The penultimate race in the club Championship this year was
the very friendly Brig Bash, as organised by Perth Road Runners, and run on a
flat course on quiet back roads round Bridge of Earn. The club Championship
hasn’t really taken off this year, with most of the main contenders either
injured or having set their sights on different priorities for the year. Nevertheless,
the seven of us who made the trip to Bridge of Earn had a good workout.
As seems to be usual for the Brig Bash (at least in my
experience of a whole 3 years), the weather during the day was grim, only for
it to clear up in the hour before the race, and by the time we started, it was
a bit muggy, but without any real threat of rain. Despite the unpromising
weather, the race still managed to attract a record field of 234 runners racing.
Kinross Road Runners, Perth Road Runners, Carnegie Harriers and Wee County
Harriers were particularly prominent.
To mark Olympic year, there was an additional element to the
race, with the Olympic Mile Challenge – an extra prize of an engraved glass for
the first man and first woman to reach the one-mile mark. Needless to say, the
contenders for that one disappeared off into the distance before long.
I clocked my first kilometre as 3.53, and my first mile as
6.17, so I was a bit concerned I’d gone off a bit too fast – my first km was
similar to last year and I certainly didn’t maintain that pace through the
race. However, this year I did manage to keep going a bit better, albeit with a
bit of a dip in speed in the second half. With about a kilometre to go, I was
just behind Peter Edgerton, a Kinross Road Runner who had beaten me in the MV50
category at the Milnathort Dash, so I felt quite good about being to chase him
down and pass him. My finishing time was 31.53, which was nearly a minute
faster than last year, so I’m quite happy with the time. Unfortunately, this
was the third time I’ve done this race, and I’ve improved my time each year,
and I wonder just how hard I’m going to have to work next year if I’m going to
keep on improving.
Maddy came in next, looking very strong and composed, in a
very good 36.14. Cathy was next in 36.43, followed closely by Allan in 37.16
and Elaine was a wee bit further back in 38.49. Fi wasn’t sure if she’d made the 40 minute
mark, but was eventually very happy with her official time of 39.49. Liam
Roberts, running as part of the preparation for the joint Crieff High School
and Morrison’s Academy trip to Hong Kong later this year finished in 40.37, and
Mary O’K was our last runner completing in 45.37.
Overall winner was Lewis Miller of Central AC in a time of
25.14. The women’s winner was a slightly grumpy looking Jennifer Emsley, also of
Central AC, who also won the women’s Olympic Challenge. For the men, the
Olympic Challenge was won by a very tall American from the Ann Arbor Track in
Club in Ohio called James Kasten.
And the post-race spread was very fine, as hoped. Maddy
managed to find a particularly splendid looking cupcake.
