Vaporflys squeak round shopping centre floor
Two Corstorphine runners swept round Livingston Designer Outlet, in a unique event organised by Stride Athletics.
Held on Halloween, Telfer Gray & Stephen Addison donned their famous panda suits, invoking jaw dropping glances from Pizza Express diners.
The look of confusion amongst the restaurant’s guests quickly switched from bewilderment to intrigue, as competitors competed in the three-lap course attempting to grab one of Stride’s later sweeter prizes.
Participants were warned to replace their outside soles before stepping foot on the approximately 500m pristine racetrack, and thankfully it was only drops off the ketchup variety that was on show.
In heat 4 Telfer & Stephen lined up in their bamboo double act, swiftly foraging to the front of the pack, Telfer taking up safe vantage in the Zoo, and Stephen with his vaporfly’s on the forest floor.
The last lap saw Mr. Gray comfortably in second, safely sure of his sugar cane supper treat, finishing behind Edinburgh AC’s John Lenehan in 2nd in a time of 5:09, though Mr. Addison had a duel to contend for the all-important fourth spot.
This brought excitement to the spectators and Stephen unfortunately was edged by Edinburgh AC athlete Adam Bayley in 5:12, now having to hunt for his glucose on his West Lothian guising quest.
With the fourth fastest qualifying time out of the 16 finalists Telfer took part in the male final shortly after Carnethy’s Niamh Carr’s was crowned women’s champion.
The black and white camouflage held its own against much more glamorous and frightening outfits, even surviving an early nudge as one competitor couldn’t control his sugar rush.
Telfer began to work up his appetite, and excitedly pigeon toed his way back into safety to navigate the first lap, then visibly showcased his preference for sweet over savoury from the second.
Finishing in 9th place, Telfer’s showing empathised there is still plenty of spirit and admiration for a panda outfit in the world of today.
His time of 5 minutes and two seconds saw him slice in front of his heat winner John by 700 hundreds of a second in an enthralling sprint finish.
Luke Cuilton of Falkirk Victoria Harriers took the win in 4:48 ahead of Edinburgh Universities Jamie Blackburn and East Kilbride’s Ben Baillie.
Stride Athletics deserves huge kudos for delivering an innovative event that certainly freshened the local racing scene.
Here’s to more whacky and imaginative races across Scotland!
P.s Mr. Addison was caught wearing his Glasgow University vest, though when you have been a club member for 10+ years in the fabled Ronhill vest, we can let you off!
Write up by Telfer Gray. Photography by Andrew Leinster
😅😅 classic.