Archie took part in yesterday’s 2.5K run as part of the festival of running at Holyrood Park. My quip to him that the weather had scared off Mo Farah was beginning to come back and haunt me as we stood in the warm-up (oxymoron) area and his lower lip was beginning to wobble. It took all my powers of persuasion to prevent him from jacking it in. When the starting hooter finally came his wee feet seemed to have frozen as he was not his usual swift self and I found myself encouraging/berating/cajoling him up the hill towards the top of the park.
The course this year was very different from last and it snaked up the hill before coming off the tarmac and sending the runners around a very muddy loop before heading downwards again towards the finish. Towards the finish Archie sprang into life but by then the race was almost over and he finished in 13.09, quite a bit outside of what he managed last year. Still, another race under his belt for the lad and onwards (and a notch upwards in my negotiating skills) towards the Race to the Col (Carnethy 5 mini race).
Mike Lynch