Allan Scally Road Relay 2009

A very heavy pre-race shower put the frightners on us in Baillieston today but thankfully that was the only worry of the day as the new course (still 4.8 miles) was a complete contrast to the old, intimidating (in many different ways) Edinburgh Road course. Certainly a much more complex course but with marshalls on each of the many corners there was never a concern of getting lost in the quiet, leafy residential streets of Mount Vernon. The first mile was downhill followed by a very flat second mile. The first noticeable climb came between miles 2 and 3 before dropping to another flat half mile or so and then the final, tough mile up hill to the finish.

The Harriers were out in force for this, the last relay race of this year. Somewhat worryingly, every Calderglen Harrier was a veteran (35+) today but that is a sign of the times and a very large contingent of university teams contesting the Scottish University championships re-dressed the age balance. The A team comprised Alan Cullie (29:57) on the first leg in 33rd position, handing over to Charlie McDougall (28:40), easily the fastest M60 of the day in 23rd position. Eddie Reid (29:23) extended his Grand Prix and scratch championship lead in pulling us up to 21st position. Finally, Alan Derrick (28:15) was in a bit of trouble throughout with heel and hamstring problems but gained another two places bringing us up to 19th overall and in the process passing the Shettleston Harriers veterans team to give us the pleasant surprise of being 1st veteran team.

Our veteran depth was confirmed by our B team finishing as 3rd veteran team. Jim Holmes, without the pressure of having to synchronise his run with the absent Andy Henderson, ran an unrestricted 31:33, handing over to season debutant Scot Hill (30:45). Brian McDougall continues to impress with a solid 31:40 and then Colin Freeman, loosening up with every week, ran a fantastic 29:03 to give the team 27th position overall.

David Herbertson got the C team off to a good start with a time of 32:51 (confirmed by his own watch this week!), handing over to another hamstring sufferer, James Carrigan, who ran with a restricted stride length to finish in 35:26. David Wardrope kept himself in a very strong Grand Prix position with a time of 34:49 and the final leg was left to Ian Rae who ran the fastest time in his team (32:33). Frances Maxwell ran an excellent 34:08 to get the incomplete D team off to a flyer whilst Russell Couper completed our contribution to the race with a time of 43:06.

Well done to all. The general impression within the Harriers was that Shettleston should stick with this excellent new course for the future. Next week sees the first head to head race of the Grand Prix season with the Glasgow University Road Race......