There is a shop near me that sells paintings of post war Glasgow for £10. In the many years that I’ve passed this shop, I’ve never seen a single painting sold. It may be that the reason it doesn’t sell any paintings is that the shop is not a gallery, instead it’s a print shop filled with photocopies and industrial printers. The paintings do not appear in the shop at all either. They are just in one window, facing a side street. The window contains a handful of paintings and a very faded price. Or it may be that the paintings are awful. Not Iain TwinBikeRun awful – see here – but awful in a way which suggests the Glasgow post war was mainly smiling barefooted children in tenements and trams. I’m not surprised no one has ever bought a painting. You couldn’t give them away. Unless they were handed out at the end of a race.

The Jimmy Irvine 10k always has a hand made t-shirt with a black and white drawing showing runners and the man himself, Jimmy Irvine, and it is alway… well… let’s just say the artist must like trams and tykes too.

However, don’t let that stop you entering one of the most popular late season races in Glasgow. With over 500 people taking part, it’s a great race that is very well organised and one which presents a undulating end to the year.

This year, an early cold snap meant parts of the course had to be gritted with sand to help remove any frost or the chance of ice. But, while cold, the day itself was a crystal clear blue sky and I was glad to be wearing a t-shirt in the sun.

As the race is hilly, with some longer slopes, rather than any steep climbs, I was hoping to finish in around 48 minutes. However, I was feeling strong and kept pushing to run faster, and finished by surprising myself with 44 minutes. This is the fastest I’ve run a 10k in 20 years, which either shows how much I’ve improved in the last couple of years, or how slow I was 20 years ago. I can’t decide yet…