The Battle of Langside – Sx5 – Queens Park
The Battle of Langside Queens Park, the finale. South By Five once again comes to a close. But not before another new route and exploration of the heart of Glasgow’s south side, Queens Park. Named for Mary, Queen of Scots, her opponent at the Battle of Langside, Earl Moray, lined up on Langside Hill, while her forces aligned opposite on what is now Mount Florida train station/Langside College. Langside Hill now forms the central point […]
True Grit
South By Five – Bellahouston Park falls in early January. Always going to be a cold one in Scotland. In the 23/24 series, the race was postponed due to a severe freeze, despite Michelle and I gritting parts of the course the night before. Fast forward 12 months and we were back in a similar position. With planned Saturday parkruns and other events in the city over the weekend falling by the wayside as early […]
Brutal B*stard
Another new route. Judging by the in race feedback it wasn’t a good change. Type 2 fun was promised prior to the event. And type 2 fun it was. And it didn’t even take that long for in-race offences to change to finish line compliments! Bastard brutal A post race Strava trawl had many “brutal” comments, mostly related to the route change. Mostly related to the new hill in the new route. Now known affectionately […]
“No bad”
With the dust barely settling on the Duncan Macfarlane Race, download were done, route tweaks completed and volunteers organised for another event. Who can believe it’s been twelve months since South By Five began, and here we are again. As a wee reminder Facebook pushed up a memory – Alex pounding up those steps at Queens Park before heading to the finish line of the South Side Six. It was what transpired to be the […]
The Last One – Queens Park Sx5
We finally closed out the 23/24 South By Series. Here’s some numbers to crunch: 193 folk entered at least one event 171 different runners took part in a least one race 27 finished all 6 events and are Series completers An additional 35 are also Series completers having finished 5 of 6. Over 200 hours of volunteer time that helped the series be the success it is. 50 trees purchased to be planted in the […]
The Cancelled One! – Bellahouston Park
This phoenix didn’t rise from the flames. We rose from the ice and freezing temperatures of the scheduled Bellahouston date, to run on another perfect running morning. We made every effort to ensure this race went ahead this time (not that we don’t usually 😏). With time running out on the series, there was no scope to squeeze it into any other date. We were out on Saturday evening with the newly christened “Fraz” […]
South By Five – Pollok Park – The Muddy One
Rain on parade I think that was a first for Acorn Trails. It rained during the race. Certainly a first for South By Five. We’ve had weather before, after and during but never proper rain during a Sx5 race. Unless it’s just my rainbow tinted glasses. Of course rain on our parade does not perturb us. It just adds to the mud. Although between the damp weather and busy time of year, it seems quite […]
South By Five 3 – Rx5 The Meadow
The race that nearly never was! A good flurry of snow overnight on Friday meant a fun day of sledging in the park on Saturday. That same snow though by Sunday morning was compacted into a route full of potential hazards. Of particular concern was the long tarmac stretch and the waterfall bridge. Both these sections scraped past the early morning course inspection with a sigh of relief. The conditions weren’t perfect and there would […]
Woof woof woof woof awooo!
A race brief by Jim the Dog Ok so dad’s left me here to oversee operations while he sets up (and comes up with) another course. First of all, thanks for all the pats at registration. Although I do have an important job to do here, I still can’t help but feel abandoned when I’m not with my main man so I appreciate those who took the time to look at my sad wee face […]
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 […]