Family Sport Day and BBQ, Friday 8th May

Don't forget to bring your money tonight to the club for your tickets.
£5 per family.....it is cheaper to dine out!
£2 per individual

Glagow Parkrun 5k

For about the past month our so the Tuesday night section has had the pleasure of the company of 22 years old Julie Collins whose enthusiasm for running has been a breath of fresh air to the regulars. On her own initiative Julie took part in her first race for the club on Saturday at Pollok Park. She recorded a fantastic time 27 minutes and 14 seconds over the testing course. Well done to Julie and I am sure we all look forward to seeing her at forthcoming races .

Highland Fling 2009

Sandra, Eddie, Andy B and Ian Rae competed in the 'Highland Fling' race on Saturday, Ian on a solo effort over the 53 mile half West Highland Way course and the others in relay teams. Here is Eddie's report.

It was an excellent experience and we would thoroughly recommend it - maybe next year we could get a few teams together from the club.

Sandra was participating in a ladies team (along with 3 fellow runners from East Kilbride). She ran the 3rd leg from Rowardennan to Beinglas Farm and completed the leg in 2 hrs 37 mins. Eddie was running in a mixed team and completed the lochside leg in 1 hr 59 mins. Sandra's team was 2nd ladies team in the relay (Bellahouston were 1st). Andy Buchanan completed the 2nd leg of the relay from Drymen toRowardennan, contributing to his team's successful 2nd place in the men's relay. Highlight of the day was Ian Rae's performance - completing the full 53miles from Milngavie to Tyndrum. (Delighted with a PB since the event last year - his accurate time will follow)

Eddie

Chatelherault Training

Good to see so many faces out last night for the first Chatelherault session of the year.

I have updated the Chatelherault times spreadsheet with the new dates & also the PB's of those who submitted their times last year so we can all monitor our progress (hopefully getting quicker) over the Summer.

The sheet is a carry over from last year so if your name is not listed just let us know. Times may be submitted via emails to Coach/ Genevieve or as a comment on the Blog.

Don't forget - there may, or may not, be an award at the end of the season for the most improved & this award may, or may not, be a holiday destination of your choice to Mexico with a stopover at Monklands on the return journey. Click here for the spreadsheet ............ Chatelherault


Colin

Family BBQ Sports Day

I've checked the weather and it's to be dry, Friday 8th May....what more can you ask for!! So, get your tickets (£5 per family)as soon as possible for the BBQ and Sports Day so, we can ensure we have enough food on the bar-be for all you budding athletes.

Plenty of games for all the family.

Lochaber marathon

A fine warm Spring day saw Eddie Reid and Scot Hill head for the Lochaber Marathon. Scot made it a bit of a family day with brothers Les and Alan starting the race too. The heat started to take its toll on the field early in the race with many showing signs that it was going to be a long day. Scot's brother Alan was first to fall by the wayside stopping after about six miles. The picture to the left shows Eddie, Scot and Les continuing at a good pace and on course for sub 3hrs. As they hit the turning point all within touching distance they looked in good spirits cheered on by family and clubmates and still heading for sub 3hrs. By 16mls the heat was taking its toll on Scot and alas by 18mls had to stop and jumped into Stuart Waugh's car (I wonder what he'd have done if Stuart wasn't there). Eddie by this time had pushed on and was still targeting that 3hrs although it was starting to look from his expression that it was slipping away (heat taking its toll). Eddie still had one challange ahead, to catch the girl he had been running most of the way with (Sandra he's got her phone number). As we waited patiently at the finish Scot's brother Les at least kept the Hill family in the race (picture above) finishing in a little over 3hrs. Eddie then appeared round the corner but the target had gone but just time for a sprint to beat that girl. Although initially disappointed with his time 3:07:50 it was good enough to earn him the Scottish Veteran Harriers GOLD MEDAL for MV45, well done Eddie.

Scot is expecting some jovality about him not finishing but try not to be too hard in the comments as it was not the conditions for good marathon running.

Good luck on Sunday for the London marathon to Davie Searil and i believe Ian Hughes too.

Temporary Change of e mail address

Unfortunately my laptop needs a replacement keyboard due to a unfortunate accident when I spilled some beer over it . Fortunately there was and always is ample beer in the fridge ( not forgetting Frances' wine) so the night in question was not ruined . In the meantime if you need to send me an e mail could you do so at csteven@duncanrig.s-lanark.sch.uk . I will let you know when the replacement arrives and everything is okay.

Donation Bags (Relay for Life)

The dates to bring the donation bags to the club are as follows:-

Thursday 30th April,

Thursday 14th May,

Thursday 28th May.

If you are unable to bring the bags back on any of these dates, then any of the club committee members will gratefully accept them from you. So far Caroline Lindsay has collected 35 bags and the club's total has been credited by £683.50, so we are off to a great start.

Well Done Caroline!

There will be more details on the Relay for Life, on the blog, over the next couple of weeks.

Irene Hill

Parkrun Update

The Harriers have continued to support the weekly Parkrun 5k's in Pollok Park over the past month.

Alan Derrick started the ball rolling on 28th March recording a time of 17:06 to finish 4th in that day's race in near perfect conditions. A week later on 4th April, Russell Couper made his debut with a 25:58 timing and followed this up a week later with a time of 26:43. Something clearly went wrong there! David Herbertson made his 3rd appearance on 11th April and recorded his 3rd consecutive course best with an improvement of 19 seconds to finish in 20:55.

On 18th April, Parkrun debutant Jamie McMonagle made his first appearance as a vet and also his first race since injuring his hamstring back in February. Although clearly having lost some form Jamie was pleased with his run (19:13, 22nd position) given that his hamstring was still not quite right and he had a few ciders the night before. As Jamie says "I would recommend this event to everyone as its low key although there is that competitive edge as well and its good for building up speed with all the 10k's approaching. Just wish I could run faster!". Stephen Phimister was also on the comeback trail from injury and was not expecting much given the relative lack of training. However, he surprised himself with another pb, recording 19:27, a 15 second improvement in this his second Parkrun 5k.

Alan

Grand Prix - Remaining Races

The final races for the Grand Prix are as follows:

Men's GP
Deaf Blind Scotland 10k - Bishopbriggs 16/05/09
Rouken Glen 10k Road Race 11/06/09
Dechmont Law 10k Trail Race 14/06/09
Vertical Mile Thursday 02/07/09

Ladies GP
As the ladies are short of a few races, there are some extras:
All of the above PLUS:
Troon 10k Wednesday 6th May
Calderglen 5k Auldhouse Time Trial Thursday 4th June

Alan

Tom Scott 10 Mile Road Race

On a beautiful Easter Sunday morning almost 350 runners from all over Scotland and beyond ( Stornoway, Aberdeen, Dumfries, Fife, Mull and Belfast to name but a few ) gathered at a positively balmy Strathclyde Park for the annual Tom Scott 6k and 10 mile races. A clear blue sky with just a slight cooling breeze, rippling waves breaking on the sand, racing dinghies and sculls on the water, the only fly in the ointment was the music, screams & shouts coming from the direction of that wonderful addition to any country park, the M&D “theme park”– thank goodness South Lanarkshire Council haven’t thought of that one for our own Calderglen! Yet.

To the running, Tsegezeab Woldemickael of Shettleston Harriers won the 10 mile race in a new record time of 49.24 with his fellow Eritrean clubmate Tewoldcebrhan Mengisteab second in 49:50. In a very impressive thirteenth place was our ex-clubmate Stuart Gibson in a pb time of 54:05, a tremendous start to his racing in the red vest of Ronhill Cambuslang. It’s worth mentioning this was a pb by over two minutes - watch out Stuart, at this rate of improvement it can only be a matter of time before you get a visit from the drug testers with their needles & sample bottles!

The only harriers at the race, although not at the races, were David Searil in 1:20:33 on his last competitive (ha!) outing before the London marathon and Richard Lawton in 1:23:47, a stunning seven minutes faster than his pre-race prediction. Another ex-harrier, now in the colours of Motherwell AC, Barbara Sloss split the two Calderglen runners in a time of 1:21:39.

There were 218 finishers over the longer distance and 56 over the shorter route which was won by Stephen Matthews of EKAC in 19:21

Your roving reporter, Davie Searil
PS I’m sure everyone in the club would join me in wishing all the best to Eddie & Scot this coming Sunday at the Lochaber marathon

Performance Award Update

The Performance Award Scheme hasn't been mentioned for a while so time for a reminder and a mid-term report card! The reminder is to please submit your performances, particularly news on absolute and age group PB's, regularly throughout the year rather than leaving it to the end of the season. It makes it easier to administer.

Considering the absolute performance standards at each distance so far since 1st October 2008 (all results subject to confirmation of course accuracy and receiving the completed performance award form and sorry if any are missed, these are just taken from Blog reports, Grand Prix, etc):
Marathon
Gerry McParland - Milan 2:53 M40 Bronze
Half Marathon
Scot Hill - Alloa 1:25:37 M40 Bronze
Eddie Reid - Alloa 1:27:02 M45 Bronze
Colin Freeman - Buchlyvie 1:22:21 M35 Bronze
10-Mile
Stuart Gibson - Brampton 56:34 Snr Silver
Andrew Buchanan - Brampton 59:17 Snr Bronze
Jamie McMonagle - Brampton 60:59 M35 Bronze
Ian Hughes - Brampton 61:29 M35 Bronze
Charlie McDougall - Brampton 62:02 M60 Gold
Stephen Reilly - Brampton 62:52 U20 Silver
Scot Hill - Brampton 63:18 M40 Bronze
Eddie Reid - Brampton 65:16 M45 Bronze
Stuart Waugh - Brampton 67:27 M55 Silver
Frances Maxwell - Brampton 71:46 F40 Bronze
Sandra Reid - Brampton 74:52 F40 Bronze
Mary Goldsmith - Brampton 77:18 F50 Bronze
10k
Stuart Gibson - Cambuslang 33:26 Snr Silver
Martin Duthie - EK 36:05 M45 Silver
Jamie McMonagle - EK 37:17 M35 Bronze
Scot Hill - EK 37:46 M40 Bronze
Alan Cullie - EK 38:39 M40 Bronze
Eddie Reid - Ayr 38:17 M45 Bronze
Stuart Waugh - Grangemouth 40:41 M60 Gold
Sandra Reid - Ayr 44:30 F40 Bronze
Mary Goldsmith - Grangemouth 47:21 F50 Bronze
5k
Alan Derrick - Pollok Park 17:06 M40 Silver
Stuart Waugh - Pollok Park 20:29 M55 Bronze
Mary Goldsmith - Pollok Park 22:23 F50 Bronze

To qualify for the end of season award a performance standard at 3 different distances is required (plus various other rules which are available using the link on the lefthand menu). There are already quite a few people who have achieved this but there is plenty of time to improve your award level or to achieve the required 3 event standards if you have not already done so. Of course there are several more people on their way to PB awards.

Auldhouse 5k Time Trials 2009

Introduced for the first time last Summer, these monthly time trials on an accurate but hilly circular route on the roads around Auldhouse provided an excellent indicator of fitness improvement and a great training session. This year we start a month earlier on Thursday 7th May. The event is run as an individual time trial meaning that each person starts on their own at 30 second intervals, the faster runners starting last. Meet at the club at the normal time so that all names can be recorded and the start order worked out.

The time trials will take place on the following Thursdays: 7th May, 4th June, 9th July, 6th August and 3rd September. Remember you can check the dates for this and all other Harriers events using the Events Calendar link in the menu to the left.

The times from last year are here.

Alan

Chatelherault Training Starts April 27th

Our popular fortnightly "scenic" Summer trail running session around Chatelherault starts on Monday 27th April. Check the dates and all the details here. For those new to this session, the route is all within Chatelherault Country Park and covers a total distance of 7 miles with a few ups and downs thrown in for fun. There are some short cuts if you are needing an easier run. As per usual we run in matched ability packs.

Either meet at the small car park opposite the old people's home at the end of Old Avon Bridge Road for a 7:30pm start (first pack) or if you need a lift or are unsure of the way there, meet at the Sports Club at 7pm where some of the regulars will be able to give you a lift.

See how you did last year here.

Alan

Family BBQ Sports Day

As part of the clubs 25 Year Anniversary we are putting on a Family BBQ and Sports Day.
The event will be on Friday 8th May, 6.30pm.
Arrive on time and we will kick off with a few 80's style games suitable for all the family

• Egg and Spoon
  
• Obstacle course
  
• 100mtr race (rough estimate of distance)
  
• 3 legged race
  
• Team relay
  
• Rounders
  

and maybe some more!!!

There will be a BBQ so no need for dinner.

Tickets go on sale this week. Prices are £5 for a family (up to 5 people). Individuals £2.

Tickets available on club nights or from ATHelite in the Village.

Any more ideas for games leave a comment.

6/4 Stage - Result!

It was the windiest, wettest and coldest day I can remember at the National 6-stage Championships but still the Harriers were out in force at Livingston. They were not alone as there was a record entry for the event. For the first time ever the club was in the medals as the Vets "A" team of Scot Hill, Martin Duthie, Eddie Reid, Alan Derrick, Alan Cullie and Davy Watt fought hard to take the Masters National Championship bronze medal (and an impressive overall 19th position) just one place and 27 seconds behind the silver medallists Shettleston Harriers. Gold medallists Fife AC were impressive over the second half of the race, taking the lead on the last leg and winning comfortably in the end.

Scot Hill got the team off to a solid start recording our fastest short leg (3.2 miles) time of 18:31 handing over to Martin Duthie in 32nd position. Martin recorded our best long leg time covering the 5.8 wind swept miles in a time of 32:50 and pulling us up to 24th position. Eddie maintained this position (and made it into the official results) with a time of 18:55 as the field became more spread out. By now we were lying 4th in the vets race, although we did not know this at the time as vets teams were difficult to identify. Alan Derrick found it hard going in the wind on the back section of the course but moved steadily through to 22nd position in 33:01, losing one vets place and making up another in the process. Alan Cullie showed that he is making a welcome return to good running form, maintaining 22nd position overall and 4th vet team in 18:40. It was then up to Davy Watt to bring us into the medals and we knew that Davy would not allow that opportunity to slip away (in fact we advised him that he was taking over in 2nd and going for the lead!). Davy passed 3rd place Carnegie Harriers and very nearly caught 2nd place Shettleston, finishing in 19th overall in a time of 33:12. The delight is plain to see in the photograph (Scot is seen in computer generated form, having had to leave straight after his leg).

Mary Goldsmith and Sandra Reid did well to motivate themselves in the conditions given that we had only a half team available. Mary recorded a first leg time of 23:12 handing over to Sandra for the long leg which she completed in 44:19. Sandra's pace on the long leg was actually considerably faster than the pace she ran the short leg in last year, confirming her rapid improvement in the past year.

The men's "B" team spanned the generations from Junior Stephen Reilly (18:43) to Super Vets Andy Henderson (22:31) and Benny Rooney (42:20). Benny had a particularly lonely time on the last leg until the finishing straight when he had the opportunity (and energy) to catch and sprint past an old lady in an electric wheel chair (just out for the messages, not racing). Also on long legs we had Gerry Mullen (39:44) and Jim Holmes (39:11). Colin Banks completed the team with a short leg time of 22:02.

Chas Steven led out the 6-stage "debutants" team in a time of 26:23 handing over to David Dickson (47:22) and then in his first official race for the club Don Kennedy (26:52). Both David and Don were running on their own and both had slight excursions off course but well done to both of them for sorting it out and completing in respectable times. Solo efforts on unfamiliar courses are not easy.

A big thanks to Frances and Malcolm for supporting us all in very poor spectating weather. More photos to follow, so watch this post.

6/4 Stage Relays

The teams for Saturday's National Road Relays can be accessed here. The men's and women's races run in parallel, the men over 6 stages and the women over 4 stages. The first leg is the short leg (approx 3 miles) starting at 12 noon. The subsequent long leg is approx 6 miles. Scottish Athletics are advising to leave an additional 15 minutes travel time due to road works at the roundabout at St John's Hospital. Car parking is at Almondvale Stadium as usual. A group is leaving from EK Sports Club at 10:30 if you need a lift.

I intend to declare the teams and running order by 11:15 to allow time for proper warm ups, so if anyone listed in the team sheets has to pull out, please let me know by mobile (I will not have access to e-mail or this blog) before that time. Leave a message if I do not answer. Similarly, just about everyone, men and women, in the club is entered as reserves for the event, so if you want a run and your name is not on the team sheet, give me a call before 11:15.

Alan

Young Athletes Training

Wednesday night training will still be on over the next two weeks of the school Spring Holiday starting at 6.30 pm as usual.