British Masters XC Relay Teams

The Houston Road Relay yesterday was the trial for the men's M40 and women's F35 team for the British Masters. Following the trial, the team selections are as follows (trial time in brackets):

F35 Team
Frances Maxwell (18:28)
Sandra Reid (19:10)
Mary Goldsmith (19:25)

M40 Team
Davy Watt (14:04)
Alan Derrick (14:32)
Scot Hill (15:28)
Eddie Reid (15:47)
Alan Cullie (16:24)
George Stewart (17:00)

In both cases, our proposed reserves have evaportated, so we are in rather a shaky situation. As the Friday night hotel rooms are paid for and are non-refundable, it is vital that all those selected do participate.

Details of when we will depart on Friday afternoon will be decided later in the week.

The event venue is Berry Hill Park, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. Directions from the North (M1) are as follows:
Leave at J29, take 2nd exit at roundabout on A617 to Mansfield, follow for approx 7 miles, from Town Centre leave on ring road signposted A60 Nottingham, after 1mile at a set of traffic lights turn left(sign posted Newark) onto Berry Hill Lane at mini roundabout turn right onto Litchfield Lane, Park is about 100yards on your left.

The W35 race starts at 12:30. The M40 race starts at 1:30.

Satellite image of race venue: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Berry+Hill+Park,+Mansfield&ie=UTF8&ll=53.129052,-1.176932&spn=0.006231,0.019226&t=h&z=16

Looks flat enough from above!!

MCANDREW ROAD RELAY RACE

The McAndrew road relay race will be this saturday 4th oct starting at 3pm
Alan will pick the teams as usual after training on thursday night
please leave your name as a comment on this blog if you wish to run on saturday
or see myself or alan on monday or thursday at training

For those members that are new to the club this year may i ask that you seriously consider entering these events as the club has a long history in them and would like the whole club to enjoy the experience of this type of event.( all you need is an SA no )

Houston Results

The Grand Prix season kicked off with a large and enthusiastic contingent of Harriers heading to Houston for the annual road relay. A ladies' team of 3 and three and a half men's teams (4 per team) made Calderglen one of the best represented clubs there. Unfortunately the start of the race coincided with the arrival of the rain making conditions not so great for those awaiting their turn to run. However it was fine for running.

Although the full, official results are not out yet, I have managed to gather the times for almost everyone. The men's times are here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p_aBIInrxrvPvJrlunTv2Wg&hl=en_GB

and the women's times here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p_aBIInrxrvNfS65OzQQlSQ&hl=en_GB

Frances Maxwell was again our fastest lady over the 2.7 mile leg (18:28) whilst Sandra Reid made a fine debut on this course in an official time of 19:10. Mary Goldsmith ran an extremely impressive pb of 19:25, her first time under 20 minutes on this course.

The club fielded two veteran teams (M40+) and one and a half mixed team (seniors, vets and a junior). Young Ewan Murray made his debut running in a senior event and appeared to run well although his time is not known. At the other end of the age spectrum, Davy Watt was surely the fastest veteran over 40 in the event with an excellent time of 14:04. Davy's performance launched the club's veteran "A" team (Davy Watt, Scot Hill, Alan Derrick and Eddie Reid) on their way to first veteran team, the club's first ever Vet Team victory in this event.

The club's B Vet Team (Jim Holmes, George Stewart, Alan Cullie and Gerry Mullen) were all very evenly matched, confirming the club's strength in depth in the veteran category (STOP PRESS - The official results show that the Calderglen Vets B team were second veteran team in the event. Well done!! Thanks to Scot for pointing this fact out).

Jamie McMonagle ran his best time for several years, confirming that he is on the way back. Also on the comeback trail, it was good to see Graham Allan return to the ranks of the Harriers after 18 months out with injury. David Herbertson set another huge pb whilst both Colin Banks and Russell Couper showed signs of improving form.

The Grand Prix positions after this first race are:

Men: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p_aBIInrxrvMYhyDPRDL5Ug&hl=en_GB
Women: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p_aBIInrxrvNWEjkt38f0cA&hl=en_GB

Houston Relays

The start of the new Grand Prix season is upon us with the first event at the Houston Road Relays this Saturday (2:30pm start). My two week work trip in the frozen north has put paid to me being able to update the Grand Prix joker list (or do any runnning!!) for the start of the season, however as last year's rule change produced one of the closest finishes to the Grand Prix ever, we will stick to the same rules but with adjustments to the jokers on an individual basis based on last year's results. This new joker list will be available at Houston assuming I get back on time!

Please let Russell know if you are able to participate (about 2.25 miles per leg) or leave a comment (with your name) on this blog posting.

A reminder for all those who expressed an interest in the British Masters XC Relay championships, Houston is the trial for that, so please make sure you can attend Houston. The minibus and hotel are booked for Mansfield, so we need to guarantee that we have full men and ladies teams.

The Two Ferries 10 mile(...and a bit)

The annual Two Ferries Road Race attracted a fair number of the Harriers north to Trislaig, near Fort William. The 10.8 mile run, takes in the coast of Loch Linnhe, finishing at Corran, but this did not make it a flat course, as it had some steep climbs. The group of runners got the ferry across to Corran on Saturday morning where they were bussed up to Trislaig for the start of the race. Drizzle threatened heavy rains but it went away leaving perfect racing conditions.


Fourth overall and 1st vet (40+) was Scot Hill in 67:10 followed by Eddie Reid in 69:40 who finished 7th overall. Graham Lindsay stormed through the finish line in 75:40 while Frances Maxwell sped round in 78:09 taking the second female vet prize. Not far behind was George Ferguson in an impressive 80:30 while Sandra Reid rounded off the line up in 82:24. After the race some of the runners went for a paddle in the nearby loch but Eddie was the only one brave enough to go for a swim in what must have been freezing cold waters.


Now most athletes tend to rest the day after a hard race, but not Calderglen Harriers! On the Sunday, they proved their endurance once more by climbing ... Ben Nevis. Tired legs did not not stop the runners from taking on this mountain on which Irene Hill and Caroline Lindsay, who supported them the day before, joined them on the climb.


Well Done!!!

City of Stirling 2K Fun Run

Well done Junior Harrier Emma Lawton, age 7, for her impressive performance in the City of Stirling 2K fun run on Sunday 14th September. Emma finished 95th from a field of 350, which ranged from babies in prams to 15 years old. Emma’s time of 11:03 mins secured her joint 3rd place from the 47 runners in the under 8 girls category. Emma enjoyed taking part in the event and is already planning to improve her finishing position for next year.

Well done Emma!

XC RELAYS

THE CROSS COUNTRY SEASON IS UPON US AGAIN
Im now taking names for the west district xc relay to be held in IRVINE at the Royal Acadamy on 11th Oct. The cost of this race is £3.50 per head. Due to the pre entry nature of this i need names by 24th Sept so if you want entered please let me know at the club or by phone or leave a comment on this Blog

Im also taking names for the national xc relay to be held in CUMBERNAULD on the 25th Oct
The cost of this race is £4.00 per head. Again due to pre entry i need names by 8th Oct by the above methods

IF YOU LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE BLOG PLEASE STATE WHICH RACE OR RACES YOU WANT ENTERED FOR

Russell

TTC08 in Pictures

A full gallery of photos from the TTC is now ready. Follow this link:

http://www.calderglenharriers.org.uk/gallery/TTC_2008/TTC08All.html

Marathon Man

Spotted in this week's EK News under the heading "Marathon Man is 40" (he looks even heavier than that!), this picture shows our very own Gerry McParland at a time when 40 Marathons a week was no problem, indeed that was his staple diet. Legend has it that Gerry became so attached to the nickname "Marathon Man" that when the name was changed to "Snickers" he was driven to take up running just to keep the name. Now 20 years later and 20 stone lighter, Gerry is now very much the club's Marathon Man but can only manage 1 or 2 a year nowadays.

All the best on your 40th Birthday from the Harriers and welcome to the world of real vets.

Langlands Paths' Survey

The following e-mail message has been forwarded by Jim Holmes bringing to our attention the sale of land around Langlands/Sainsburys and the possible impact on the trails and paths that we use so regularly in our training and as part of the Trail Race. The following links will take you to pdf versions of the two documents attached to Jim's e-mail (a map and a questionnaire on path useage). Please print out, fill in and post the questionnaire to the FREEPOST address given below to arrive BEFORE THE 16th SEPTEMBER 2008.
http://www.calderglenharriers.org.uk/Langlands Public Path User Survey _off site_ Approved Final Version.pdf

http://www.calderglenharriers.org.uk/langlands paths.pdf

(note, on the map there is a section of path highlighted in orange between the existing Sainsbury building and the new building they have just built. So I am not sure if this is the correct map or the one that relates to the building work they did last year).

"All, The trail race route could be in danger. The council have sold the land around Langlands to an undisclosed buyer and a study is being carried out into usage of the paths. Reading between the lines, the paths will be built over unless enough objections are received. User survey forms have to be in by the 16th September.
Please can you fill out the attached form and post it to:
Freepost RRHK-TRHA-CCAL
c/o PPS Group, Sainsbury’s
10 Alva Street
EDINBURGH EH2 4QG

as soon as possible.
Alan, can you add the form to the blog.

Thanks,
Jim.

From: maureenpotter
Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2008 2:06 PM
To: Kirsten Robb
Subject: langlands paths

Hello everyone,
Please find attached the map which should have been with the electronic surveys which I sent out yesterday. Please return them to:- Freepost RRHK-TRHA-CCAL, c/o PPS Group, Sainsbury’s, 10 Alva Street, EDINBURGH, EH2 4QG as soon as possible. The closing date is 16th September and if we want to keep the paths then we need to let them know that. Thanks again, Maureen"

Glasgow Half Marathon/10K

A number of Harriers' made the journey to Glasgow at the weekend, to compete in the famous Glasgow Half Marathon. The race took runners past some of the city's most famous attractions, and featured the popular run over the Kingston Bridge, before finishing in Glasgow Green.

First Harrier home was Andy Buchanan(1:25:59?), followed by Jim Holmes with an excellent time of 1:33:58. Colin Banks was next to cross the line with a first rate run, finishing in 1:39:35 and David Searil produced a great time of 1:45:48. Claire Brady also finished in a great PB of 1:50:44.

A few of the runners from the Tuesday Night section also took part in the half marathon, with some spectacular times. Mhari Steven ran an amazing 1:53:39 closely followed by Caroline Dewar (1:54:21). Angela Rae completed the Harriers' line up in 2:48:21.

In the 10K earlier on in the day, Jean McMonagle also took part in her first 10k finishing in 1hr 17 mins 3 secs raising over £150 for cancer research!!

Anyone who I haven't mentioned can leave a comment and I will update this post!!

Round Cumbrae 10 (and a quarter) Mile Road Race

In a busy weekend for Harriers of all ages, Stuart Gibson continued to keep Calderglen Harriers at the forefront of race results in Scotland finishing fourth in the Round Cumbrae 10 mile road race. The course is one complete lap of the island and is not surprisingly slightly long, so an excellent time for Stuart of 57:04.

Great Scottish Junior Run- 3K

One of the main races on the junior calendar brought out some of the top junior athletes in Scotland, including those of Calderglen Harriers. The flat course started at the People's Palace and took in most of Glasgow Green.

First to cross the line was Ewan Murray, who finished 18th overall in a time of 10:33. Next to finish was Ross Barrie in 12:30 while Ian Rae ran a great time of 13:04. David McMonagle finished in a fantastic PB of 14:26 but Alistair Crawford was not too far behind completing the course in 14:37. Drew Gordon flew round the course in a fast 14 minutes 58 seconds.Paul McMonagle ran his debut race in an impressive 15:37 while Emma Phimister took it all in her stride finishing in 18:35. And not forgetting Mark Rae, who'll be delighted with his time of 21 minutes and 34 seconds as will Matthew Cheales who finished in 22:23.

Well done to everyone who took part!!!

TTC-errific!

There were smiles all round at the Harriers' second Trossachs Training Camp over the weekend. 25 runners from the Harriers, the ATHelite JogScotland group and Callander experienced unbelievably dry and sunny conditions for a weekend of varied training, conditioning, seminars, eating and merriment in the idyllic surroundings of the Trossachs Backpackers' Hostel. A HUGE thank you and thumbs up to all who participated, organised, coached, talked and supported the event. The full story in pictures will emerge over the coming weeks. In the meantime, here are a few pictures by way of a sneak preview.....

http://www.calderglenharriers.org.uk/gallery/TTC2008/TTC08index.html


Given the overwhelmingly positive feedback of those that participated, we just have to do another one. We already have a growing list of names for next year which will take place on Friday 18th to Sunday 20th September 2009. Make sure you get your name on that list too!

Glasgow 10k

The Harriers were out on the streets of Glasgow this morning competing in the Fresh n' Lo 10k. Jamie McMonagle, Stephen Phimister and Brian McDougall (still waiting on the official results to see if there were more) all had impressive runs and grabbed some of the limelight as they all featured on Reporting Scotland's news coverage of the event. Jamie was first Harrier home (36:58), followed by Stephen Phimister who now joins the sub-40 club with an impressive new pb of 39:46, a 30 second improvement. Brian McDougall also set a pb of 42:06 and will surely also go sub-40 over the course of the next year.

Richard Lawton continued the pb trend, taking 42 seconds off his previous best to record 50:06. The 50 minute barrier is there to be broken soon.

An update of all times will follow for the 10k and the half-marathon when the official results are published.

Auldhouse Time Trial September Results

Perfectly calm conditions provided the opportunity for fast times in the final 5k time trial of this year. 18 Harriers lined up to start at 30 second intervals and 10 achieved personal bests. Once again a timing controversy went hand in hand with George Stewart when his believed 1 second advantage over Jim Holmes turned out to be a 1 second deficit on inpsection of the official times. However, George was the only person to do all 4 time trials and did improve on every one, so something to celebrate there! Stuart Gibson was fastest on the night with a 17:12, virtually identical to his two previous times. Fastest lady was Frances Maxwell (22:15) although this was her slowest time of the series. Biggest improver by a long way was Colin Banks, taking 2:01 off his previous time.

Full results here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p_aBIInrxrvPphZsIOTy8HA&hl=en_GB#

Auldhouse 5k Time Trial Season 1 Finale!

This Thursday 4th September sees the final 5k time trial of the year. Due to fading light we need to make a sharp start, so please be at the club before 7:30 so we can take names, work out the running order, stretch etc.

All previous times are here:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p_aBIInrxrvPphZsIOTy8HA&hl=en_GB

Remember, the time recorded here can count towards your 5k PB for the club's performance award scheme.