I got up at 05:10 and was glad I had laid out my race stuff the night before. Who wants to fumble about looking for things at this hour? Got showered, had breakfast of weetabix with some bread and jam and was out the door for 06:00. 

Picked up Robert Connell at 06:10 and we were on our way. After an uneventful journey, we left M8 at junction 2 and joined a huge tailback of cars trying to get to race venue. Finally got parked about 07:40 and had a mad rush to find a toilet and get to the start.

The race got underway and I ran an easy first 5km in about 29 mins. Joined the Forth Road Bridge at about 8km and kept it steady to reach 10km in about 56 mins. There was an energy station at about 12km and I drank a plastic cup of something that tasted like red bull. Back on the bridge for the return journey, the view is quite spectacular from a pedestrian’s point of view.

There was meant to be a timing mat at halfway, but it was situated somewhere between 15 &16km....! Reached 16km in 1:28:30 and was still on course for a sub 2:30 time. A sharp drop to 17km led to a very steep hill to about 19km, I’m afraid I had to walk a bit of this. Got to 21km in 1:59:15 and still had a sub 2:30 time in mind, even though I was starting to feel very tired. 

Another steep hill at 23km really took its toll on me and it was an effort just to try and keep moving. Got to 25km in about 2:25 and just managed to hold on to finish in 2:31:36. I was exhausted, but overjoyed to have completed a difficult course in a reasonable time. I would recommend this race to anyone who likes hills and enjoys a good challenge. Will I do it again? Possibly, we'll wait and see.