said, it was January, which is the longest of all the months, so maybe that also helped. I’m back with my PT, and we’re working toward the goal of getting me up hills. I’ve hardly been to club training, I’m instead taking every Wednesday in Holyrood Park and through January I’d set a loose target of ‘three climbs’ per session. Then, one day, something magical happened. I ran up one of those hills, then another, then another. Full disclosure, this ‘running’ was no faster, in fact probably slower than walking. I did it though, I finally found that lowest of low gears I needed in order to grind up proper hills. I now knew it was possible, that I could do it so long as I was patient. The first big test is next weekend at the Carnethy 5, a tough race, but one I now feel reasonably well prepared for.
They say the night is darkest just before the dawn. Similarly, Scottish weather seems to be most Scottish in the Borders. The Borders XC series in Hawick one year is seared into my brain. I’d been determined to tough it out in just vest and shorts, with only the small concession of some gloves (which to be entirely honest, I’m still a little ashamed of). It was bitterly cold, but the two and a half k climb in the midst of the course helped to take the edge off. All was fine until we went over the top, and met a bitterly cold wind which blasted us as we went down the other side. I was always told as a child that my face would get stuck like that if the wind changed. I’m not sure that’s true, but a cold enough wind will definitely stop your face from moving.
Having scouted around the abundance of new courses, something about Wallaceneuk caught my eye. I’ve probably spent days of my life running, walking and even cycling on disused rail lines. The Parkland Walk from Finsbury Park to Highgate in London was one of the first places I ran regularly. Here in Edinburgh, a massive amount of my running involves some such paths. Hearing about a small event, using one of these lines, and it being quite traily, I had to go and have a look.
In the run up to the day, I tried my best to find photos of the course to make a decision on what sort of shoes I should be taking with me. Through much of the week I’d been thinking on trail shoes, but at the last minute I changed my mind and took road shoes. This was for two reasons, firstly that due to storm Cilla* on the way, I was going to try and run my Sunday run after the parkrun. This meant more time on my feet, and my road shoes are much better cushioned. Second, I’ve run a lot on old rail lines, often they are a bit squishy, but never *that* bad…
The drive down to Kelso came with all the things you need to complete your Scottish A Roads bingo card. Stuck behind a lorry, check. Tractor on the road, check. Some guy driving right up my arse in his stupid 4×4, check. Right as I was getting quite close, the road then became a sort of rollercoaster, with three hills in quick succession that made my stomach feel funny. Today was turning out to be quite fun already.
I parked up at Sainsburys, and ducked in to use the facilities. I was greeted by the now familiar icy blast, and got myself ready to run up the road. Finding the start line was really easy, a quick jog up the bypass out of Kelso into the freezing wind, and the entrance to the rail line is on the right, helpfully indicated by parkrun feather flags. They have then used the yellow arrow markers to indicate the way to the start line; I’m fairly sure I didn’t see any on the actual route given that beyond the start they really aren’t that necessary. Arriving at the start there was now a small group gathering, some music playing, lots of cow cowls and a nice little buzz about. It’s good and sheltered here, so I can take off some layers. Some guys are wearing some pretty serious trail shoes, seems a bit like overkill. I decide to have a little peep at the course, since I had a few minutes spare.
It’s time to get this show on the path, and off we go. The path descends rapidly for about 10 metres before curving round to the right. There’s a short section through trees, still descending, before a quick dip and back up again to the left. We’re now on a ridge and the sun is streaming in from the left. Things are at this stage fairly solid under foot, the first section has been quite hard packed and gravelly, but now it’s quite grassy with some narrow channel paths along the way. We’re now heading in a fairly straight line which is very gently curving left. The channels I’m trying to follow are stony in places with odd cambers, and I’m struggling to find a rhythm here. The sun is now coming through the high hedgerows which is creating a sort of strobe effect and distracting me from the headwind. The path narrows a touch, and there’s a gate with a big rock in the middle of it. From here, things then start getting muddy. Often on a muddy trail like this, you can find some solace if you look for it. Usually this is at the edge of the path, but here there is nothing. Since the rock we’re now enclosed by verges and there is no escaping the mud. I am slipping around and probably look like a baby giraffe as I try pointlessly to find something solid to put my completely inappropriate trainers on to. Those serious trail shoes are now seeming more like a good idea, shame mine are 45 miles away at home. The verges either side are getting higher, then suddenly the mud ends as we go onto some gravel and under a small bridge. Mile 1 done in 7.04.
The gravelly bit under the bridge didn’t last long, and now we’ve dark coloured mud which is sprinkled with grassy bits. We go up and over a small ridge in the pathway and now the verges are higher still and it feels like the path is submerged. There’s suddenly a break in the verge to my left and it reveals a dip between two hills that looks like a hummocky grassy moon crater. We start to see the first returners coming back toward us, at this stage the drier part of the path is quite narrow and we’re just about managing to slip past each other in single file. Before I know it we’re through a small gateway, round a quite soft triangular turning, thank the marshals and back through the gate toward the finish. There’s the moon crater again, I love it! Looking back up the path I now see why the verges have been getting higher, we have been gradually descending for the entire way out. Funny how these things go unnoticed isn’t it? Still, we now have a tail wind which is proving to be of some help and I dig in to get back up path. I see the bridge come into view and that’s mile 2 done in 7.12.
This course is flying by, only a mile to go and it feels like it’s gone in a flash. The verges are shrinking, and I’m now seeing if I can find a better way through this muddy section. I don’t manage it, but somehow stay on my feet and keep going in a mostly straight line. The mud starts to recede as do the verges and before I know it I see the stone again, and now know it’s only a short stretch to the finish. I remember the start though, and we’re not getting off the hook easily here. We drop down and quickly back up and to the left, I try to keep my breathing under control and the path starts to wind up as we go through the trees. Then, there it is in front of me, the short steep climb to the finish. I’m feeling pretty good and actually accelerate as I’m going up it, over the line and doubled over catching my breath. Fantastic!
I watch as others come in, the last hill takes its toll on everyone. It really is quite a sting in the tail. As the path clears, I finally manage to kick myself off again to get Sunday’s long run done and head off back down the path again. I follow it to its end, then pick up the Jedburgh Way. I stop, have a bite to eat, a drink and enjoy the beautiful weather while it lasts before our Cilla rocks up later on.
Scores! 13th place, 22.13
*Yes, I know it was storm Ciara, but Cilla sounds much more bad tempered to me.
Parkrun Tour of Scotland 