Half Marathon a Month Challenge #32 - Perth (Kilt Run) - August 2016

Perth Half Marathon (Kilt Run) - 13th August 2016

Similar to the Hadrian's Wall Half Marathon we ran in June, this event was advertised as having a mixture of surfaces to run on, including uneven tracks, grass, trails, and 'normal' roads. As we had enjoyed this mix of terrain back then, we were looking forward to giving the Perth version a go. Of course, once again, there was no PB pressure because of this!

Also, the Perth Half Marathon take place on the same day as the Perth Kilt Run, so runners are encouraged to wear something tartan for the half marathon, or even kilts if they feel brave enough.

We decided to take the train to Perth as where we had to get to was easily accessible from the station, and it meant we didn't have to look for parking spaces in what was going to be a busy day in and around Perth town centre. So, I met Chris at Glasgow Queen Street station, both of us attired in our kilts. 

Suitably coffeed up, we boarded the train and we were pleased to see a girl runner on board who was also wearing a kilt. It looked promising that we may also not be the only male runners with kilts.

On arriving in Perth we went straight to the Concert Hall to pick up our race numbers and obligatory safety pins. We then made our way to the bag drop, which (because we had done no research!) we believed was close to where the finish line would be. This was a few hundred metres away, but when we got there we couldn't see anything that looked like a bag drop. There was a friendly race steward in the vicinity, but he didn't know either! He told us that the race organiser was nearby and he would know, so we went to search him out. 

Lo and behold when we found him it was the same guy who had returned Chris his lost wallet at Dundee the previous month. He informed us that the bag drop was in fact at the Concert Hall. We scurried back there quickly so that we could get on the bus to the start line in good time. (In fact it was clearly stated in the race email that the bag drop was at the Concert Hall. Couple this with the lost wallet incident and the race organiser guy probably thinks he's dealing with a couple of muppets).

We made it to the bus in more than enough time, and soon someone sat down across the aisle from us who said, "You guys ran in Mull". Spookily a lady called Linda whom we had sat beside on the ferry to the Mull exactly year ago to the day, was now sitting beside us on the bus to the start of the Perth Half Marathon! 

The bus soon reached the part of Perth where the run was to commence, and although it was a lovely sunny day, it was also very windy. The organiser informed us that it was so windy that they had to abandon the idea of using the inflatable starting line archway (especially as we were immediately adjacent to Perth Airport!) and that the replacement start line of two paint tins with some tape stretched between them would have to do.

At this point we decided to get our first time running in kilts snapped for posterity although, as you can see, the bloke who kindly took the picture wasn't aware of the 'head and feet in the photo' rule!

We were also delighted to see that there were indeed lots of other folk running in kilts, although the majority chose not to. 

The race soon got going down a narrow farm type path which was a bit uneven. Because of its narrowness it was a wee bit cramped at the start, but this is not unusual for many events with rural starts, and there was soon plenty of room as the race field stretched out. Part of this stretching out was of course contributed to by Chris, who you can see below at the start of his usual disappearing into the distance act.

It was such a nice day, and therefore a great day for running in the Perthshire countryside, with many picturesque locations en route to the finish in Perth itself. 

As I am no longer really in the business of chasing PBs, or indeed any sort of time(!), I can avail myself of the opportunity to take photos I find interesting on the way. Below, for example, is one snapped beside the very scenic River Tay, which we ran alongside for quite a bit. 

(Did you spot the guy standing in the river?!)

We also skirted the edge of Perth Racecourse, and racecourses were to be a theme in two of the half marathons that were coming up over the next few weeks.

What I did notice when we were being taken to the start was that the bus was principally going uphill. This was a good sign! Although there were a couple of wee hills to climb later on in the race there was a significant downhill section between 7km and 9km. That's a long way to run downhill.There are, of course, two options available to you when running downhill, although importantly in either option you should never 'brake' as this just wastes valuable potential energy.

1. Use the hill to run very fast (without falling) and make some in-roads into your finishing time.
2. Don't change your pace at all, but use the hill to recover and save your energy for completing the race.

I used to be a disciple of tactic number 1, but now I am very much a follower of the recovery option, and that's what I did in Perth.

When we got back into town we entered the park where the finish line was located. However, I also knew that there was still 4km still to cover so, as I correctly suspected, I was about to start a nice little loop of this park.

And just at the start of that loop I spotted the race official whom we had earlier asked about the bag drop location (and who didn't know). As I ran past him I shouted, "Where's the bag drop mate?". For a few moments you could see he thought it was a genuine question, until the penny dropped. Oh what larks.

As is this case in many events there was an official photographer near the end of the course, but when I went online I could only find one of Chris posted on the site, which you can see below.

All in all it was a very enjoyable day, and the first (but not to be the last) time I ran 13.1 miles in a kilt!

Results:
Chris:   02:08:32
Frank:  02:27:29