The Run Garioch 10k, held in Inverurie, was my first race of the year. I’ve run this a couple of times in the past, and it’s usually been a fine spring day. This year, however, the temperature was hovering around 0.5 Deg C, with a -7 Deg wind chill. There was still quite a bit of snow lying on ground, with showers forecast. In fact, the half-marathon distance event, held on the same morning, had to have the route altered as some roads on the route were still blocked by snow.
Race pack pick-up was a bit chaotic – I’d intended to pick up my pack on the druign the week leading up to the race, but forgot. The pick up was in the main hall of the Garioch Sport Centre. There were a number of races on – 5k, 10k, halk-marathon and several kids race. This, plus the fact that it was cold and snowing meant that the hall was packed.
After the pick up, it was time for a quick warm-up, portaloo visit and then line up for the start. The initial couple of kms of the race are through a housing estate, before heading out into the open countryside. We headed back into Inverurie for a 3 km final loop through another housing estate, passing the finishing area – quite disheartening! That last loop was quite hilly.
I finished in 57:20 (Garmin time) – at the start, the organises announced that there would be no chip timing, despite including the chips in the race pack, so I’m not sure exactly what my time was. I thought I was running faster than this, but unfortunately not! Given the undulating nature of the course, however, and the fact that this time was 2 minutes faster than I’d run the course before, I’m satisfied enough with the time.
