GEDM 2010

Thomas at the finish of the Glasgow-Edinburgh-Double-Marathon (56M or 90K)

He ran a brilliant time of 6:55 and came 4th. Well done!

It was an exciting race with a lot of fast runners on the starter's list and I did not expect him to get into the top 5 this year. When the race started in Ruchill Park Glasgow there was one guy literally sprinting out of the park and everyone was smiling and thinking, yeah, how far will he get? Well, he built up a lead of 10min at one point and kept running like this. His running style looked so not distance- running-style that everywhere he passed people commented, oh, he will surely slow down soon, he will not get to the end like this.
But I learned 1 very important lesson yesterday, never to judge anyone by his running style!
He sure finished and he finished 2nd after Marcus Scotney who overtook him at half-way. Marcus looked comfortable the whole way and his winning time was 6:22. The 2nd one turned out to be no-one less than Grant Jeans, a fairly recent discovery as we were told who was picked to run the 100K in Keswick at the Commonwealth last year (running under 7:30 I think)! He finished maybe 10min behind Marcus though I am not sure.
Thomas worked his way up, initially running with George Cairns in 11th position and was 5th after the Falkirk Wheel. At my next stop at 59K he was 4th and the 3rd guy was only 3min ahead. So I thought, that's not too much and he will be able to catch him.
Last year he was only a few minutes behind Kenny Valentine but at a much later point and could not get to him. So I was getting really excited and rushed to my next stop at 71K. Again he was a few min behind the 3rd who still looked very comfortable, I had to admit. Thomas in fact had him in his sight as the canal was stretching out a bit. Again encouragement to "get him".
But at 81K it was the same picture and when Thomas approached and I said you can do it, he said, no way, he had actually overtaken him at a checkpoint and pulled away. But it only lasted a few min when the other guy came "jogging" past (as Thomas said) in a pace that I could not run a 10K in. So I knew he would not get into 3rd.
I must admit I was slightly disappointed at that point, just because he was so close again like last year - even though I never expected him to be that far up this year. But your expectations go wild when you are following a race unfolding.
Anyway, who was the 3rd guy? Someone called Ian Sharman from Serpentine RC London. A Marathon de Sables Finisher and numerous marathon runs with PBs around 2:32!
So very well done to Thomas to come so close to him. By the time I reached the finish (and parked the car in a very dark and forsaken underground car park, I emerged and was right next to the finish at the canal! Well done Silke!) I realized what a brilliant (and much faster than last year's) finish time Thomas would have, I was cheering him on to the finish line. Together with Murdo, his daughter and Ellen who were there watching as well.

6:55 - superb! Well done!