The Cumbernauld 10k starts just 2k from my front door and tends to be one I try to do each year. This time however was my first attempt at a PB on the course. I had earlier in 2012 set a new PB in Kirkintilloch’s 10k in June, but that race was only a couple of weeks after the Edinburgh marathon and I felt I had struggled on the night.
This time round I was hoping to go sub-40mins for the first time.
The Cumbernauld 10k is a local authority promoted event and encompasses a 3k and wheelchair race as well. It is all about getting kids active and the organisation is superb. The route is exceedingly friendly to runners with the first couple of kilometres going from Broadwood to the Barrs factory, up a slight incline of about 50 feet. Then a nice breather inducing downhiller to Hunt Hill and back towards Broadwood for a 2/3 loop of the Loch before finishing back at the stadium where the race started.
In all it is a pretty flat course, the garmin suggesting only 149 feet of elevation gain. It is therefore perfect for a PB attempt and it went well for me on the day. Much better than I expected.
I started out trying to hit sub-4m kilometres and I comfortably did this from the off, hitting halfway in a new 5k PB at under 19:20. This gave me some time in hand and at this stage I was feeling good. My pace slowed slightly around the Loch and it was here I hit the only 2k’s I did that weren’t under 4 mins (4:00 & 4:02) and I knew going into the last kilometre I was beating 39 mins nevermind 40!
In the end my official time was 38:28, a massive 4 mins off the PB I took in to 2012 and I was delighted. I finished 31st out of 609 finishers.
That said, I do have a couple of gripes with the day.
The 7km marker was at 6.5km which is OK for me but must have been disheartening for anyone not wearing a GPS watch. The last 3km would have felt like 3.5km to them. In addition, the course only measures 6.1 miles (9.85km) and did so in previous years. Apparently it has been measured by the SAA but nonetheless it does take some of the gloss off the times. The difference in obviously in runners taking the racing line and either way it would have been a PB though.
Overall this is brilliant race. Well organised, friendly and has a real community feel. If you like near Cumbernauld and run you should do this in 2013.
Garmin connect link for the race: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/221910576
James Stewart 