10K Between the Bridges, Belfast

It was an early morning start, very early, and the glasses of sparkling Chardonnay last night didn't make it any easier to get up and out. The night before I drove the car dry and had to find a petrol station as soon as I set off. Luckily there was one less than a mile away that was just opening and happy to take my cash. I unfolded my google maps directions and headed north.

The drive north was uneventful until I heard the news at 8.30. Overnight two soldiers had been shot dead with four others injured. This happened just north of Belfast and although I was heading for west Belfast I began to worry that I may be getting into something I should avoid. I continued north and decided that if I started to meet check points I'd turn around and head for home.

I didn't see any evidence of tension or heightened security for most of the journey. When I entered Belfast I did notice a lot of Police cars and the occasional Land Rover but had no way of knowing if this was normal. My printed directions quickly became useless as the event was using the M1 motorway, now closed for the run, and my directions used that very route. After several wrong turns I found the signs I was looking for and headed up the Falls Road towards the start line.

Further along the Falls Road traffic started to build up. After about ten minutes of stop start traffic I notice a policeman directing traffic. When I reached him I told him what I was going to and could he give me directions. As luck would have it he was directing traffic away from the race area. I could park anywhere nearby and I'd be a short walk from the start line.

As I walked down the Falls Road I began to notice the security presence. It seemed to me that every third Police officer carried, in addition to their sidearm, a large rifle or machine gun. I passed a lot of police officers on that short walk, that adds up to a lot of hardware.

Next to the start line was a shopping mall where the registration office was set up. After I picked up my number and goodie bag I got on the phone to hook up with my running partners. They had arrived much earlier that I had and managed to park directly outside the mall. There were two races happening that day, our 10K and a 5K run/walk. The 5K race was stating first and as we had a few minutes to spare it seemed like a good idea to shed anything we didn't need and put them into the car nearby. I offered to run around to the car so with the car keys and the bundle of extra stuff I ran around to the other side of the fence to the car. As I got to the car I fumbled a little to get the key out of my pocket, carrying a bundle of gear and wearing gloves didn't help. My grip on the key loosened and I dropped the it. As I looked down to where I expected to see the key there was nothing except a very large and deep storm drain. What were the chances of there being a drain directly under the driver door of this particular car? I couldn't believe it, I got down on my knees and peered under the car and to my surprise, relief, shock and utter joy there was the key, sitting about one foot under the car. How it failed to go down the drain I'll never know, it must have bounced off the metal grill for I was standing directly over it, there was nowhere else for it to go. I felt ill with relief, I just couldn't believe how close I came to disaster!

Having avoided the worst possible start to the day, never mind the race, I rejoined the group as the 5K runners/walkers were already crossing the line. I couldn't stop thinking about how close disaster had come and worked hard to get it out of my head, it didn't work and it regularly popped into my thoughts along the entire route.

It wasn't long before it was our turn to get going and not before time, we were starting to turn blue with the cold. The route brought us directly onto junction 1 of the M1 motorway heading south west. We ran along the southbound carriageway uphill all the way to junction 2 where we left the motorway and ran under and up the other side and continued to run on the other carriageway back the way we came towards central Belfast. We had covered about 1.5 miles and were just beginning to warm up when on this side of the carriageway we met a strong head wind that sucked away any warmth we had earned. This continued until we reached lower ground and began to benefit from the high walls that bordered this part of the motorway.

The road surface was great, a brand new 3 lane highway all to ourselves. We passed the starting point where the M1 becomes the A12 an ran on for another 2.5 miles parallel to the Falls Road until we reached the Divis Road where we turned around and ran back towards the M1. I was hoping for a water station somewhere close to the half way mark but it wasn't to be. I was getting really thirsty and really starting to regret those last few glasses of Chardonnay last night. The finish line was in the shopping mall car park and we crossed the line in 56.26, that's a new personal best for me!! Having crossed the line I expected a water station of some description but there was not a drop to be seen. We had to get money to buy some water, luckily one of the cars was close by but this time I didn't volunteer to open it, best not to push my luck too far!

Here's the map of the route: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/2448561

The rest of my day was spend pottering around Belfast and after a couple of hours, and the contents of my wallet, spent in Ikea I made for the south and home.