A fast and flat course was awaiting Jacek Cieluszecki when he ventured up to Scotland and threw his hat in the ring for the River Ness 10k
Whilst he’s on a trip away, Jacek Cieluszecki usually manages to fit a race in and he followed that trend recently on a short break up in Scotland with his wife Ela. In a very rare occurrence over recent years, JC was lining up for a 10k race which was part of the same event as the Loch Ness Marathon.
It was called the Baxters River Ness 10k and featured a flat, point-to-point course through the Highland capital of Inverness along the banks of the River Ness. It started off with a very slight incline, then there was perhaps a very slight upward trajectory leading up to 2.1 miles. Then after that it was all downhill or flat to the finish, making it pretty fast course. In another rarity, the weather was perfect up in Scotland that day so it was set up nicely for a strong run if Jacek could find it within himself.
It was a very strong field for the River Ness 10k with several very quick Scottish runners taking part. Jacek knew he would have to put in a very good performance if he wanted to achieve a high placing. His goal was to finish in under 34 minutes, which is no easy task for a 10k.
Going out hard from the outset, Jacek went through the first mile in 5:07 before registering a 5:23 for his second mile. He then went through the next mile in 5:15, reaching the 5k point in 16:21. That was a very good first half of the race.
The fourth mile saw him clock another 5:15 before he began to find it tough going. He wasn’t in peak shape since he’d only really been running when commuting to every day which is four miles.
Jacek crosses the finish line in 33:01 which put him 14th out of 1,933
On the fifth mile he posted a 5:22 and that was followed by a 5:26 for his sixth mile before putting in a fast finish for the final quarter of a mile. That was enough to see him cross the line in 33:01 which was considerably quicker than he was expecting.
Surprisingly that was enough for 14th place as there were so many talented Scottish runners present. Ten athletes managed under 32 minutes and the quickest of those was Logan Rees of Fife Athletics Club who set a new course record of 28:52.
That put him over a minute ahead of his nearest rival Max Abernethy of Fraserburgh Running Club who finished in 29:55. He was the only other man to get in inside 30 minutes. Lachlan Oates of Sheffleston Harriers came 3rd in exactly 31 minutes with Angus Smith of Corstorphine AAC taking 4th in 31:07.
It was a solid performance from JC and he was pleased with his run
JC was the 3rd M40 to reach the finish behind Lesley Morrison of Metro Aberdeen Running who got round in 32:31 and 12th and Donnie Macdonald of Inverness Harriers who was 13th in 32:52. Jacek’s average pace for the run was a very quick 5:18.
Former Dorset Doddlers and Poole Runners star Molly Rasch was running as well and she now competes for Highland Hill Runners. Clocking a time of 36:21, she finished 50th overall and was 3rd female. Caitlyn Heggie of Inverness Harriers was the fastest woman, getting round in 35:48 which put her 37th overall.
Robyn Pinder of Metro Aberdeen Running was 2nd female and 46th overall in a time of 36:17. There were 1933 athletes in total taking part in the 10k race.
The Loch Ness Marathon was won by Moray Pryde in a time of 2 hours 19 minutes and 26 seconds which was a new course record. He was almost 12 minutes ahead of Shaun Cumming of East Sutherland AC who was his nearest rival. He finished in 2:31:16.
Jacek paced his brother-in-law round at the Vitality London 10,000
Although it was a rarity for JC to be competing in a 10k race, technically it was the 2nd week in a row that he had as he was running the Vitality London 10,000 the weekend before, pacing his brother-in-law round. That saw him complete the course in 41:50 with his brother-in-law going over the line in 41:02 which put him in 792nd place out of 15,000.
Before that Jacek had won the very hilly Lighthouse Loop 5k race in 18:04 with his teammate Stu Nicholas taking 2nd in 18:54. That was one of the Purbeck Trail Series fixtures.
Earlier in the summer he ran the Trail Half Hanner which was contested along the Coed y Brenin trails in the Eryri National Park in Wales. That was part of the Golden Trail National Series so he faced some top quality runners that day and did well to finish 10th overall and 2nd M40 in 1:28:56.
JC searched high and low but Nessie was nowhere to be seen
Whilst he was up in Scotland, JC scoped the area and searched for the Loch Ness Monster but unfortunately, on this occasion, he had no sightings of any substance to report.