Dechmont Law Park
Dechmont Law Park
Having run in 36 different countries, I can think of no better place to train than Dechmont Law Park. Running round and round a track can be boring. So can road running, and pounding on a hard surface takes a toll on the joints. I loved running free on trails and grass, through woods and open ground, uphill and down dale. When I was in my prime I had no track to train on, but I trained in the countryside and was able to race under 29 minutes for 10k on a number of occasions.
Our club has produced a number of champion runners, like Ashley and Jemma Toner, Iain Donnan, Scott Fraser and the Inglis triplets, all of whom train regularly at Dechmont Law Park. And athletes from other parts of Scotland also train there. So too do other runners who never aspire to be champions but just want to keep fit and enjoy running with friends in an attractive environment.
From the time when the club was first formed we met there on Sunday mornings at the car park, behind Deans High school, for group runs, with a coach on hand to look after younger folk.
During a recent transitional period, we have not been able to offer a coached session, but this will resume on Sunday August 7th, meeting at the car park at 10 am. This will be available free, every Sunday except the last Sunday of each month, when Matt Richardson offers a session at Beecraigs Country Park. These sessions will be open to all, but under eights must be accompanied by a parent. The normal routine is that the youngest athletes walk with the coach to the chosen start point for the session. Others do a warm up run of between 1k – 6k in groups. The young runners start with suitable activities such as mini relays jumping over logs and zig-zagging between trees. To finish there is usually a session suitable for older athletes as well. This might take the form of a relay with different length legs, or hill repetitions. Adults can join in this too, but some prefer to just continue their group runs.
Martin