every single one of us can be proud of ourselves that cometh the hour we stepped up to the plate.

I,ve got to admit i had been scratching at the doors for this one for a few weeks and all the things went in our favour on the day the weather etc.

felt sorry for young Andrew Crichton who had to pull out at Failford after going so well. even more ad miration for his dad for maintaining back up to me all the way to the line.

thats a few pints i owe ye wullie !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i went to Auchincruive yesterday to see some of the walkers and convey my thanks to the RAYNET service team who were top class people, very friendly and understanding .

thanked Louise and her team as well for getting this as a goer

had a good wee night at the end as well and a few pints into the bargain

RAW reports – Tim Downie

I think because this was “home territory” we were all looking forward to this. You only have to look at the results to see what an advantage we had. This does of course highlight the problems with the route markings. Whilst it’s nice to have a home advantage it would be nice to think that we could do as well next year on a leveller playing field.

Like Alex, I was keen to get going at the start and was happy with the pace until Alex decided to fly off like a man possessed! I honestly thought it was a kamikaze pace so wasn’t fussed about giving chase. Bobby, Anne, Roddy and a few other settled into an easy pace and wondered when we’d see Alex again. Perhaps if we’d known he was going to fly quite so fast perhaps we’d have given chase a bit earlier!

I had to part company with Anne et. al. for an emergency pit stop and by the time I re-emerged, they were all long gone and I settled into a comfortable pace with Ellen & Stan & Ian. After a while I got itchy feet and pushed on a bit with Ian to Catrine where after a brief stop I pushed on, never to see another runner again until the end!
With hindsight I should have either pushed on harder or dropped back to have a more sociable run with Stan & Ellen but I didn’t know that at the time.

I found the long hill from the Haugh rather trying but it did have some of the best blackberries growing along it so it wasn’t all bad. I wasn’t enjoying running on tarmac at this point and I afraid I ignored most of the “Keep off the verges” signs in Barskimming. 😉

My diet of jelly babies & malt loaf seemed to be working okay until I got near Gadgirth bridge when I had a weird reaction to a mouthful of maltloaf. I had barely taken into my mouth when I found myself gagging and spitting, almost as if I was reacting to something poisonous! I hadn’t even swallowed any but right at that moment it seemed the vilest thing imaginable. (I’m fine with malt loaf today though).

I’m not sure if this had any impact on my running but I was glad I had taken some money with me as I developed a craving for an ice lolly from Braefoot stores which I duly purchased along with a bag of crisps. I can say from experience now that racing and eating a bag of crisps isn’t too easy.

From Annbank onwards I started to have trouble with that switch in your head that keeps wanting to flip to “walk, don’t run” and on a few occasions I found myself walking for no very good reason. A quick mental boot up the backside seemed to work each time though but I think my energy levels were definitely running a bit low by then.

I don’t know what my pace had slowed to by the time I reached the A77 but I was able to ick it up a bit knowing that it wasn’t far to go and I still harboured hopes of perhaps catching someone (ever the optimist!). When I got within sight of New Bridge I thought I spotted a runner on the bridge and picked the pace right up to something almost respectable.

Obviously, it wasn’t a runner as Anne finsihed a good 10 minutes ahead of me but it was nice to feel like I was running again and not plodding.

I must be honest and say I was surprised and pleased (for Anne) at how far ahead of me she had got. I would rather have finished ahead of her but I don’t think I ran badly, I think she just ran better!

It was great to get together after the race and Anne’s generous offer to drive was much appreciated.

Lets hope that East Ayrshire think that it’s worth making a regular event and that they will do something about the signposting as that caused quite a lot of trouble for some of the other runners. All in all though, well done to Louise Kyle & her department and the Raynet guys who were great.

RAW reports – Anne Noble

Yes, I agree it was a great day . Right from the start the weather was perfect (even though as we approached Glenbuck it looked as though it was going to be a repeat of last year’s horrendous rain).
It felt a bit surreal to be standing beside the loch with about 80 other people at 9am on a Sat morning while the formal opening speech was given.
Was pleased to finally get started and to make our way along the first few miles. Have to take my hat off to Tim, though, who was the only one of us who took time to stop and rescue a sheep with it’s head stuck in a fence – gaining our admiration (the rest of us ploughed on) but also a bruised thumb from the ungrateful animal.
Anyway, shortly after that we were taking bets as to when some of us might catch up with Alex but he was determined to prove that his injury wouldn’t stop him from doing well. And didn’t he do well!
I managed to (just) keep up with Bobby, Mark and Roddy for much of the time to Catrine where Alan was waiting with much needed food and, of course, the camera. Bobby was away and I didn’t see him again until the Citadel, but I was passed by Mark and then Rod who both gave welcome words of encouragement. Another surreal episode going through Barskimming where the manicured driveway (before Tim charged through ) and grand woodlands contrasted with the previous wild moorlands, rushing river and small villages and towns. Was struggling by this time and relieved to reach Failford as I know this section much better. As I left the cool woods of Failford and passed a couple out walking, the woman asked if I was training for the Glasgow Half marathon the next day (clearly pleased that she could share her knowledge of the running calendar) but her jaw dropped when I told her how far all the race members were running that day and conceded that I wouldn’t be at Glasgow on Sunday.
Struggled pretty much all the way to Annbank and then, as I gradually realised that I wasn’t being passed by anyone else, decided that I should just go for it and try to keep running into Ayr.
Was surprised and delighted to find Alan waiting and cheering me on not far past Ayr College and found the energy to keep going to the end. What a relief to see everyone waiting outside the Citadel .
Yes, well done to Louise and her team for a great race. Also to Alex who kept us up-to-date with the plans and kept Louise right, I’m sure, with the details of race planning.
Sorry that Andrew didn’t manage to complete it – but that’s hardly surprising when he ran it only 6 weeks ago! And pleased to hear that Ian finished – well done the RAW Recruits team .
Thanks for organising the night out, Bobby – it was good to have the chance to meet some of the runners, too. Not going to forget this day in a hurry.