Renovations to the gents showers

You will all be pleased to know that the gent’s showers are at last being renovated. They will be out of action for the period week commencing 12th May till week commencing 16th June. The committee are aware of the trail race date and have built this into their schedules. If you require any further information regarding the work, please get in touch.

Thanks to all those who turned up for the cricket match on Sunday and represented the Harriers. It was a great day weather wise but not so good cricket wise!

Malcolm

Friday Night's Doo...

Kenny and his wig on tour earlier this year

A big thank you to all the Harriers for a fantastic night on Friday - both Kirsty and myself were very touched by your gifts and well wishes. Calderglen Harriers really is a very special club.

I do promise to try harder to sell my house now and actually leave for Peebles as promised.....but you may have to put up with my appearances at club nights for a bit longer (and of course, you might just bump into me at Asda...)

Another great Harriers night brought to us by 'Hill & Reid Events Inc.' - thanks again guys....

WHW Weekend

Please remember to make your balancing payment for the WHW weekend by the end of April. I will be at the club most Thursdays or if you want to send me a cheque, give me a call and I will confirm my address.

Malcolm

Performance Award PB Forms

The club is considering introducing an annual performance award scheme based on achieving either a certain performance standard or pb's at the most common road racing distances of 5k, 10k, 10 miles, half-marathon and marathon. The awards will be categorised according to the following age groups: U20, U23, Senior, V35, V40, V45, V50, V55 and V60 for men and women.

To help get the system started and to work out the level of funding required, we need to gather as much information as we can on your existing pb's and how you have progressed over the years if you have been running for some time. You can download the form for recording your pb data using the link below (Adobe PDF, Microsoft Word or Microsoft Excel). Fill in the form either in writing or electronically and hand back or e-mail to me.

http://www.calderglenharriers.org.uk/perfawardforms.html

Don't worry if you do not know all your pb's going back over the years, as long as you know your current age group and absolute best performances, that is fine.

Thanks
Alan

Postcard from London - FLM 2008

A big Harriers contingent travelled south this year for the annual Flora London Marathon.

The travelling support was particularly strong, with team Davidson covering the 13/22 mile pitch (Tower Bride/Tower Hill) and the Raes staking out Parliament Square at 25 miles.

Pic - Team ATHelite share their 'space blanket' with one of London's homeless

Top dog on the course was Ian Hughes (2:56) - other than a sighting of a 'mystery man in a Harriers vest' going through 13 miles by Kirsty, we did not manage to link up with Ian as he had to run through the finish and all the way back to Stantead to catch a late afternoon flight home.

Colin Freeman ran strongly - I spotted the Harriers vest as the Green and Blue routes converged at about 2 miles and we ran close until about 6 miles - despite being hampered by some 'Emmerdale' B-list celebrity in a tarzan oufit for a large part of the course, he was unlucky not to break the 3hr mark (3:02)

Genevieve Freeman was also close to her target of 4hrs (4:03). The stalking of Ronan Keating en route probably used up more energy than expected, but an excellent first marathon marker laid down none the less.

Ian Rae ran in disguise (Cancer Research vest) but I managed to bump into him at the Green start pen prior to the start, before we both disappeared into the masses. His 3:14 gets him a 'good for age' entry next year again.

My own race got off to a slow start (7:35 first mile behind the Masai Tribe) but got back on track through the half way mark. But from then on I was always under pressure and by 20 miles I was looking at the wrong side of 3hrs - a final 1 mile and 365 yards in 7 mins dead was too little too late. My 3:06 keeps me in the marathon 'nearly men' category for another year.

All in all though, a fantastic experience - the support and cheering from the crowds has to be experienced from inside the barriers to be believed - going over Tower Bridge was particularly memorable (as was dropping 'Scooby-Doo' around the Canary Wharf section).

Thank you again to all who have made donations to my Cancer Research UK online fund raising - more than £850 raised to date plus another £250 pledge from my work.

Hoping to be back for a short run and some stretching later this week.

Regards....

Kenny

FLM Results!

Hot off the press, the Flora London Marathon finishing times for the Harriers were:
Ian Hughes 2:56:53 (not entered as Calderglen, so hoping this is our Ian!)
Colin Freeman 3:02:31
Kenny Davidson 3:06:22
Ian Rae 3:14:43
Genevieve Freeman 4:03:25

Well done to all - watch this space for a full race report from some or all of our running reporters.

Women's Grand Prix Races

A few months ago, I sought some feedback on which additional races you would like to see to boost the particiaption in this year's Women's Grand Prix. I received a few responses, some via the blog and some by other means. The responses may be summarised as follows:

more races local to East Kilbride
mid-week races
some for and some against the various relays

Some specific races were also suggested but they had all already past or were too late in the Summer to include in the Grand Prix this year. Therefore, the following races are proposed to complete the 2007-2008 Women's Grand Prix:



Wednesday 7th May - Troon Tortoises 10k (pre-entry only) http://www.troontortoises.org.uk/
Wednesday 14th May - Kilmarnock 10k
Sunday 8th June - Dechmont Law 10k Trail Race (Livingston)
Thursday 12th June - Rouken Glen 10k (pre-entry recommended).
Sunday 22nd June - East Kilbride Half Marathon (pre-entry)
Thursday 3rd July - Vertical Mile


Further details of them all (except the Vertical Mile) on the Scottish Athletics web site. You only have to do a few of these to make an impact on the Grand Prix, so let's see you out there.

Chatelherault Training

The ever popular "Summer" training sessions at Chatelherault Country Park, Hamilton commence on Monday 28th April and every two weeks thereafter. The full timetable is available here: http://www.calderglenharriers.org.uk/Chatelherault08.htm

The sessions start at the old bridge at the end of Old Avon Road, Hamilton (Map) at 7:30pm. If you do not know the way there or need transport then meet at the Sports Club in Calderglen at 7:00pm where a few regulars will meet to share cars down to Chatelherault.

We have a standard 7.5 mile (ish) circuit, all on trails, which is a great session irrespective of the pace it is run at. The aim is to run the session in equal ability packs. There should always be a pack to suit anyone from 10-minute per mile to sub 6 minutes per mile.

6-Stage Results

A total of 16 Harriers contested the National 6 stage (men) and 4 stage (women) Road Relays at Livingston on Saturday turning in many excellent performances and course bests. Despite the forecast of snow, the main problem seemed to be over-heating as the sun shone for the entire event.

The Calderglen men's A team contained a wide spread of ages including one junior, one senior, one M40 and 3 M45's, which makes the team result of 11th overall even more impressive. The youngest member of the team, Stephen Reilly, continued his excellent progression and handled the short first leg pressure well with a time of 18:15 in 20th position. The most experienced Harrier, Davy Watt took over on the long leg and brought the team up to 16th position in 32:57. Scot Hill continued the good work with 18:58 (19th) then Stuart Gibson in 32:44 brought the team up to 11th. Eddie Reid was next up in 19:29 (13th) with Martin Duthie (pictured below) bringing the team back up to 11th at the finish in a time of 33:22.

The ladies team comprised Sandra Reid making her road relay debut for the club in 25:22 and Frances Maxwell who was disappointed not to break 44 minutes on the long leg (44:02).

The men's second team was a veteran team comprising George Stewart (20:02), Jim Holmes (38:36), David Herbertson (20:39), Stuart Waugh (39:30), Kenny Beattie (21:42) and Alan Cullie (35:45) bringing the team home in 33rd overall and 5th Veteran team.

Finally, the partially complete 3rd team kicked off with Russell Couper showing signs of a return to form (24:46) and Colin MacDonald (49:07).

Well done to all.

EK Sports Club 40th Birthday

Believe it or not the club is 40 year old this April and as part of the celebrations there is an inter section cricket match being held on 27th April. If you want to show your prowess with bat and ball, let me know as soon as possible. In keeping with cricketing protocol, beer and sandwiches (cucumber) will be compulsory.

Malcolm

Relay for Life

This year's Relay for Life will take place on Friday 13th June and Saturday 14th June at the John Wright Sports Centre. Information on this event can be found via the link http://www.cancerresearchuk.org/relay/ The club has participated in this event over the previous 3 years, but it is the club’s intention to make this year a very memorable event. The intention is to have a runner on the track over the 24 hours for 7pm on Friday to 7pm on the Saturday. If you wish to book a time, please contact a committee member. It is planned to have a host of events for all the family and further details of these will be made available in the forthcoming weeks. In the meantime if you have any thoughts on the event please give me a call.

Malcolm

6/4 Stage Teams - Updated Friday 4th

The Calderglen teams and running order for the National 6/4 Stage Road Relays on Saturday 5th April are (note changed on Friday night):
http://www.calderglenharriers.org.uk/6StageTeams2008v2.htm



We will be registering these teams at 11am and cannot change them after that. SO, IF YOU FOR SOME REASON HAVE TO CANCEL, PLEASE LET RUSSELL OR ME KNOW BEFORE 11AM ON SATURDAY MORNING.

Alan

6-Stage Availability

Please indicate if you are available or unavailable for this Saturday's 6-stage relays by leaving a comment. If you have already contacted Russell or I then no need to leave a comment. Teams and running order will be picked after training on Thursday and posted on the blog.

Alan

Flora London Marathon 2008

Five Harriers are London bound this year and will be sporting the Harriers' "black and gold" stripes at the 2008 Flora London Marathon.

Iain Hughes
Ian Rae
Colin Freeman
Genevieve Freeman
Kenny Davidson

The weather forecast for Sunday 13-April looks somewhat cooler than the 2007 April heatwave, so some fast times expected.

I am raising money for Cancer Research UK (Calderglen Harriers nominated charity) and am still looking for additional donations, to try and reach my target of £1000 .
Details at the link below...any size of donation gratefully accepted...

http://www.runningsponsorme.org/kenny_davidson

Good luck to all the runners.

Many thanks.....

Kenny Davidson