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.
Tomatin 10k 2026
by Russell Turner - 11:12 on 25 May 2026
They (whoever they are) say you never regret a run. That’s debatable, although you can certainly regret a race. I’ve had a couple of shockers but this year’s Tomatin 10k goes straight to the top of the list.
Last year’s event was memorable for good reasons, despite unexpected heat and a horrible hill at the far end of the scenic out-and-back course. It’s a small, community event with under a hundred 5k and 10k runners and burgers at the finish. It falls the weekend before the Edinburgh Marathon, which meant that last year’s run came at the end of a long training block and I was in reasonable shape for a taper 10k, even with a horrible hill, and finished in 1:04.
This year was different. While most of Britain basked in a heatwave, here it was cooler and breezier, which should have been to my advantage. Less so was a virtual marathon a month ago followed by sporadic training including a half marathon a fortnight ago. Preparation was not ideal.
Nor was the first half kilometre of the course: a sharp downhill which set me off too fast. The first 2k was covered in just under 12mins, even including a brief walk towards the end. This was not going to go well. More walk breaks happened over the next couple of kilometres, and I’d not even reached the end of the tarmac, the hill and the bumpy track that stretched up and down it. Last year I’d enjoyed the scenery; this year I just plodded on.
Halfway up the hill I looked back to see a runner pushing a baby buggy. Being overtaken would have felt like being passed by the rhino in London but there was no way I could run up a steep hill. The best I could manage was a trudge. Fortunately, she must have struggled there too. Down the other side was no better, the steep, rutted track and my high centre of gravity leaving me reluctant to risk running. It was a relief to leave the loop and return to tarmac.
The mass start at Tomatin. I'm in the red buff, back left.
With around 4k to go, most of it only gently undulating, I’d hoped to find a rhythm and finish comfortably. It was not to be. The remaining distance was covered by increasingly small bursts of running broken up by desperate walking. I finished in 1:08 – only 4mins slower than last year but in a much less positive frame of mind. Maybe proper training does make a difference. The finish line burgers were still good, though. The buggy finished 2-3mins behind me.
My next outing is in two weeks when I take on a new event: the Croy 10k, just outside Inverness. Depending on how the runs that precede it go, I may make that my first deliberately run/walk 10k. Cancellation of the gig the night before (the unhappy couple have called off the wedding) may be a good omen. From there I’ll have time for a proper six-week training plan before the Durham 10k and the York 10k two weeks later. Five weeks after that, which should be ample preparation time, is the Banbury 10k.
And after that, nothing definite for the rest of the year – certainly no marathon and probably no half marathon either. Of course, by then I’ll know if The Running Gods have smiled on my London ballot bid and I’ll be preparing to take on a complete, uninterrupted 16-week training block for the first time in two years, or whether it will be delayed for another tilt at the Yorkshire Marathon. Sooner would be better, for the sake of my expanding waistline. I’m still eating like a marathon runner so I suppose I should do the work too, though I’ll probably give Tomatin a miss next year.
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