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I was in a meeting recently regarding the forthcoming Glasgow parkrun, and one of the Pollok park representatives asked if I’d support the effort by Friends of Linn park to bring a pebble beach picnic area and improved pathways to the park. 

I love Linn park - it’s Glasgow’s second biggest park, after Pollok, and absolutely delightful. It’s also one of it’s least well known. When I ran through there recently with some fellow runners, many commented that they’d never been to the park, and it boasts a few beautiful outlooks over the Cart. More about the park at the councils website.

The effort by the Friends of Linn park is competing with another project to win funding from the Big Lottery People’s millions, so needs people to phone up and support it. Lines open on Monday 24th from 9am, to midnight. Details on STV Scotland Today on the 24th, and via biglotteryfund.org.uk/peoplesmillions. There’s also more on the Linn park website.

I’m delighted to finally be able to announce the launch date of the Glasgow parkrun: A free, weekly timed 5k around Pollok Park. This joins the 10 other parkrun events that take place around the UK, and is the first parkrun event in Scotland. 

The provisional start date we’ve agreed with Pollok park management is Saturday, 6th December at 9.30am, outside the Burrell museum. The all important sociable coffee and chat follows in the Burrell cafe. The parkrun occurs every week at the same time. Plenty more at: 

http://www.parkrun.com/glasgow_home.aspx 

If you want to take part in this, or any of the other parkrun events, you just need to register with parkrun before your first event: http://register.parkrun.com/ - It’s a one-off process. No need to repeat each week. 

parkrun’s are run entirely by volunteers, so please get in touch if you’d like to help. You might be racing later in the day, want to give something back to the running community, or be recovering from injury and want to stay in touch with running friends. 

We’re particularly keen to get names down for the first few weeks as the event establishes itself. See the Volunteer tab, drop me an e-mail, post a comment, or speak to me in person. 

A bit more on the parkrun idea follows below.

Regards, 

Richard Leyton and Iain Brown, Event Directors  Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve a bit of a dilemma over our central heating. The boiler we have is around 30 years old, so clearly a classic example of the sort of boiler that we’re being encouraged to upgrade to newer, more efficient condensing boiler systems. If we also moved to a “combi” boiler we’d lose the hot water tank (we don’t make much use of it, on the whole, as we have an electric shower), and - I’m told - automatically save about 25% or so on our gas bills.

The complication comes in the fact that our boiler is outside the house, so we have no gas coming in to the house. I’m a big fan of induction hobs, so have no desire to return to gas hobs, so don’t really want to bring gas inside if we can avoid it. Why in the house? Well it turns out that modern boilers are designed to be inside. They’ve complicated parts, and consist of copper and complex electronics. They just can’t live outside without proper protection.

In comparison, we’ve currently got something a solid-workhorse of a boiler: It lives in a simple walled structure (single bricks) with a basic roof and door with some basic insulation. It just about withstood the gales/storms last week. It’s got (I understand) a cast iron core, so can withstand the temperature and humidity variance that comes with being outside in the boiler house. It’s also very uncomplicated. It heats water, has an outlet flue, and the only electronics are the ignition system and the pump. Hardly complicated. But because of the solid cast structure, it takes a fair bit more energy to get up and running in the mornings.

We could put the replacement boiler in a cupboard in a spare room (where the hot water tank is). It’s perfectly safe. The only place you can’t put a boiler is, I’m told, a bathroom. But personally I don’t like the idea of a boiler in a bedroom: it’d certainly be something I’d query if I was buying a house. Other locations in our house aren’t possible for a variety of reasons to do with layout, distance from gas meter and so on.

Whilst our boiler did break down recently (turns out the thermocouple needed replacing), I was rather reassured that it’s easy to fix (Although the markup charged for the thermocouple itself was eye-watering). Newer boilers with their electronics strike me as a bit more higher maintenance as they get older. Specialist parts are expensive even at the best of times. And there doesn’t seem to be a market these days for simple, cast-structure boilers that can work outside the house.

So our option, if we’re against getting gas run into the house, is to build-up our boiler house a bit from it’s current form, so a combi-boiler could be installed outside at the appropriate height, and to install a proper door/roof to keep the elements properly out. But after talking to the boiler repair engineer, I’m somehow reassured that our existing boiler, despite its various inefficiencies still has a fair bit of life left in it. A classic example of old and reliable

Perhaps I can assuage my green-guilt with my ‘inefficent’ (but simple and reliable) boiler by keeping the hot water tank and getting solar panels fitted to reduce the need to fire up the boiler for the hot water we rarely need. But then is that practical in sunny Glasgow? Or perhaps we should get rid of the electric shower and use this hot water we’re heating? But I rather like the consistency and power of an electric shower.

I’m delighted to hear, and fully intend to support, the creation of a new ‘Friends of Pollok Park’ group that will be launching after the Save Pollok Park meeting (Tuesday 28th October at 7.30pm, at Pollokshaws Burgh Hall, opposite Pollok Park). Members of Kelvingrove Park’s Friends Group will be along to explain how they operate. A constructive supporters group should be a great asset to the park. I’ve myself put forward one or two ideas as to how the park could be improved, without recourse to commercially focused development, and hope they’ll be considered at the public meeting next week.

The Save Pollok Park meeting that precedes it should be interesting too, as it’ll be covering the legal arguments as to why the Go Ape lease can’t be granted, and updating supporters as to progress and strategies. Hopefully a constructive series of discussions. 

There’s a petition still open for supporters to sign. It closes next Tuesday, so be sure to get your name down on it before it’s presented to the council.

Things had been quiet over the summer with regards the Save Pollok Park campaign. The application was with Scottish Ministers (as the council has a financial interest in the proposal), and they were to decide whether to call it in.

Despite the fact that the council didn’t accurately portray the views of their supposed park management partners National Trust for Scotland, the Maxwell family (who bequethed the park to the people of Glasgow), and despite the views of over 5000 people who signed a petition, and despite the fact that the councils ‘consultation’ was woeful in the extreme, and countless other issues, Ministers decided not to call the application in, so it’s been returned to the council to proceed as they see fit (BBC news article here).

Personally, I’m appalled. It smacks of cowardice, a lack of concern, and despite their repeated deferral of a decision, not really understanding the issues and concerns that were being legitimately raised by the Save Pollok Park campaign, and brushed aside by the council. Call me naive too, but the rather populist agenda of the SNP had me thinking they’d surely see the campaigners view point. But I fear budgets may have been a factor, and calling-in notable other planning proposals has become something of a hot potato.

It’s far from over. There are numerous legal avenues to explore, and the campaign is moving forward with these issues. There’s also a new petition, which you can also sign online. This one asserts that the council is acting illegally in proceeding without the agreement of it’s partners in Pollok Park, the NTS and Maxwell family.

More on this whole sorry mess very soon.

One of my intentions with this blog is to make sure I speak out when I experience something positive. I also do the converse and write up bad experiences, and it’s resulted in interesting (not always in a good way) exchanges with individuals and organisations who discover my comments (the joys of a seemingly well linked-to website). Oddly, the positive comments don’t get quite as much comment, presumably because people are rarely motivated to comment on good things. Newspapers don’t sell on good news, after all. So the lack of comment oddly motivates me all the more.

Today, First Scotrail is in need of praise. I’m frequently through to Edinburgh to work with a client. Over the few years I’ve been making the trip, I’ve only once been badly borked (very bad flooding on 7th August at Waverley), and that wasn’t even their fault. A few delays are ok, and I’ve only been forced to stand three or four times. It’s all a lot better, on the whole, than commuter services in London several years ago.

Today, something odd happened. I managed to lose my ticket between the entrance gate at Glasgow Queen Street, and the train. All of 50 metres. I’m baffled. I must have dropped it after passing through the gate. Anyway, it’s long been a fear of mine, and I normally take care. But not today. So I got worried I’d get in trouble with the ticket inspector on the train (always puzzled they come through the train given the turnstiles at the starting station), or at Haymarket where I alight.

I needn’t have worried. By having all my receipts, the return ticket, a recent purchase time, and - perhaps - forgiving staff, they accepted my apology and excuse for not having a ticket. I’d worried they’d apply the letter of the rulebook.

So there you have it. Praise for First Scotrail, in particular the ticket inspector on the 7.30am Glasgow to Edinburgh express service, and the barrier guy at Haymarket at 8.20am, for not being what I feared would be jobs-worths.

Last year I entered The Bellahouston Road Runners 5k, and it was my first encounter with what would become my running club. Little did I suspect last year that I’d be helping marshal the race this year! So a brief write-up…

I had been planning to run the race, thinking I needed to complete the race to fulfil the short race criteria for the club championship. It transpired a race back in February down in Greenock had counted, and given marshal volunteers were a bit thin on the ground, I decided I’d give up my race (and pursuade Frances to help out too). To be honest my focus is on the Glasgow half marathon at the moment, so was a bit tired from a long run I’d done yesterday, so no bad thing.

I was happy to help wherever it would have been useful, and that meant assisting with the timekeeping. And sandwich making. Frances and I made four platters of sandwiches (The club has a reputation to upkeep when it comes to home baking) on Saturday afternoon, almost all of which seemed to get demolished after the race.

I also got the dubious honour of starting the race. The megaphone was a bit of a disaster (it didn’t work very well at all), so club coach John took over by shouting with his far more impressive voice the various bits and pieces we needed to announce. Glasgow’s runners were spared my witty banter and planned motivational speeches ! But having 250 pairs of eyes staring at you as you start the race (with a lovely loud air horn) was something I’ll not be rushing to do again! Terrifying. The 15 minutes of peace and quiet after the start were soon over though when the lead runners returned (A winning time from Paul Sorrie of Shettleston Harriers, in 15.28 was impressively fast).

My job was to assist the time keepers and race-number recorders, and arrange for results to be shipped back to race HQ by hoodwinking club colleagues who’d completed the race to take results back (or do it myself). The 3-4 minutes between about 20-24 minutes was pure adrenalin, and only one nasty backlog, which my timekeeping colleagues did exceptionally well to get through. No major disasters ensued (Full results are available here), and I’m told it all went well.

My friend Keith (unattached at the moment, but mulling joining a club) recorded an impressive 18:56 time on what was his first ever 5k, and some excellent performances from many of the clubs members, including a sub-20 watch time (which is probably more accurate when you account for delays in crossing the start line!) by group-B coach Jonathan.

Back to the Palace of Arts (so named after the Empire Exhibition of 1938, and nothing whatsoever to do with sports) for prizes, food, de-stressing and a good natter.

A fun morning all said, time keeping stresses aside, and I think Frances even enjoyed herself marshalling out on the course, although not sure it quite made up for the lack of lie-in this weekend (a work related early start on Saturday didn’t help either)!

See also:

• Norman’s write-up
• Ian Goudie’s write-up
• bedlam-g
• Full results

Things have been rather busy the last while, and the only subject I’m feeling keen to write about is running! Normal service should resume soon. But in the meantime, this morning we had an early start to head off to Helensburgh for the Helensburgh Amateur Athletics Club organised half marathon.

I should say up front that I had mixed feelings about the event. I was mainly entering it to ensure I completed my running club’s championship criteria - As I’d left things rather late (and am leaving marathons to next year), my choice was limited by the time I got around to choosing. Helensburgh and Glasgow half marathons. Mainly though I didn’t really get around to doing the necessary training, so my goal went from pushing my PB too far (which I figured I’d leave for Glasgow in early September) to simply getting around in one piece. In fact, I didn’t get much running done this week at all other than the Monday club session: I wasn’t feeling 100% in the middle of the week either.

So we got to Helensburgh with enough time for a couple of quick trips to the facilities, and I got a very short warmup in. Just before everybody started gathering for the start, the sun seemed to appear from nowhere, and I started worrying whether I should have put some sunblock on. I needn’t have bothered. After the start, the sun disappeared. And it then wasn’t very long until the rain started. And didn’t really stop for the duration. A short sharp shower would have been quite nice, but this just kept on coming!

Despite my talk about ‘just getting around’, I figured I’d try for a 1:45 time. My previous PB in Glasgow last year was 1:52:38, but since then I’ve joined a running club and seen my times tumble. It was what you might call a ’soft PB’. So figured it was reasonable to aim for something, and see how I went. Mindful of my friend Sharon’s supportive text last night about taking it steady and overtaking towards the end being a lot more fun, I settled in to a comfortable 7:45/mile pace, and figured I’d keep at it. I was pleased that my pacing meant I was able to catch up and pass a good few runners. The rain saps a lot out of you, but despite that I found myself feeling pretty good all the way around. Passing runners was good fun, but it didn’t last - a group soon formed towards the end section in Helensburgh where we were all passing each other over and over again.

I’d picked up a water bottle along the way, and hung on to it. No bins and my hatred of littering meant I couldn’t lose it in good conscience. So when Frances suddenly appeared on the other side of the road, she snapped this rather amusing picture of me throwing it in her direction so she could find a bin. Some gratitude for her efforts on my part! My excuse was I’d not seen her (my glasses were soaked!), and somehow finding a bin had become quite a focus for me! An amusing action shot will no doubt ensure I don’t forget my rudeness either!

The 3-4 miles through Helensburgh’s back streets were tough. Long and straight streets with very little going on. Returning to the front and seeing the 12 mile marker was therefore a huge relief, and I felt good enough to pick the pace up a bit more, and start picking off the group I’d settled with. Of course, they weren’t letting it just happen, so a great race ensued. Best of all (for me!) I managed to keep at it. Rounding the final corner to see the finish line was a huge relief, but one of the other runners had something left in him and passed me. I congratulated him briefly… Normally I’m a bit hopeless at sprint finishes…

But somehow I ‘dug deep’ and found a chunk of energy. Thoughts of hill sessions in the gloomy winter flashed past me: I’d been in worse pain and had less energy than I had then, so figured what-the-hell… So my very first sprint finish! And, it seems, I won!. Wow. Chuffed to bits.

My fellow running club members had some great performances. With an out-and-back course, it meant we could see our front-runners doing extremely well. Not had the official results yet, but looks like some superb performances were put in and some great results throughout the field.

My watch time gave me a time of 1:41:27, but there’s a bit more in that given I didn’t stop my watch for a while (too exhausted from the sprint!). My official time was 01:41:23, so a PB of 11 minutes was waaay beyond my expectations given my minimal preparation, and given how good I actually felt at the end, plus a bit more training, I’m starting to feel quite really confident of pushing below 1:40 in Glasgow next month, especially if it’s a bit dryer

Certainly a great end to a great event. Whilst the weather was far from helpful, the course is superb, and the organisers and their wonderful marshalls deserve a special Thank You! In dryer conditions it’d be really quite something. The views over the lochs and reasonably flat course were all great. Thoroughly enjoyable, and a great result.

Now, if only I’d remember to put some plasters on…

Some additional items:

• Picture highlights courtesy of Frances. Complete set.

• Fellow club runner Ian’s writeup.

• Fellow club runner Norman’s writeup

Last week I took part in the Co-operative Jog Scotland 5k challenge on Glasgow Green. This was two weeks after my club ran it’s annual “Presidents Cup” handicap, over the Bella 5k course. So lots of 5k races to report on.

The Presidents Cup is a handicap, and this was my first experience of such an event. Runners are set off in reverse order of speed with a ‘handicap’ related to a recent 10k time. So we were all entirely consistent to that, all the entrants would finish together. I managed a time of 21:25, which I was really rather pleased with, considering my previous PB was 23:18 at Richmond Park Time Trial in November (write-up here). So in 7-8 months, I’d managed to take almost two minutes off my time (allowing for the fact that the RPTT isn’t as flat as the Bella 5k course).

The hardest part of the race was, as frequently is the case with running, the mindset. As well as all the usual battles that go on in your mind as you’re running, the additional complication was battling the desire I have to fall in with another runners pace. I’ve done it before in races, and benefited from a faster runner, almost as much as I’ve lost out to falling in with a slower runner. With the handicap, the people in front are (theoretically) slower, and so you’re aiming to catch up with them over the distance. Not fall in with them.

All said, it was a great race, and a lot of fun, and I was delighted to get a PB in the process. I find most sessions where the entire club is involved a lot of fun: It’s great to see how good the other runners are, and helps inspire us slower runners. Best of all though club regular Colin (aka Captain Caveman) won the men’s event, and he’s a fellow group B runner, giving us all hope! He quipped to me afterwards that he wouldn’t have come that night if he’d realised we’d be racing, and he went on to win! Marvellous stuff.

Anyway, last Wednesday saw the Co-operative Jog Scotland 5k on Glasgow green. This was a much bigger event - The results page shows close to 1,000 runners took part - and I had a hope I’d push my PB a bit more, even though the course was unfamiliar to me.

After a huge amount of walking about Edinburgh (for work) and all over Glasgow (to dump my laptop bag with my helpful brother in law, Paul!), I arrived thinking I’d done enough of a warmup already! After a quick few re-adjustments (In my hurry to get to the race I’d managed to get my running vest on the wrong way round, after pinning my number on! Doh!) and a short warmup, we lined up close to the People’s palace. Gun starts always give me a fright, but I managed to set off at a decent pace. Consistency was my goal, but pushing as hard as I could manage with that in mind.

I got into a good battle over the course with fellow Bella, John. I’d passed him around the 1k mark, but in a storming example of “digging deep”, John barrelled past me on the finish straight like something possessed. He’d been keeping pace with me all along, and did a stunning job to pull out a finish like that. That’s still “advanced running” for me: I feel great to just get to the finish line in a reasonable time!

In the end my watch time was 20:59, and my chip time 21:00, so I’m suspecting a rounding error is involved! A new PB either way, so I’m still absolutely delighted, and it’s given me some real hope I might just about to be able to think about mounting a challenge on the 20 minute barrier next year. Best of all, reasonably consistent splits (by my measure at least): 04:01, 04:13, 04:18, 04:26 and 04:01. As ever the 3k-4k split proves hard, not helped by a slight incline along the path.

The event itself had a reasonable turnout of fellow Bellas. 13 in total, with a stunning 16:12 and 16:18 by two of our leading club runners. It was won by the Glasgow racing scene regulars from Eritrea (a bit more about their story here, but ignore the bigotry in the comments!) in a truly stunning 14:07.

With a good goodie bag (I’ve got the chocolate stashed in my laptop bag ready to much!), and some great performances, it was a fun evening. Rounded off with a (I think) deserved beer and healthy(ish) noodles at Wagamama, it all made for a great evening.

Well, there’s nothing quite like a media storm to draw attention to the fact that your own MP has a weblog. It seems he’s been accused of calling us all miserable (link to BBC news).

You can read the article here on his weblog - I plan to do so later on. He also has a slick, but rather generic looking Labour-MP website

As a weblogger myself(!), and a constituent with no party affiliations (but plenty of opinions, as Mr Harris himself will have recently discovered after I wrote to him about 42 days detention), I plan to keep a bit more of an eye on his weblog in future. It’s certainly to be commended (especially as he’s a minister), and I certainly hope the current media storm doesn’t put him off maintaining it. If only more politicians would do so (Glasgow councillors in particular), we’d all perhaps know a tiny bit more about what our representatives think.