SVHC Christmas Handicap - Rescheduled

The event postponed on 3rd December due to the weather has been rescheduled for Sunday 23rd January. Pre-entry only. Check the Scottish Masters Athletics link on the menu to the left for further details.

Alan

SVHC Road Relays - Strathclyde Park - Sunday 30th January 11am

Further to Russell's note below, this annual relay championship has been expanded this year with 3 categories being contested.

Men (35+) 4-stage - £10 per team
Men (50+) 4-stage - £10 per team
Women (35+) 3-stage - £7.50 per team

Calderglen should be to the fore in all these events both in numbers of participants and performances if the recent relay season is anything to go by. So please leave your name using this form and pass your £2.50 on to Russell.

Here are the names so far. (It can take 10 or 15 minutes for this spreadsheet to be updated on the web, so don't worry if your name does not appear immediately, check back later and remember to click the refresh button on your browser).

Looking forward to another mass turn out from the Harriers.

Alan

Update on races to enter

Now that everyone has hopefully had a nice Christmas we must prepare for the new year and we have many events coming up so i will break them down one by one as some of these events are pre-entry.
First of all the West District cross country on 16th Jan, ive already recieved some alterations from the cancelled date (4th Dec) but any others i need to know by 28th (tomorrow). Any more please leave a comment on the previous Blog or see me at the Club tonight 27th.
Ive also listed on the previous Blog who is now entered along with who has paid could those whove not paid please do so (£4.00).

next up is the 4k cross country at Bellahouston park on the 30th, i will leave entry forms on the club notice board if you can fill them out and return to me by 13th Jan with the entry fee (£4.50). Please note that this event IS NOT A GRAND PRIX EVENT this year as the club will be supporting the Veterans relay event on the same day but those not wishing to take part in the relay or not old enough i would encourage to do the cross country.

On to the Veterans relay then also on the 30th could you please let me know if you wish to compete in this, again by the 13th Jan at this point i dont know the entry fee.

Hope to see you at training this week but if not
Best wishes for the New Year

Russell

Happy Christmas

Hi all, many thanks for all your seasons greetings. We hope you are all well and surviving the snow. As you can see things are tough in the colonies. We had a great Christmas day with ALL the family. Yes we are looking forward to another mouth to feed next year. All the best for the new year.

XMAS HANDICAP

Today the club held its annual Xmas handicap which was another great success. We had a number of kids out doing either 1 or 2 laps of the course and dressed in various costumes, well done to all the kids who came out in such cold conditions. We then had the senior runners running 5 laps. Among the runners we had a couple of Nuns, a caveman, Harry Potter, an Elf, various Santas, Darth Vader, a Punk Rocker, Elvis, Tinky Winky, a Canoeist, Batgirl, Johnny Depp and a beachboy. There was probably a few more but memory fails me. The 1st three across the finish were Russell Couper followed by Graham Ramage then Martin Duthie. Once again this year Martin has donated £100 that the first three can select a charity to recieve a donation of £50, £30 and £20 respectivly so once i hear the charities selected by Graham and Martin we will get the Cheques written and sent away. My selected charity will be Marie Curie Cancer Care Hospice.
Many thanks to all who turned up and helped and supported everyone running as it was a particlary cold day for standing watching but the runners get great warmth from the cheering as we clock up the laps
Well Done all

WEST DISTRICT XC (Royal Acadamy Irvine)

UPDATED ENTRY LIST
The west district XC cancelled on 4th Dec has now been reschedule for Sunday 16th Jan 2011
We can change entries so i need to know any changes by 28th Dec to allow me to make the changes so i will list the entered names below and assume you still want entered unless i hear different from you either directly or by leaving a comment on the Blog anyone not listed but now wants entered the same applies either see me directly or leave a comment on this Blog again by 28th Dec
The updated entry list is:- R COUPER(pd), A DERRICK, I RAE, G STEWART, C STEVEN(pd), E REID(pd),D HERBERTSON, D WARDROPE, J HOLMES, S WAUGH(pd), A HENDERSON(pd), C FREEMAN, G RAMAGE, K LEINSTER, C BANKS(pd), F MAXWELL(pd), J McEVOY, J BEVERIDGE(pd), M GOLDSMITH.

If your name isnt on the list but want entered let me know or if your on the list but cant make it let me know. Anyone who cant make it will be refunded their entry fee if they let me know before the entries are sent and anyone that hasnt paid yet please see me at the club.

Russell

Discount Day @ ATHelite this Friday

We are celebrating Christmas at ATHelite, Hamilton this Friday, 17th December 9.30am - 6.30pm

For the 5th year at ATHelite we are putting on our Santa hats and offering you the following...

25% off all in-store purchases
25% off Sport Therapist Vouchers
(Pre-pay for an appointment for 25% off the usual price or buy as an ideal Xmas present)
Mince Pies
Mulled Wine
Personal Shopper
Gift Wrapping
 
Come and see us for a Christmas Catch-up - no purchase neccessary!!

XMAS HANDICAP

This years Christmas handicap will take place on Sunday 19th Dec starting a little earlier this year due to sports club availability at 11.30am.
Please be at the sports club in advance of this to declare your running and allow the handicaps and starting times to be worked out.
As custom dictates fancy dress is preffered and adults please bring a small present.

Pre-Christmas Sale at ATHelite

We have a Big Pre-Christmas Sale for the next two days at ATHelite in Hamilton.

25% OFF virtually everything instore this Thursday & Friday only (9th & 10th Dec)

Includes all Running Shoes, Clothing & Accessories for Adults & Juniors.

ATHelite Blog

Young Athletes Training - Wednesday 8/12/10

Training tomorrow night is cancelled due to travel and safety concerns.

FEES FOR 2011

Below is the fees due January 1st although i will take payment any time in January.
I do appreciate that this is a difficult time of year financially so if you need to defer payment till a later date you must let me know this and we can work payment dates out.
These fees are inclusive of your Sports Club Membership

Family £89 (2 adults and all children 6 to 18yrs)
Ordinary £55 (over 21yrs)
Intermediate £28 (18 to 21 yrs)
Junior £15 (6 to 18yrs)
Retired Family £34 (both Adults must be over 65)
retired Ord £24 (over 65)

Life membership for the Sports Club is £450 for anyone wishing to consider this
Cheques made payable to Calderglen Harriers but i will take cash and if im not at the club please make payment to Frances Maxwell or Andy Henderson

Russell

Xmas night out

The harriers xmas night out this year is tomorrow night 4th Dec in the Montgomery arms at 7.30pm for a relaxing drink and a social chat. Please try to make it along as for the newer members this is a great way to get to know your fellow Harriers

HARRIERS AGM

JUST A REMINDER THAT TONIGHT 2ND DEC IS OUR AGM AND IT IS IMPORTANT THAT AS MANY AS POSSIBLE TURN UP FOR THIS. THE AGM IS STILL ON DESPITE THE WEATHER AS THE ROADS ARE OK SO PLEASE TURN UP IF YOU CAN FOR 8PM START.
AS MEMBERS THIS IS YOUR CLUB AND YOUR CHANCE TO INFLUENCE THE DIRECTION WE GO IN
TRAINING WILL COMMENCE AT 7PM FOR A SHORT RUN ON THE GOLF COURSE OR JUST COME TO THE MEETING

West District Cross Country Championships - Irvine 4/12/10

There will be a decision made at noon tomorrow as to whether or not this event will take place on Saturday. All who have entered should check the Scottish Athletics web site tomorrow to find out the outcome.

THIS EVENT IS NOW CANCELLED. AN ALTERNATIVE DATE WILL BE POSTED ON THE SCOTTISH ATHLETICS WEB SITE IN DUE COURSE.

Young Athletes Training Wednesday 1 December 2010

Please note the young athletes training will go ahead this Wednesday whether it is snowing or not. Start time as usual 6.30 pm.
After training we will not have use of the Function Suite due to a meeting taking place and all young athletes should be collected from the foyer of the sports club.

Xmas night out

it has been decided this year the Harriers will just have a night out with a drink instead of going for a meal. This will be on saturday 4th Dec after the XC at Irvine. can you please let myself or Frances know at Mondays training if you intend going out and preference of venue and we will announce on thursday night where it will be and put it on the Blog.
Sorry about the short notice but time just catches up at this time of year

Russell

Cyprus International 4-Day Challenge: Day 4 - Too Hot for Santa

Race start/finish in the harbour

The final day was the earliest start yet with a 5:30 alarm call for a coach departure at 6:30 and an 8am race start at Paphos harbour for the 10k. I was pleased to see that although still with a chesty cough, this was the first morning where my resting pulse had been back in the low fifties rather than around 70 bpm as it had been for the past week, suggesting that my cold may finally have been lifting.

With the 250 starters lined up the temperature was already in the low 20’s. Although I was a safe age group winner with a 20 minute gap to the next M45, my aim was to run an honest race and try to have a better performance than the previous two days. Meanwhile Jimmy had made it to the line after eight hours of solid stretching on his injured calf and the motivation to beat the M60 ahead by just over a minute to move up to second M60. On the gun I went with the lead pack climbing up a ramp and out around the other side of the harbour. There was a lot of puffing going on and I easily moved into a top three position before the front two moved away. Once again I was passed by an ambulance! However this time I managed to accelerate past it and in the process moved past the early German leader into second place seemingly moving away from the chasing pack. Although flat in comparison to the previous two days, we were climbing steadily inland and after 3k the naturally tired quads started to ache and the breathing became heavier. The overall second placed athlete breezed past.  I held onto third until about the 6k mark at which point one of the army runners moved past, followed shortly afterwards by the leading German athlete and one final place was lost at about 7k. The legs were screaming for the final 3km but the last 2km through the now busy harbour front did at least seem to pass quickly with the help of crowds of people. I was unchallenged over the last 200m and cruised home in 35:49 in 6^th position. Overall I was satisfied with that performance and subsequent download of the Garmin showed that my pace had in fact been quite even, varying between 3:30 and 3:48 kilometres.

Finished!

Jimmy appeared sometime later, crossing the line in just over 50 minutes, not bad considering his modified running style to save the injured calf. The clock was running and his rival appeared just over a minute later. However, we had to wait 5 or 6 hours until the official results were posted in the hotel to see that he had indeed done enough and finished as second M60 overall by only 7 seconds. The official results also confirmed me as 13^th overall and first M45 some 27 minutes ahead of the next M45. My German alcohol free team had moved up gradually on each day and finished 7^th out of 22 teams. Despite the team name, the entire team enjoyed the free beer on offer to all finishers at the finish line!

All in all an extremely well organised event with complex logistics all smoothly handled. The races were tougher than I imagined, in part due to the hotter than normal temperatures. In fact as the photo shows, today it was even too hot for Santa in Paphos!

Too hot for one Santa

HARDY HARRIERS ON THE RUN

The EK 10k turned out to be a very cold experience for many Harriers this weekend with Friday nights snow still lying on the ground and tempretures refusing to get above freezing.
Harriers being what we are were not put off by this and 14 turned up to do the race with others on the course to cheer us on. First home was Martin Duthie (35.52)and an excellant 4th place, next in Alan Cullie(38.05), Making his debut after a long lay off Neil Green (38.46) followed by Eddie Reid(39.28). Another debut from one of our new members Mark Saez (40.41). David Herbertson (41.38) caused the upset of the day finishing in front of Jim Holmes (41.59).Next in and continuing a lot of steady good performances was Colin Banks (42.54) just in front of Billy Buchanan (43.04). Our only female runner of the day was Julie Beveridge (43.59) which i believe was a PB and in those conditions an excellant performance with surely a lot more to come. The next home was George Stewart (44.30) continuing his return to form (bit to go yet but getting their). David Wardrope (46.40), Richard Lawton (52.19) and bringing up the rear but well enough away from the back of the field Russell Couper (54.38).
Good to see so many out in such bad conditions and many thanks to Frances, Scot, Andy, Chas, Dawn, Mandy and Sandra out on the course cheering us on. Early reports on the GP suggest Jim Holmes is back in the lead and the Ladies remain unchanged but Julie beveridge closes the gap to the 1st three.
Next race in the GP is the West District XC next week and entries are closed. Names of those entered are on the spreadsheet of an earlier Blog.

Cyprus International 4-Day Challenge: Day 3

Day 3 - the trail half marathon. Its no coincidence that we decided to have our start line photo taken in front of one of the race ambulances! This is the day where the overall race series can be won and lost. After yesterday's punishing hill race, the sky was even clearer and the sun hotter by the time the race buses had taken us 1000 feet up into the mountains some 30km from race HQ in Paphos. The point of taking us 1000 feet up into the Akams Nature reserve was of course to enable the first 10km of the half marathon to be a further 1000 foot climb on sandy, rocky trails. Then the course switched to a rough skim of concrete descending 2000 feet over 7km before a tortuous 4km flat rocky trail to the finish on the beach.

On the start line I knew I had an 11:47 lead in my class that I could easily lose over the half marathon distance if things went even slightly badly. On the gun I did not go with the pack of 8 or 9 young guns but settled on my own a few metres back. Big mistake as one of the course ambulances immediately passed me to tail the lead pack and I was stuck in a cloud of dust for the next km. Thankfully a tight up-hill hairpin bend gave me the chance to pass the ambulance and I stuck to the middle of the road from there on to keep him behind. The legs were still powerless on the climb as was the case yesterday and the sun was even hotter so this was a steady uphill slog at what felt like snail pace (and leaving my now characteristic snail trail of snot). A few army guys ran past me here (easily recognisable as every limb had a tattoo - now I know what is meant by the Edinburgh Military Tattoo) but no sign of any M45's so when I reached the top of the climb at 10k in around 46 minutes I was reasonably confident that I could improve on the downhill. It didn't really though. I had the ambulance behind me for company all the way down the series of hairpin bends over the 7k descent. Although I managed to pick up the pace to around 6 minute miles, I still lost a few more places and could not stride out as the hills were just too steep. I was however glad of my decision not to wear racing shoes and instead had my regular trainers on which provided some cushioning (and a big blister on my instep) on the pounding descent. However when the course levelled out with 4k to go the legs said no and I more or less jogged over the rocky coastal trail towards the finish. The finish line was visible from about 2k out but worse you had to run past the finish for 500m and then double back on a soft sandy path to the line which I crossed in 1:31:14 in 13th position (the overall winner was finished in around 1:19). Then a litre of water was quickly swallowed and into the sea to cool the legs off (actually the sea was warm so not as effective as a Scottish beach but I am definitely not complaining). Half the British Army also seemed to be in the sea and the other half were relieving the Mr Wippy Rambo ice cream van of its supply of cones.

Jimmy was not lucky. He came to the race having not run for two weeks with a calf injury. Somehow he had got through the first two races without aggravating it but after only 4k today the calf  locked up again. He shuffled on to the top of the climb at which point the M60 who had been ahead of him in the series caught and passed him. This provided enough adrenalin to hide the pain and Jimmy was able to modify his stride on the descent to save the calf and to pass and beat the other M60 by a couple of minutes, finishing in 2:01. It is however unlikely that Jimmy will be able to run tomorrow.

Subsequent inspection of the results surprisingly showed that I had extended my M45 lead to over 20 minutes. With only the Paphos 10k Road Race (very flat :-)) tomorrow, this is quite a strong, no pressure situation to be in.

 Final report tomorrow.
Alan

Cyprus International 4-Day Challenge: Day 2

Day 2 was an early start to get bussed a few miles up the coast to the nature reserve where the hill race started by the sea. At 8:30 in the morning the sun was already burning a hole in us but we still had an hour to wait for the race start.

At 9:30 the field of 220 were set off along the coast on a flat rocky jeep trail for 800m before turning inland for the start of the 11km, 2000 foot climb. My head was spinning today with the strain of the previous day's race on my blocked sinuses and although I was comfortable on the flat as soon as I turned onto the hill the legs were instant jelly. At that point I knew any hope of trying to race today was gone and it was just a case of not doing any damage to myself. Easier said than done as the legs burned with the constant climb and the relentless heat.

Even with sun glasses, the light and heat reflecting off the white sand stone rocky trail was intense. Having initially settled down in around 12th position, I lost a few more places in the first half before a heavy breathing French athlete caught and trailed me from about 6k to 9k. At 9k the road levelled for 500m and I was able to revert to my usual long stride and pull away, passing another two in the process. The final kilometre was through the narrow streets of the mountain village of Pano Arodes and seemed like the steepest climb of all.

The cheering crowd were a welcome sight in the village square, one short lap of which brought me to the finish in a time of 57:04. As expected, I had dropped back to 12th in the overall competition (and 12th on the day). However, the age classifications had been corrected over-night and I now find myself as first M45 with an 11:47 lead over the second M45. More in his element today, Jimmy Stewart finished in 1:21:32 and maintained 3rd in the M60 classification. My new team (which I have now found out is called Erdinger Alkoholfrei) is languishing in 10th place. The team consists of a German surveyor, a British Army dentist and me and perhaps could do with some alkohol to improve performance.

A post race leg massage will hopefully have repaired me enough for tomorrow's trail race half marathon with another 1000 foot of climbing.

Alan

Cyprus International 4-Day Challenge: Day 1

I believe it may be a little snowy back home so here is some sunshine to warm you all up! So here I am in another hot place lining up for day 1 of the four race Cyprus International Challenge. After a few days of acclimatisation in 25 degrees sunshine, it was time for former Harrier and extreme event veteran Jimmy Stewart and I to take our places in the beach front queue outside the 5 star Coral Beach Hotel for the start of event 1, the 6km individual time trial. Anyone with any sense would have stayed on the loungers by the pools but as the hotel is the regular pre-Olympic warm weather base for the British Olympic Team, various Olympic plaques and top-notch sports facilities provided enough inspiration to get out and run. Truth be told, if we had hung about on the loungers too long, there was a risk of being press-ganged by the large squad of French Foreign Legion soldiers enjoying a few days R&R at the hotel on their way back from a 6-month tour of duty in Afghanistan.

It’s the first time I have queued up rather than lined up for the start of a race, this being a time trial where each runner was set off at 10 second intervals in race number order.  With me at number 44 and Jimmy at 168, it was likely that I would be finished before Jimmy had even started. Injury-free for a change, I was however loaded with the heaviest cold for years, which started the day before Brampton. Being a runner, common sense has no part to play in the decision process and so when my number came up, all thoughts of just getting through this first race easily soon disappeared and off I set in pursuit of the 43 runners ahead of me.


The race started from the beach, skirted around the hotel and emerged through the hotel main gate onto the main road. Within that first 500m I  had already caught and passed 4 or 5 runners and narrowly avoided being mown down by a local motorist in the hotel car park! However, once out the gate I could finally release the large snot build up in my nose (no spitting or such like allowed within the carefully manicured hotel grounds) and take off on the flat road to the finish 6km up the coast. The long line of runners stretched out in front provided plenty of targets to aim for and soon we were half way in the midst of a banana plantation. A glance at the watch showed 3k in around 10:15; too fast with three more days of racing to come and so on with the brakes. The slightest hint of a climb brought us to km number 5 and then the crowd was in sight on the cliffs ahead. Through the finish line in 21:08, a bottle of water downed and then a seat in the shade of a truck. Some time later Jimmy crossed the line in 29:41 and very relaxed.

Later on at the evening pasta party the results were revealed. After day-1 I am 7^th overall, 1:10 down on the leader and 3^rd vet, the first 4 vets being quite close. Jimmy is 3^rd M60. Tomorrow is a 11km hill race, starting at sea level and finishing at 2000 feet. I have also managed to get myself poached and am now a member of a German team sponsored by one of the large German breweries! More news tomorrow.

Alan

Lanarkshire Cross Country Championships

As many of the senior club headed south for the Brampton to Carlisle Road Race the club's young athletes were closer to home at the familiar venue of Drumpellier Park in Coatbridge. There was a fantastic turnout of 23 youngsters which means the club had over 50 runners racing on the one day .
The damp conditions made for some good cross country running and first to the starting line were the Under 11 boys and girls over a 1.2k course. Ryan McParland was the best placed Harrier of the day finishing second in this race only two seconds behind the winner in a time of 3:05. Debutant Jonathon Anderson followed in 3:24 and was closely pursued by Kevin McGurk (3:31) while Jack Nobile (4:03) also put in a fine performance. Ryan,Jonathon and Kevin were further rewarded with the 2nd team prize just behind Ron Hill Cambuslang Harriers.

Emma Lawton running in this race for the fourth year in a row took 29 seconds off last years time taking third place in a time of 3:27. Cliona Campbell continued some excellent running and crossed the finishing line on 3:40 with Kate Kane running consistently in 3:59. These three girls were the second team at the recent Lanarkshire Road Relays and on this occasion went one better to claim gold medals as first team. The girls beat Airdrie Harriers and Ron Hill Cambuslang to the title of Lanarkshire Champions.

In the same age group Anna Fegan surprised everyone running a superb 4:15 while 7 years old Hannah McLellan took part in this event for the first time with a fantastic 4:22 .
Although the club would not win any more medals there were robust performances in the 2.5 k Under 13 races from Caitlin Campbell (10:50),Nicole Sharp (10:55),Lynsey Thomson (10:55),Olivia McAdams (13:47) and Caitlin Kean (13:47).
In the boys race there was debuts for brothers Aaron and Amlar Sumal running 11.00 and 11.32 respectively. Fastest Under 13 boy for the club was Alistair Crawford (9:32) while Drew Gordon (11.02) continues to improve.
The Under 15 Boys were well represented with Paul Mullen (13:27),Andrew McGurk(13:40),Ian Rae (14:01) and Connor White (15:53) over a tough 3.7k course.
The next race scheduled for the young athletes (U13,U15,U17's) on Saturday 4th December at the Royal Academy in Irvine for the West District Cross Country Championships.
Many thanks to all the parents/carers of the club's young athletes for supporting Calderglen Harriers.

West District Cross Country Championships - Young Athletes

The above event takes place on Saturday 4 th December at the Royal High School in Irvine. The following young athletes have been entered:

Under 13 Girls - Megan Brady, Amie Mulholland, Lynsey Thomson, Kirstin McDowell, Caitlin Campbell, Nicole Sharp. This race starts at 12 noon over a distance of 3,200 metres.

Under 13 Boys - Alistair Crawford, Greig Mulholland, Drew Gordon, Fraser Paul, Aaron Sumal, Amlar Sumal, Paul McMonagle,Craig Stewart. Race starts at 12.15 pm and is also over a distance of 3,200 metres.

Under 15 and Under 17 Girls - Lisa Stenhouse and Emma Campbell . This race starts at 12.30 over a distance of 4,400 metres. Both age groups will run the same race but there will be seperate placings and prizes.

Under 15 Boys - Jack Thomson, Ross Paterson, Ian Rae, Paul Mullen, Andrew McGurk. This race starts at 12.50 pm over a distance of 4,400 metres.

Under 17 Boys - Richard Campbell . This race starts at 1.35 pm over a distance of 6,400 metres.

The course is aproximately 400 metres behind the school. Please arrive early to allow enough time for a warm up.

Brampton 2010 - Horses (and Harriers) on the Run

In contrast to last year, the weather conditions on Saturday were perfect for the 59th Brampton to Carlisle 10 Mile Road Race. Fine autumn sunshine greeted the bus load of 29 Harriers and friends preparing to run the race and the small band of travelling supporters. The traditional warm-up to Brampton grave yard (!) and back completed, the Harriers assembled in front of William Howard School for the team photo and all seemed to be relishing the chance of a race without a head wind for a change. Formalities over, the Harriers joined the field of 500 on the start line, seeming to be one of the largest clubs present.

With no floods this year, the course thankfully reverted to the full 10 mile route, although road works on the back roads required an energy sapping 100m diversion along a muddy path. Never the less, the standard at the front was noticeably better than in recent years with the first 12 finishing between 50:33 and 53:35. Host club Border Harriers provided the clear winner, James Douglas, with second place Ian Harding of Morpeth over a minute behind.

Ian Hughes

Rapidly improving Ian Hughes was the first Harrier in 36th position, covering the course in a 59:17, improving his PB by over 2 minutes and picking up the 4th M40 prize. Andy Buchanan has been trying a high mileage training strategy whilst at college in Inverness in recent months which is not having the desired effect and was a bit disappointed with his time of 60:19. Charlie McDougall was also disappointed not to break 60 minutes, finishing in 60:42. However a check on The Power of Ten UK rankings web site reveals this to be the second fastest 10-mile time in the UK this year by an M60, nothing to be disappointed about! Needless to say, Charlie was first of a remarkable 32 M60's entered for this race, winning his age category by over 4 minutes. Next Harrier was Alan Cullie (62:23) who together with Ian and Charlie secured Calderglen the first veteran team prize.

Wednesday night parent helper, Brian Bourke, found out to his cost that the lack of Harriers' vest makes you invisible to the camera, failing to attract my attention on the home straight but still demonstrating a lot of running talent with a time of 63:20. Ross Mullen continues to follow his father's foot steps (albeit some minutes in front of Gerry) as a Brampton regular, setting a new PB of 65:03. Closest Harriers' finish of the day was provided by Eddie Reid (65:35), Brian McDougall (65:42) and Stuart Waugh (65:50), Eddie coming through from third to first in the last 400m. Brian was biggest improver of the day, setting a new PB by almost four and a half minutes. Stuart had one of his best Bramptons for some years and a very strong race. Scot Hill (66:16) is on the steady road back to fitness but is still some minutes off his best. Jim Holmes (66:47) was just outside his best time and unusually was not involved in a photo finish with any other Harriers. Andy Henderson is not long off the surgeon's table and in his first race of this year also ran one of his fastest times for many years (67:12). This was Andy's 22nd Brampton and he picked up the prize for 3rd M55. Stephen Phimister is another of the long-term injured who this time last year was probably thinking he would not run Brampton competitively again. Not only did he run it this year but he also improved his PB by two and a half minutes, finishing in 68:34. Being chased by a horse which had escaped from a field no doubt helped his time!

First of our ladies was Joanne McEvoy, who in her first Brampton appearance as a Harrier set the second fastest time ever by a Calderglen lady of 68:50. Colin Banks was only 22 seconds outside his PB recording 69:10. Kenny Leinster was a Brampton first timer (70:54) whilst Billy Buchanan (71:24) was not far behind and just out pacing George Stewart (71:33). Frances Maxwell was on target for a pb here but a persistent hamstring injury re-appeared just after 5 miles forcing Frances to limp to the finish in a still impressive 72:08, earning her the 3rd F45 prize. This was Gerry Mullen's 25th Brampton which he finished (by his own admittance) perhaps a little too fresh in 72:50. John McBride continues to improve rapidly, achieving a new PB by 2.5 minutes of 74:44. Mary Goldsmith has had a great year and continued the trend here with a massive PB of 74:56, an improvement of 2:40. This was David Wardrope's first full distance Brampton and his target for future years is now 75:44.

Chas Steven has now completed 26 Bramptons in a row, a remarkable achievement and this year he has started to reverse the trend of slowing times with a time of 84:42. This year's Buchanan timing controversy was courtesy of Dawn who insists that she stopped on the line to talk to Gerry Mullen for some 36 seconds and hence her official time of 86:00 should in fact be 85:24. Alright, I believe you! Kirsty Findlater was participating in her first Brampton and cruised to the line in 86:41, having passed a struggling Russell Couper (87:42). In fact, Russell admits to having started very fast and so most of the Harriers had to pass Russell at some point! Also making her first appearance at Brampton, Laura McConnell was not far behind Russell, finishing in 87:58. Finally, Gerry's friend John Mullan, training for a charity place in the Los Angeles Marathon next March, finished in 92:04 in his longest run so far. Well done to all those who were able to participate and thanks for the support from Frances Steven, Maud, Sandra and Davy Watt. In addition to winning the men's veteran team, our men (3 to count) finished 8th senior team and our ladies were 6th senior team (Joanne, Frances and Mary).

The shortened Brampton course last year left many Harriers without a 3rd event to count in the performance award scheme. Not this year though! The following Harriers achieved performance standards (in addition to the pb's already mentioned): I Hughes (M40 Silver), C McDougall (M60 Gold), A Cullie (M40 Bronze), E Reid (M45 Bronze), S Waugh (M60 Gold), A Henderson (M55 Silver), B Buchanan (M60 Silver), F Maxwell (F45 Silver) and M Goldsmith (F50 Silver). Very well done to all. Further photos are here and this link takes you to the full race results.

Alan

BRAMPTON BUS DEPARTURE TIME

Just a reminder that the bus leaves on Saturday at 08:30 prompt
dont be late as the bus will leave at this time.

CALDERGLEN HARRIERS AGM

The AGM will tale place on Thursday 2nd December 2010 at 8pm in the main hall of the sports club
Please try to attend as this is your club and your chance to influence the direction it goes in
Please also consider any nominations you may wish to make for the roles of President, Secretary, Treasurer and General committee members or if you wish to be nominated for a role ask someone to nominate you on the night
Any motions should be made in writing and given to the Secretary (A Henderson) in advance
Please make sure your membership is up to date as this is a members only meeting

If you wish a run in advance of the meeting its normal practice for training to begin at 7pm in order to get to the meeting on time.

British & Irish Masters Cross Country International Championships, Dublin

A mud bath on lap 1

Dublin provided the venue for the 23rd running of the British and Irish Masters International Cross Country Championship on Saturday. Alan Derrick was the lone Harrier selected for the Scotland M45 team in this prestigious event contested annually by the top men and women veteran athletes of Scotland, England, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Wales. The race programme comprised 4 events starting with an open masters cross country race and then the international championship races for each age group. Although the wind and rain relented for the first three races, by the  time the final race for M35, M40 and M45 teams came around the rain was back on and the course was looking decidedly muddy in places courtesy of several hundred athletes from the preceding multi-lap races. At least the wind had died away! Each country fielded a team of 6 athletes in each of the 3 age groups giving a total of 90 runners in this final race.

Having been out of training for 2 of the 3 preceding weeks with a cold, Alan was unsure of his strength and decided to avoid the initial cavalry charge from the start, sacrificing position but conserving energy for later in the 5.1 mile race. On the first of five laps the field remained tightly grouped but gradually spread out by the time lap two started. Alan continued to move steadily through the field and was certainly one of the leading Scots by the end of that lap. A race long tussle then ensued with a pair of M45 athletes from Ireland and England, the latter being a former individual medallist at this event well known to Alan from training camps in Portugal and who was clearly struggling with some problem. This battle continued to pull Alan through the field although Alan ultimately lost out to both of them. The course hosted the 2009 European Cross Country Championships and for every muddy section there was also an open and fast section to follow such that the pace swung from slog to flying around every lap. When the bell rang for the final lap the pace surged again and still there were a few places gained as Alan continued to make progress. With 200m to go the runners were directed off the loop along a tree-lined avenue of pine trees, the only mud-free section of the course and Alan even managed to muster a 100m sprint to maintain his position, crossing the line in 29:41, 13th in the M45 competition, 1st M45 in the Scottish team and 4th Scot overall.

Leading Scot in the race was Steven Whylie (M35), finishing 8th overall, followed by Dave Gardiner (M40) and Alan Murchison (M35). In an enthralling race for the overall win, former Irish National Cross Country champion Peter Matthews (M40) emerged from the group of six sprinting for the line. Alas none of the Scottish men's teams in this race finished in the medals. However there were bronzes for the M60, M50, F55 and  F60 teams in the earlier races and Scotland finished third in the overall combined team competition (England first, Republic of Ireland 2nd). Highlight of the day was the gold medal won by Scotland's Melissa Whyte in the F45 race in which she also finished third overall behind Claire Martin (F35) and Emma Stallard (F40) both of England.

Scotland hosts the competition next year at Bellahouston Park on 26th November 2011. There are several Harriers men and women who are capable of being selected for the Scottish team and who should be thinking now about establishing a programme of improvement and targetting some high profile races through next year to stake a claim for a Scotland vest.

Thanks to Chris Upson (M45) for providing the photo and to the entire team for being such great company throughout the weekend.

Alan

Club Entries for the 2011 London Marathon

The Harriers have received 2 club entries for the above race.

Back in October 3 members who had received rejection letters for the marathon indicated that they would like to be considered for a club entry.

They are David Dickson, David Wardrope and Graham Ramage.
A ballot for the 2 places will be held at the Brampton day out.

If any of the above have changed their mind regarding taking part in the race please let me know.

There are a couple of conditions these club entries.

The first is, as these are club entries the runners are required to wear the club vest.

Secondly if there is a similar situation with entries for the 2012 London Marathon, where there are more runners requesting club entries than we have received, then any runner who gets an entry for 2011 would not be entered into a ballot for 2012.

WEST DISTRICT XC (Royal Acadamy Irvine)

The West district cross country championship will take place on Sat 4th Dec.
As this is a pre entry event i will need names and entry fees by monday 15th Nov.
Ladies race starts at 13.05 and covers 6.4K
Mens race starts at 14.00 and covers 10K
cost is £4.00 per head
Please leave your name on this form or see me at the club if you wish to be entered.
This race is once again part of the Grand Prix series.
List of entries so far is here.
Names no later than Monday 15th Nov

Russell

Hills,Hell and Happiness

As most Harriers once again took heed of some sound advice from the coach not to race this weekend in preparation for the clubs classic visit to the Brampton to Carlisle 10 miles road race on the 20th November it came as a surprise to find three "dafties" taking part in races .

The Parkrun series is proving to be very popular amongst club and unnattached runners and in our own club Russell Couper is leading the way. After setting a pb at Strathclyde Park last week unsurprisingly his time dropped a few seconds this time around to 23:53. It is unique even amongst world class distance runners to achieve pb's in consecutive weeks and Russell will surely be delighted with his improved times of recent weeks.

Talking of improvement John McBride has come leaps and bounds since he started training with the club and this is testament to his own commitment and what our club has to offer distance runners. On Saturday John made his way to Bellahouston Park for the Jimmy Irvine 10 k road race which attracted a large turnout . Running consistently John crossed the finishing line on 45:53.

Earlier on in the day at nearby Pollok Park Chas Steven , having pulled out of training on Monday with an injury, took part in the Parkrun. Thoughts of missing the Tinto Hill race or even worse the "Brampton" had plagued his mind since Monday . Not having run since then Chas used this run to test the right calf strain which has caused problems intermittently over a couple of years . If things didn't work out he would have enough time to contact the Tinto organisers so that they could allocate his place to another runner. Fortunately things went well and as all returning from injury runners know the completion of a race is a great relief and often brings a tear to the eye. Even a slower time of 26:05 couldn't dampen these emotions.

Southbound on the M74 listening to The Who "Live at Leeds" CD he made his way to the quaint village of Symington which despite the distance is still within South Lanarkshire. Collecting his race number at the local hall for race titled the Tinto Tiptoe Hill Fun Run. Tinto Hill at 2,333 ft which in mileage terms is about 4.4 miles is a very popular hill race with the entry limit set at 250 being over subscribed many weeks ago with a waiting list should anyone pull out.
The race itself has plenty of good running and scrambling is minimal. The views on a clear day like Saturday were fantastic . Setting a target to complete the race within an hour Chas was delighted to do so in his first hill race since 1990 with a time of 59:31.
Once again apologies to anyone who may have raced over the weekend who has been ommitted from this report.

Lanarkshire Cross Country Races - Saturday 20 November 2010

The club has just received updated details of the above event at Drumpellier Park in Coatbridge ( Blair Road entrance). Richard Lawton has already received many names from the young athletes who will be racing and will also be taking names at Wednesday nights training.
Details of the event are as follows:
12 noon Under 11 Girls 1200 metres Entry £1
12.10 Under 11 Boys 1200 metres Entry £1
12.20 Under 13 Girls 2500 metres Entry £1
12.45 Under 13 Boys 2500 metres Entry £1
13.10 Under 15 Girls/Under 15 Boys 3700 metres Entry £1
13.40 Senior Women/Under 17 Boys/Under 17 Girls 5000 metres Entry £2
14.15 Senior Men 10,000 metres Entry £3

First 3 runners to count for First 3 team prizes (except Senior Men 4 to count)

ALL CLUBS MUST PROVIDE A MINIMUM OF 2 VOLUNTEERS TO HELP WITH THE STEWARDING OF THE RACE - PLEASE GIVE YOUR NAME TO RICHARD LAWTON IF YOU CAN HELP .

Singles and Doubles

As the club had no Grand Prix fixture at the weekend it is no surprise that many Harriers took on board the coaches advice not to race. However there are exceptions particularly for those who missed the previous race the Alan Scally Relays.
The Strathclyde Parkrun 5K was to bring the best out of Russell Couper who recorded a pb of 23.29 in his 28th Parkrun. Making his third appearance at this type of event Ian McKenzie crossed the finish line on 22.50. At the Glasgow Parkrun in Pollok Park John McBride rediscovered some form and completed the undulating course in 22.53 while Chas Steven took 17 seconds of his previous run with a time of 24.47.
Not content with one race Chas then made his to Garscube for the KPMG Glasgow University 5 miles road race . Once a classic road race of one lap the race has suffered in recent years in having to be two laps due to safety concerns which have been further complicated by a gate closure within the first few hundred metres of the race causing a congestion of runners exiting a single gate. Fortunately this latter problem was resolved this year and Chas finished not surprisingly slightly slower than last year in a time of 41.55.
On Sunday the appropriately named, considering the weekend weather, "Run with the Wind" 10k hosted by Strathaven Striders attracted Graham Ramage who ran an excellent 41.53 (pb ?) while Julie Beveridge (44 minutes exact) and Mary Goldsmith (44.15) also put in fine performances. It is also worth noting that former Calderglen Harrier Stuart Gibson now of Ron Hill Cambuslang won this
10 k in a time of 31.32 the day after being 5th at the "Uni" in a time of 25.07 .
Well done to everyone who raced at the weekend and apologies to anyone I may have missed in this report.

Giffnock North AAC Primary Schools Cross Country Races

Further to our young athletes’ success at the National Cross Country in Cumbernauld, a number of Young Calderglen Harrier athletes were out in force on the day after representing their primary schools at the annual Giffnock North AAC East Renfrewshire and EK Primary Schools Cross Country Races in Rouken Glen park.

First out on duty was Emma Lawton representing Kirktonholme ran in the girls Primary 5 race and put in outstanding performance in this 1.5K cross country course.  Emma established herself in first place as soon as the race started and maintained a good 100 metre lead to her closet rival around the whole course to win in a time of 6:33.  Second place runner’s time was 7:00 and third place recorded 7:47.

Emma clear in the lead.

Fresh after winning a silver medal in the Lanarkshire Relays, Kate Kane representing Kirktonholme ran a solid performance in the girls Primary 6 race with a time of 7:15 and helped the Kirktonholme girls achieve 4^th place in the team rankings.

Mark McKenzie, son of Ian McKenzie, was representing his school Mossneuk in the Primary 6 boys’ race along with Grant Dryburgh representing his school Blacklaw. Grant came in 6^th place (6.16) and Mark came in 9^th (6:22).  The Primary 6 boys race was the fastest race ran with 1^st place recording a time of 5:44 so well done to Grant & Mark for running at such a fast pace. Hopefully Ian can encourage Mark to come and train on a Wednesday night with the other young athletes as obviously like his Dad is good at running.

Newcomer to the Harriers, Nicole Sharpe was representing St.Kenneths in the girls Primary 7 race and produced a time of 7:05.

Last but not least Ryan McParland (representing St.Kenneths) redeemed himself this year and deservingly won the Primary 7 boys race.  Last year he slipped at the start and came in 4^th but this year he corrected this by putting in a fabulous start and performance with a winning time of 5:56.

Ryan with his class mates who together won the team prize.

Well done to all for taking part in the races and especially to Emma & Ryan for first class performances in their age group races.

With these fine performances, all the young athletes will be ready to represent the Harriers in the next race which is the LAAA Cross Country Championships at Drumpellier Park, Coatbridge on the 20^th November.

Thanks to Richard and Gerry for the comprehensive report and photos and well done to all our young athletes.

Alan

West District Cross Country Championships - Young Athletes

The above event will take place at the Royal Academy in Irvine on Saturday 4th December. Age groups as at midnight 31 August / 1 September 2010. Race details are as follows:

Age Group Start Time Distance
Under 13 Girls 12 noon 3,200 metres
Under 13 Boys 12.15.pm 3,200 metres
Under 15 and
Under 17 Girls 12.30 pm 4,400 metres ( please note this is one race with seperate age group teams and prizes)
Under 15 Boys 12.50 pm 4,400 metres
Under 17 Boys 1.35 pm 6,400 metres

All the age group young athletes of our club who are Scottish Athletics registered will be entered for this race .

Grand Prix Races - November to December 2010

The following three races are in the club Grand Prix:

• Brampton 20th November
• EK 10k 27th November
• West District Cross Country, Irvine 4th December (pre-entry only, see Blog post)

Alan

Brampton to Carlisle 10 Mile Road Race November 20th

There are still some places available on the Harriers' bus to Brampton on Saturday 20th November. Harriers and non-Harriers welcome. Please see Russell at the club for payment details. Although the club group entry has been posted, it is still possible to enter on-line until 1st November. Enter at www.race-results.co.uk.

Alan

Allan Scally Road Relay - Harriers Galore

You can count on the Harriers

On a day when strong winds made improving on last year's times difficult, 20 Harriers made a significant contribution to the field at today's Allan Scally Road Relay. Only the various university teams contesting the Scottish Universities' Championships had more teams than Calderglen out.

Four and a bit mens' teams and one ladies teams set off on the 4.8 mile loop around the leafy streets of Mount Vernon (in fact all of the streets of Mount Vernon!). Joanne McEvoy was a first timer on this complex course but was once again our fastest lady with a time of 32:29 handing over to Julie Beveridge in only her second race for Calderglen. Julie paced the race well despite a lack of company and recorded 34:39. Frances Maxwell was our only lady to have run this course before and improved by an impressive 40 seconds on last year to finish in 33:28. Frances maintains her lead in both the club Grand Prix and scratch championships.

The men's vets team were chasing the veteran title for the second year in a row. With plenty of vets to choose from, the Harriers fielded another very strong team with two changes from last week. Davie Watt established a big lead on the first leg with a time of 26:38 in 13th position overall. Alan Cullie had another consistent run on leg 2, only 18 seconds or so down on last year in a time of 30:15. The strong winds do not help small, light runners but the experienced head of Charlie McDougall made the best of the conditions and maintained the lead on leg 3 in a time of 29:07. Finally Martin Duthie had a lonely final leg, seeing no one but as a result bringing the Harriers vets team home first in a time of 28:18 at his first attempt on this course. Another great result for the Harriers in another of the classic winter season races. Well done to the team.

Another four Harriers' teams lined up at the start. Jim Holmes was another to improve on last year, recording a time of 31:27, the 6 second improvement worth much more given the conditions. Ian Rae took 26 seconds off last year's time, crossing the line in 32:07. Colin Banks was a first timer here and has now established his benchmark at 33:23. Russell Couper was looking for a sub 40 time today and so his time of 42:00 was tinged with some disappointment despite the fact he was the biggest improver, taking 1:06 off last year's time.

On the second legs, Eddie Reid had less pressure this week but is still not feeling 100%, recording 30:49, a bit slower than last year. Stuart Waugh established his first time for this course, stopping the clock at 31:39, still within sight of Jim Holmes' time as usual this season. Kenny Leinster last ran a road race 16 or 17 years ago he thinks but hopefully we can coax him out again in around 21 days at Brampton as he is obviously running well, finishing in 34:34.

On leg 3, Stephen Reilly is gradually getting himself back into racing shape and was pleased with his time of 30:59. George Stewart put on the most dazzling display of the day (or at least his new racing shoes did) recording his second solid performance in a row with a time of 33:23 (yes George, you did beat Frances).

First timer Richard Lawton looked strong at the end of his 38:38 leg and definitely has the stamina for the forthcoming Brampton 10 miler.

Due to the cold, biting wind, the remaining final leg runners were all set off together, making more of a race of it. Scot Hill is in a bit of pain with sciatic nerve problems these days but it seems that pinning a number on (presumably through his skin rather than his vest!) takes his mind off it and he therefore ran 10 seconds faster than last year, finishing in 30:35. Brian McDougall had a hectic day even before he arrived at the race but left him with enough strength to improve by 31 seconds on last year, finishing in 31:09. Finally David Wardrope is getting back to last year's form, dropping only 6 seconds on last year with a time of 34:55.

Jim Holmes stays at the top of the club Grand Prix whilst Martin Duthie makes his first appearance in the lead of the scratch championship. Both competitions remain tight.

It was a cold day for spectating but we as always had strong support with Maud, Mandy, Angela, Ian Jnr and also Julie's sister there to cheer us on. Thanks and well done to all. More photos from Phrances the Photographer here. Photos of all the Harriers from Kenneth Phillips now added to the album.

The next Grand Prix race is the big one BRAMPTON in 3 weeks.

Alan

Allan Scally Teams 2010

TEAMS CHANGED THIS MORNING DUE TO ILLNESS
Lots of Calderglen teams again this week. The teams and running order are here. As the teams have to be paid for on the day it would help if you could be there for 1pm to give your money to Russell. Let Russell or I know by 12 tomorrow at the latest if you have to pull out. Race starts at 2pm.

The course is confirmed to be the new 4.8 mile course introduced for the first time last year. Changing/registration/refreshments at Bannerman High School, Baillieston, G69 7NS as usual.

Alan

ALLAN SCALLY ROAD RELAY GRAND PRIX #6

Next Saturday 30th Oct is the Allan Scally road relay in Bailliston.
The race starts at 2pm and cost at this point is unknown but probably 3 or 4 pounds.
Please leave your name using this form if you want to run and teams will be selected after training on Thursday. Names received so far are here.
Please be at Bannerman High School, Bailliston by 1pm on Sat to pay so we can register the teams and go to the course.

National XC Relay Report

A week of heavy showers could not put the dampeners on a thrilling day of racing at the National Cross Country Relays at Cumbernauld on Saturday. In fact underfoot conditions were about as good as they have ever been in the 10 years that this venue has hosted the race. This meant that the course was muddy rather than the usual absolute quagmire! The Harriers' senior ladies and men responded magnificently with many significant course best performances achieved, building on the improvements displayed by many in the preceding races.

Joanne McEvoy was on first leg duty for ladies A team. In a field of 70, Joanne established an early mid-field position before handing over to Mary Goldsmith in a time of 18:21. Mary has run this course a handful of times but today ran her fastest ever time covering the hilly 4km course in a time of 19:48, not only her first time under 20 minutes but also her first time under 21 minutes! Mary pulled back a few more places in the process. Frances Maxwell was on the anchor leg with plenty of teams ahead to work on. Frances gained a further 6 places bringing the team to the line in 34th position in a time of 18:40, an improvement on her previous best by 32 seconds.

Kirsty Findlater lead off the ladies B team in her first ever cross country race. A tough one to debut on! However Kirsty and second leg Laura McConnel have covered plenty of cross-country miles in training at Brancumhall and on the golf course over the past year with the club and both ladies demonstrated great toughness and strength in completing their laps. Kirsty completed her lap in a time of 22:36 whilst Laura, also on her first ever cross country race, completed the 4km in 23:13. Although neither lady professed to have particularly enjoyed the experience (at least not during the race) they will both have boosted their strength and race experience. 

The Calderglen men fielded 3 and a half teams in a record field of around 130 starters. The Calderglen veteran A team were psyched up to contend the first ever Scottish Masters National championship held within the overall National Championship. Davy Watt is a master of handling the fast, physical starts on these relays and today launched the club into a very competitive 31st position overall and 3rd vets team in a time of 14:27, only seconds covering the first 5 or 6 veteran teams. This was Davy's fastest time from only a couple of appearances on this course, the last in 2002! Eddie Reid was dumped right into the fast and furious leading action on leg 2 and found it a bit unsettling being passed at great speed by so many younger athletes. However Eddie kept his head and ran only 8 seconds outside his previous course best, recording 16:34, handing over in 9th position amongst the veteran teams. Martin Duthie had been feeling a little bit ill through the week and was not at his strongest on leg 3 but still gained two veteran places crossing the line in 7th place in a time of 15:26, only 16 seconds outside his best set 5 years ago. Alan Derrick has been in good form this season but was another one with some sort of virus for the past two weeks which was denting his confidence a little. However, this did not affect his performance on the day, passing the Cambuslang, Garscube and finally Kilbarchan veteran teams cheered on by a very loud Calderglen support but unfortunately finishing exactly 10 seconds and one place behind the third place Fife AC veteran team at the line, having taken 84 seconds out of them. Alan recorded a course best of 14:36, an improvement of 1 minute on last year and 13 seconds better than his previous best set in 2004. The veteran championship was won by Shettleston Harriers, 1 minute ahead of Calderglen, Corstorphine were second (22 seconds ahead) and Fife third (10 seconds ahead). A very impressive performance by a small club such as Calderglen in a National championship.

There were equally impressive performances and improvements in the Calderglen B, C and D teams. Jim Holmes (17:05), Scot Hill (16:42) and David Herbertson (17:37) all improved massively on their previous best times in the B team whilst Stuart Waugh completed that veteran team with a time of 17:54 in his first National since 2005. Ian Rae toughed it out on first leg duty for the C team running a course best of 17:30. Richard Lawton had never run this event before and probably found it a shock to the system, recording 20:02. David Wardrope is still on the comeback from a knee problem but still improved by 15 seconds on last year to finish in 19:13. An improving George Stewart recorded 18:34, a minute or more outside his best on this course but by no means his worst performance. Russell Couper had the dubious pleasure of a first leg for the D team but was delighted to improve by almost 3 minutes on last year to finish in 20:54. After last year's DNF, Chas Steven ran a solid 21:14 on leg 2 as he builds his form for the forthcoming Brampton to Carlisle 10 mile race.

Thanks as always to our supporters on the day; Mandy, Malcolm, Roddy and Barry. The shouts of support do make a difference even if we don't have the strength to acknowledge it during the race. There are photographs of most of us in this album courtesy of Frances and the various photographers trusted with her camera (more photos added 25th October courtesy of Kenny Phillips).

The Grand Prix and scratch championships have been updated. Jim Holmes maintains his Grand Prix lead whilst Alan Derrick jumps to the top in the scratch championship. Frances Maxwell maintains her lead in both championships although the leaders are tightly grouped. Use the menu to the left to access the latest positions.

Alan

National Cross Country Relays

In perfect cross country conditions in Cumbernauld the club's young athletes were well represented at this annual event. Both the boys and girls races were over a distance of 2,500 metres.

First off were the girls with Under 13 Amie Mulholland running the first leg in a time of 12 minutes and 56 seconds. Lisa Stenhouse (Under 15) took over and ran 13:40 while on the third leg Emma Campbell (Under 17) finished on 13:32 giving a total time of 40:08. The winning club in this race was Edinburgh AC with a total time of 31:59 and leg times of 11:06,10:50 and 10:03.

In the second race of the day the boys "A" team consisted of Alistair Crawford (Under 13) who ran 11:52 in the first leg and handed over to Andrew McGurk (Under 15) who completed the undulating course in a time of 12:07 before Richard Campbell (Under 17) showed some consistent form in 10:44 . The cumulative time for the "A" team was 34:43.

The "B" team started with Greg Mulholland (Under 13) completing the course in a time of 12:55. Greg was followed by Drew Gordon(Under 13) who ran an excellent 13:19 before handing over to the newest member of the boys squad Jack Thomson (Under 15) who finished in 13:48. The "B" team had a cumulative time of 40:02.

The "C" team was incomplete however two boys were undeterred by this and Paul McMonagle (Under 13) ran 15:40 . Roadworks and traffic congestion meant that Ian Rae (Under 15) just made it to the course on time otherwise he would have ran in the "A" team. His team of 11.08 was a just reward for the young athlete who stayed in the park to cheer on his dad and all the other Harriers in the Senior races.

For the record the winning boys team was Victoria Park Glasgow AC in a combined time of 26:59 with legs of 9:45, 8:49 and 8:25.

Once again many thanks to the parents/carers of the young athletes for supporting the club at this event.

NATIONAL XC RELAYS

Can the ladies be at the school for registration by 12.40 when i will register the teams
Can the men collect the numbers from me at the school up to 1.15 thereafter i will head to the course and you can collect your numbers there but please be there by 2pm to allow time for warmups etc
See teams on BLOG below

Russell

National XC Relay Teams

The teams for tomorrow's race at Cumbernauld are here. Another great turn out from the ladies and men. However, if you do have to pull out between now and tomorrow, please let Russell or I know as early as you can. Once Russell has declared these teams and the running order at registration, the teams cannot be changed. The ladies start at 1:40, the men at 2:30.

Parking/changing/registration/refreshments are at Cumbernauld High School, South Kildrum Ring Road, Cumbernauld G67 2UF about 1 mile from the race course. There are major road works on the A80 and in Cumbernauld, so leave plenty of time. Click here for a map.

Alan

Lanarkshire Cross Country Races - Young Athletes

This event will take place on Saturday 20 November at Drumpellier Park in Coatbridge (enter the park from Blair Road). All the races are "head to head" and not relays like recent races. In accordance with regulations all athletes in the Under 13 age category upwards must be registered with Scottish Athletics. Ages as at 31 August / 1 September 2010. Details are as follows:

12 noon Under 11 Girls 800 metres Entry £1

12.10 pm Under 11 Boys 800 metres Entry £1

12.25 pm Under 13 Girls 2400 metres Entry £1

12.35 pm Under 13 Boys 2400 metres Entry £1

12.50 pm Under 15 Girls 32oo metres Entry £1

12.50 pm Under 15 Boys 3200 metres Entry £1

1.15 pm Under 17 Girls 4800 metre Entry £2

1.15 pm Under 17 Boys 4800 metres Entry £2

If you intend taking part in this race give your name and Scottish Athletics number to Richard Lawton with the correct entry fee. Names will be taken up to 17 November. Please arrive at the park at least 30 minutes before your race start time to collect your number and allow enough time for a warm up.
If you have any questions to ask about the event please post a comment below.

Lanarkshire Road Relays

The results of the above event which took place last Saturday at Drumpellier Park in Coatbridge have finally arrived. For the club's young athletes the following times were recorded :
Under 11 Girls 1200 metres : "A" Team - Emma Lawton 5 minutes exact, Cliona Campbell 5:20, Kate Kane 5:24. These three girls were the second team overall this age category. Running as an individual Carla Graham ran a time of 6:38.
Under 13/15/17 Girls 2000 metres: "A" Team - Caitlin Campbell 8:19,Amie Mulholland 8:14 and Lisa Stenhouse 8:31. This trio were 10th team overall.
"B" Team - Kirstin McDowell 10:41,Nicole Sharp 8:50 and Emma Campbell 8:31. This team were 14th overall.
The only disappointment on the day was that we did not field any complete boy's teams . However there were some fine performances from those who did run as follows:
Under 11 Boys 1200 metres: Jack Nobile 5:32 and Conall McDowell 5:39.
Under 13 Boys 2400 metres: Calum Stewart 10:19 and Greig Mulholland 10:25
Under 15 Boys 2400 metres: Ian Rae 9:34 and Jack Thomson 13:04
Once again well done to all the young athletes.

COMING SOON TO THIS BLOG - DETAILS OF THE LANARKSHIRE CROSS COUNTRY RACES ON SATUDAY 20 NOVEMBER AT DUMPELLIER PARK IN COATBRIDGE.

Harriers,Hearts and Dons.

I have recently been asked by a number of people from our club and outwith what has happened to two of our promising young athletes namely Craig Ferguson and Andrew Reid. Both lads are also talented footballers and as the title of this blog suggests have been signed up by professional clubs and unfortunately for us this means they can no longer represent the Harriers.Craig has went to Heart of Midlothian while Andrew is with Aberdeen. The parents of both boys have expressed their disappointment that they cannot continue with their involvement in athletics but have promised that if things don't work out at the football they will return to our club.
Our best wishes go to Craig and Andrew in their football careers.

NATIONAL XC RELAYS (Cumbernauld) 23rd Oct

Those entered for the above event are

Ladies:- K Findlater,F Maxwell, M Goldsmith, L McConnell and J McEvoy

Men:- R Couper, A Derrick, C Steven, C Freeman, D Wardrope, G Stewart, E Reid, S Waugh, R Lawton, C Banks, I Rae, M Duthie, J Holmes, S Hill, D Herbertson and D Watt

There is one space left for the ladies team and reserves have been entered so if anyone is interested let myself or Alan know at the club by thursday night

Teams will be selected after training on thursday so if you have to withdraw let us know

Youth notification is on the Blog below this

National Cross Country Relays

The above event takes place this Saturday (23 October) in Cumbernauld Park. Registration is at Cumbernauld High School (South Kildrum Ring Road) where all young athletes should report at 11 am for relay team selection to take place. The park is approximately 1 mile from the school. Please arrive at the school in good time as car parking is very limited. The girls race start at 12.30 pm and the boys at 1.05 pm. Both run a distance of 2,500 metres. I have entered the following names for this event :

Under 13 Girls - Megan Brady,Amie Mulholland,Lynsey Thomson,Kirstin McDowell,Caitlin Campbell, Catriona MacKay and Nicole Sharp.

Under 15 Girls - Lisa Stenhouse

Under 17 Girls - Emma Campbell



Under 13 Boys - Alistair Crawford,Paul McMonagle,Greg Mulholland,Drew Gordon,Aaron Sumal,Amlar Sumal,Jason Kerr,Robert Griffiths,Joe McDermott,Mitchell McLuckie, Fraser Paul

Under 15 Boys - Ross Barrie,Ross Paterson,Ian Rae,Paul Mullen,Jack Blair,Andrew McGurk,Greg Miller,Adam McDonald,Jack Thomson

Under 17 Boys - Richard Campbell

If for any reason you are going to be late to the event could you contact me on 07815420752.

SVHC TRACK 10K

Four harriers ventured out to coatbridge today to take part in the veteran harriers track 10k
This was certainly a surprising and strange experience being the first time ive raced 25 times round a track (still feeling dizzy) Tempretures were a little down in Coatbridge compared to the day before for the relays and there was a strong breeze between 220m to 300m. Scot Hill, Stuart Waugh and Jim Holmes broke away from myself within the first 100m as expected but within a couple of laps Jim was struggling to hold on to Scot and Stuart and they started to move clear Stuart looking to reverse Saturdays result. Scot was setting the pace with Stuart tucked in behind all the way looking to pounce at the end. While this was going on i was still plodding round lap after lap and trying not to be lapped too often but to no avail althought i did some lapping myself. In the end Scot held off Stuart 40.01 to 40.03 good close race while Jim stayed on the same lap to finish 41.00 although Scot is hoping the official times might give him a couple of seconds off. I eventually crossed the line in 52.37 and hoping the official results will take off about 15mins. Good event well worth all our vets trying as its completly different from a 10k on the road.

Grand Prix Update after Race 4

A familiar name has moved to the top of the men's Grand Prix as Jim Holmes makes use of his jokers to score a maximum 24 points. Meanwhile Joanne McEvoy played her joker to score a maximum 10 points to move into second place behind Frances Maxwell in the women's Grand Prix. Eddie Reid and Frances still lead their respective scratch championships.

Grand Prix: Women   Men
Scratch:      Women   Men

Wood you Believe it 2 - Champions!

Two years after winning the silver medal our ladies have got the GOLD! In perfect running conditions, Joanne McEvoy launched the team into a substantial lead, covering the undulating 2.5 mile course in 15:31. Julie Beveridge only joined the club a month ago and here in her first race in a Calderglen vest she performed admirably on leg 2. Relay legs often require a solo effort and this was the case with Julie until the final half mile when George Stewart eased passed and gave some words of encouragement. Julie finished in 17:21, still with a large lead. Frances Maxwell has plenty of experience of this event and it was therefore fitting that she took the final leg and brought the team home as winners of the Lanarkshire Championship in a time of 16:48,  a new pb by 11 seconds. An even bigger pb was achieved by Mary Goldsmith on leg 1 for the ladies 2nd team. Mary had already demonstrated great form in the opening road relay of the season at Houston, setting a pb there and the trend continued here with a 33 second improvement to finish in 17:03, booking her place in the first team for the race next week in Cumbernauld. One year ago on first training with the club, Kirsty Findlater would probably not believe that she would now be running flat out for 2.5 miles without stopping. Running very confidently, Kirsty set a great debut time of 19:21 on leg 2 for the 2nd team. At this impressive rate of improvement, Kirsty has many pb's to look forward to. Well done to all the ladies!

Calderglen's men fielded an impressive 4 and half teams. The first team was the same vets team as last week but in a slightly different running order. First off was Alan Cullie, still not quite back to his best form but recording a respectable 14:46 in about 8 or 9th position. Eddie Reid is keeping Alan close company this year and again was only seconds slower on leg 2, finishing in 14:52. Martin Duthie is sharpening up with every race and this week pulled the team back to 5th position with a solid 13:40 on leg 3. Finally a slightly feverish Alan Derrick set off on the last leg and predictably was never breathing comfortably but maintaining 5th position in a time of 13:23, a few seconds down on last year. Of course the future of our club is youth as demonstrated by the many young athletes running earlier in the day and by under-17 Richard Campbell, making his first appearance in a senior team, he was assigned a no-pressure first leg in the incomplete men's 5th team to give him a bit of experience. Pace judgement comes with experience and Richard probably went off a little quickly, being leading Harrier for a few hundred metres but only faded a little to come in just behind the 2nd team in a time of around 15:20 (estimated). Well done to Richard. Jim Homes set the second team off, this time avoiding any photo finishes by finishing in a clear 15:14 (another personal best). Stuart Waugh, in his first of two planned races this weekend, was not holding back on leg 2, recording 15:38. Making his relay debut, Graham Ramage was pleased to see that no baton changes are required in road relays (we distance runners can't do anything complicated like that) and probably found pace judgement the most difficult part of this largely solo effort, finishing in a fine 16:21. David Herbertson had once again just jetted in for the race, this time from Europe, but improved substantially on last year to finish in 16:01, not a pb but heading back in the right direction. We are certainly giving Ian Rae's slow twitch fibres a rest before next year's West Highland Way race training begins by exposing him to these "sprint" relays. This week Ian was on first leg duty for team three, recording 16:15. Leg 2 went to George Stewart who although still some way off his best looked in better form this week, finishing in 16:34 and avoiding a third successive defeat by Frances (much to her relief as after three wins she gets to keep George). Ian McKenzie was under no such pressure on leg 3, setting a time of 17:15. Final leg duty went to Colin Banks who had a tussle with a Springburn runner throughout which helped him to a 16:41. David Wardrope was on the first leg for team four and got quite close to last year's time, recording 16:28. Another first time relay runner today was the ever enthusiastic Michael Daly who had some competition all the way around his leg, finishing in an estimated 18 and a half minutes. Chas had a long day looking after the young athletes and then returning as keen as ever for leg 3 which he finished in 20:49.  Richard Lawton was on leg 4 and seems to be over his injury, recording 18:35. Russell was on leg 2 for the fifth team, taking over from Richard Campbell. Russell was delighted to improve by 1 minute and 12 seconds on last year with a time of 19:34.

This was a very healthy display by the Harriers, old and new. Thanks and well done to all. Thanks also to our supporters and photographers Sandra, Maud and Mandy and to Andy Henderson who fulfilled the club's marshalling duties throughout the day. This link takes you to the photo gallery. Roll on Cumbernauld!

As a footnote, Drumpellier Park is a great venue for races (when the weather is nice!) and it surely must have been inspirational to regular park users to see so many people young and old doing something so positive, running their hearts out. But not to one jogger who rather than being enthused by the fast, fit runners around him, hurled abuse at marshalls (not once but twice) who politely asked him to jog to one side of the path in the start/finish area. Only in the West of Scotland I am ashamed to say......

Alan