Running: Dumfries runners head north

Jun 26 2009 by Susan Bryden, Dumfries Standard Friday

ASIDE from Paul Hart, Sebastian Pflanz and Norman Neilson and their back up teams who were involved in the epic 95 mile West Highland Way race, the main focus for Dumfries Running Club members over the weekend were the East Kilbride Half marathon and the Glasgow mens 10k, both of which were run on Sunday morning.

The 10th East Kilbride race is a simultaneous combination of 10k and half marathon run round a featureless route of roundabouts and underpasses and it is easy to see how the moniker “polo mint city” has been given to East Kilbride.

With red markers for the one lap 10k and black mile signs for the double lap half marathon this race has really got things organised particularly well and comfortably dealt with a combined field approaching 2,000 competitors.

One very simple yet effective innovation for 2009 was that each competitor had their first name and home town printed on their running number which helped spectators and on the run in at the John Wright stadium the announcer encouraged tired finishers by name which helped many on the difficult final section.

With only four club runners in the field, best performance was from Jonathan Dale who had an excellent run in 21st place in 81.05 and Stephen Mohan was pleased with a time of 93.07 in 88th place.

The biggest improvement however, came from Paula Neill who shrugged off the injury disappointment that caused her to miss the Edinburgh marathon by gaining an excellent PB in 110mins.Val Vince found the warm conditions difficult yet thoroughly enjoyed the challenge in just over 2 hours 20 minutes.

At the Bellahouston Park 10k in Glasgow the Queen family were the DRC representatives in a fast expanding race with 2,600 finishers. Ross Queen entered his dad Danny as a Fathers Day present and the two of them ran together to push Ross towards a new PB.

In excellent conditions they both crossed the line in 45.53mins, an improvement of over two minutes. Both however were trumped by nephew Paul who also got a PB in 40.39 in 121st place. Best placed sporting celebrity performance came from Christian Dailly of Rangers, running for a cancer charity who was 38th overall in a very respectable 37.49mins.