Polaroid Helensburgh 10K

Helensburgh kicks off the Series

On Thursday 16th May 2013, sole Kilmarnock Harrier Scott Martin took the hour long trip over the Erskine Bridge to Helensburgh to join over 700 runners who were taking part in the hugely popular Polaroid 10K Series.

Scott gives an account on his race……

“Having competed in all 4 of these races at various points over the years, but never in the same year, I was keen to give the series a go and see how I fared with taking part in a race a week over the space of a month.

As I drove through from work in Stewarton (taking my traditional wrong turn in the process) I was delighted to see that there was little wind – a massive change from the previous week at Troon! Doing a warm up pre race with some good friends from various Clubs, my confidence grew a bit more as rain seemed to be on the horizon….perfect.

The race began at a fairly quick pace, but with the start being a Kilometre uphill, and with a good class of field there on the night I (wisely) let the leading pack of 5 go, and after a couple of K found myself running solo just outside the Top 10 and feeling fairly comfortable with “hopefully” a bit in the tank for the latter stages. Halfway came in around 17.15 (ask me to do a one off 5k in this time and I’ll struggle), and at the turn for home I was still feeling fairly good. At this point the minor wind was in your face, but I was encouraged to see one or 2 of the group in front starting to come back to me a bit so this gave me a bit of focus for the long drag through town between 6 and 9 K.

Passing one runner, and heading for home, I passed a marshall who called out “10th, 11th, and 12th!”. Knowing I had just passed someone, I then sussed out that someone was finishing fast, so I gritted my teeth and sprinted for the line. With 400 to go I was passed by the fast finisher, and when all was said and done I had finished in 11th place overall. Unfortunately for me, the man who passed me turned out to be a Vet, the best man won, and I finished 2nd Vet. I was more than happy with my run which was 47 seconds quicker than my race on the same course in 2012.

For info, I clocked 34.50.

Next races in the Series are at Clydebank (May 23rd), Dumbarton (May 30th) and Vale of Leven (June 9th).

I recommend these races highly – they are brilliantly organised, not too far from Killie, a great early season benchmark, and whatever your aim there is something for everyone. Prize list is great as well.

Hopefully in the next few races, or next year, othe Kilmarnock Harriers will consider adding one or more of these races into their plans!

Scott. ”