South By Five 2 – Lx5 “The Duck Pond”

Linn Park is Alex’s favourite of the series. There’s no prizes for guessing why! It’s the sort of route that puts the “trail” into Acorn Trails! And features our now infamous Duck Pond!

The weather on Sunday was, well, South By Five. The rain held off for the race allowing runners to keep dry. From about the neck up!

Saturday’s rain meant there was mud aplenty. And puddles. And a Duck Pond.

If all that sounds okay, we added a wee extra incline and a squad of photographers to capture your enjoyment, including one on “that hill”, AKA ‘the hill of death’.

Duck Pond

This year the Duck Pond was showing off! Practically a small lake, with a tributary flowing into the White Cart.

Much bigger than previous years, runners were sure to enjoy it! A wry grin from the race leader, Cameron Muir, on lap 1 on his approach to the pond amused the race director stood there spectating!

Some great splashing, fun and cursing were observed at the Pond. The air filled with the cheers of the onlookers as runners stomped and sploshed into the muddy depths!

No one found the pound though!

Ray in 2022 “looking for a pound”!

As promised by Michelle, there are prizes on offer. Best photo at the Pond with the winners awarded the “Kilnsman Cup”.

Click here to cast your vote.

Finish line

Second time around on that muddy uphill, downhill, pond all complete, runners were rewarded with a long drag uphill to the finish line.

Refreshments provided by the Friends of Linn Park awaited, and were welcomed.

Cameron Muir extended on his first lap lead to take two wins from two races in the series. He crossed the line in 19.45 and was immediately complimentary about the route!

The battle for second and third had ebbed and flowed throughout the race. Grant Jeans saved some in reserve and deployed the extra energy to power over the line into second place in 20.16. Richard Cooper (Cambuslang Harriers) was kept at bay to take the third step in 20.20. All the top six finishers had at some time in the race been in a top 3 slot! Great racing!

The female battle was hotting up nicely heading into lap 1. Not feeling great, the Kings Park winner, Ruth Craddock, was forced to withdraw at the Duck Pond on the first splash.

The top step there for the taking, and Jennifer Conway (St Albans Striders) powered through the mud, looking strong on the uphills, to take the ‘tape’ in an awesome 23.48

Juliette Linford (Glasgow Tri) repeated her feat from Kings Park taking second place in 24.31 with some good consistency. Completing the top 3, Julie Atkinson, in 24.51 afterwards declared the race her favourite of Sx5.

Full results can be found here.

Photos

As mentioned we had a great squad of photographers.

In addition to Kevin’s found on the main Acorn Trails feed here, there are many others from the rest available on the Acorn Trails Pinboard, a Facebook group. The photos alone are worth joining Facebook if you’re not on there.

Massive thanks to all those behind the lens (no order): George Wilson, Laura Lennon, Kevin Queenan, Blythe Lindsay, Ian Cochrane,

Additional photos were also taken by our marshals. These are also available on the Pinboard.

Marshals

What a team! The first event we’ve ever hosted without needing to appeal for marshals. You came in numbers and supported us and the runners amazingly well. Thank you so much! Life is so much easier with you guys there. We appreciate you and so do the runners.

Dad commented on the amount of “thanks” thrown his way, and also said he’d “never been called ‘Dad’ so many times in one day”. Cheers for making the old boy smile. It’s a rare occasion!

Our hi-viz heroes:

Cedric Moreau, Brian Hughes, Lynn Connor, Dorothy Buchanan, Charlene Harris, Imaan Niven, Debbie Wright & Paige, John Softley, Clare Taylor, Liam McGregor, Steven Prentice, Kirsty Milton-Moir & Hannah, Jenny Brown, Dad, Deidre Hoyle, Paul Fletcher, Stephen O’Neil, Nick McKerral, Angus Robinson, Michael McNamara.

Thanks again to Dorothy with her Friends of Linn Park hat on for the finish line hot refreshments and chocolates, and assisting her, Councillor Catherine Vallis.

Caramel Wafers supplied by Tunnocks and Bananas by Coop Croftfoot. Cheers guys!

Next up

We head to Rouken Glen in two weeks, on the 3rd December for our next South By Five installment.

Don’t forget we also have the Pollok Park Trail Race open for entries on March 10th 2024.

Entries are available on EntryCentral. Click here….