Happily Ever After

Life in The Rural Retreat with a beautiful wife, three cats, garden wildlife, a camera, a computer – and increasing amounts about running

Earlier posts can be found on Adventures of a Lone Bass Player, where this blog began life. Recent entries can be found here.

Risking The Rain

by Russell Turner - 21:35 on 06 October 2019

Yesterday it was 50/50 whether I’d go through with today’s River Ness 10k. The weather forecast was terrible and I knew bedtime would be around 2.30am after a gig in Fochabers. However, Matchgirl was determined to go ahead, with or without me, so there was nothing for it but to grit my teeth and do my best.

This morning, after four hours’ sleep, I learned that, although rain was falling, the forecast had improved so I abandoned my initial plan of wearing a long-sleeved windproof shirt in favour of a vest over a T-shirt – a decision I regretted when we arrived at the assembly area and saw a slight majority of runners clad in sleeves and/or waterproof tops. There were a good number in just vests or tees but most of them were the serious fast runners who knew they’d be round in 30-40mins. Not wishing to risk hypothermia I retrieved the zip-up top from my post-race baggage and donned that.

Matchgirl had no such trouble because she’d brought with her half her running gear (a considerable collection) so she could make a final choice five minutes before walking up to the start line.

10.45am: I set off from between the 55mins and 1hr estimated finish time marks, Matchgirl lost in the crowd ahead of me. The rain eased, then stopped, and the run turned out to be much better than I expected, even if I didn’t see Matchgirl again until the other side of the finish line. I didn’t need the extra running top after all. A route with more down than up helped me to an unexpected new 10k PB of 57:36. Matchgirl did even better: 55:12 on her first proper post-injury run. Two happy runners.

Matchgirl chose not to have her photo taken.

We negotiated the Bught Park quagmire to take advantage of free soup, then watched marathon runners come home before taking the shuttle bus back to the start, Matchgirl’s car and home for a Strictly catch-up. A good day.

There’s now just two weeks left before the Yorkshire Marathon. Prospects still look good. Fingers crossed.

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