VETERAN HARRIERS PERFORM WELL

Tonight was the SVHC 5k race in Clydebank. It was a strange course to keep it completly flat 3.7 laps of the Industrial estate and it got a bit monotonous. It was a decent field with 48 starters which include 4 harriers 2 of which were leading their age catagories going into the race the other 2 sitting in 2nd place in their catagories. Stuart waugh was 1st Harrier to finish in a fantastic time of 18:57 and will surely keep his lead in his catagory, followed closely by his closest Harrier rival Jim Holmes 19:18 whos now probably moved up to 1st in his catagory. Graham lindsay who always claims everyone is going to beat him finished in 20:32 not bad for someone whos going to get beat although he still remains 2nd in his catagory to the super fit Russell Couper 23:14 (who leads till August anyway)

Grand Prix Finale 2011 - Vertical Mile

The club run on Thursday evening will be the Grand Prix Finale for this season in the form of the Vertical Mile at Auchentiber. It is very competitive for most of the prize positions in all of the championships so the more people that can take part the more exciting and nail biting will be the announcement of the final championship results.

Your time keeper and referee for the evening will be the presently injured Martin Duthie, having scraped through the time keeping trial at the Trail Race on Friday night! Please be gentle with Martin on this his first live time keeping event. Report to the club as per normal at 7:30 ready for a gentle run down to the start where it is likely (hoped, vital, etc) that Martin will meet us. May the best/man/woman/night-dress wearer win.

Could those who won the trophies last year (Ian Hughes, Frances Maxwell) please bring them up on the night or return them to Russell or Frances at the Young Athletes training on Wednesday if you can't make Thursday.

See you all!

Alan

Trail Race Results 2011

A big thank you to Russell and all his volunteer helpers on delivering another fine series of trail races last night. The provisional results for all the races are available here.

Some blurry photos from David Herbertson here (you were all running too fast!).
Great photos from Gillian Scott (Great Scott Photography) of the 3k, 5k and 10k are here.

Alan

TRAIL RACE HARRIERS TO RUN

Could those that are being freed up to run on Friday please fill out an entry form and give it to me by Thursday night at training. We need your entry by this time so we can assign a role that we can free you from (you are still needed to help with the earlier races).
Your entry is free but a donation would not be refused.

Russell

TTC 2011 Update #3

A fantastic response means that the 2011 TTC is now fully booked. A reserve list is now in place and we are exploring ways of expanding the capacity slightly.  If you wish to go on the reserve list, please fill in a form and give to Genevieve at ATHelite in Hamilton but hold on to your payment for now; there usually are some call-offs due to injuries and unforeseen circumstances so places will become available.

Thanks
Alan

Trail Race - Harriers to Run 10k

As introduced at last year's trail race, once we have filled all the marshal and helper jobs, we carry out a random draw from all the volunteers to select Harriers to run the 10k race. This year we can allow 6 Harriers to run the 10k. The first 6 drawn randomly on the computer are:

J McEvoy, G Lindsay, J Holmes, G Stewart, S Phimister, D Herbertson, D Searil, F Maxwell, S Waugh , D Wardrope, A Henderson

If any of these 6 do not wish to run the 10k and would rather help out, then you must let me or Russell know by the end of the training session (Chatelherault) tomorrow. I will then draw the next name(s) from the list at random and so on until we run out of names.

Alan

TTC 2011 Update #2

Only 7 places left. Fantastic! Refer to the original post or link in left menu for entry form and further details.
Alan

Official Club Clothing Re-stocked

A new link has been added to the menu to the left that will take you directly to a list of the currently available stock of club clothing and merchandise. Click on the menu link and then leave a comment on that blog post or see Russell at the club to order.

Strathclyde parkrun - Grand Prix Race 15

18 Harriers old and new invaded the Strathclyde parkrun 5k race this morning to contest the penultimate race of the club Grand Prix. Although the loch was like a mirror on arrival, by the time the race started a stiff breeze ensured that the return leg of the out and back course would be straight into the wind. Despite this the Harriers achieved many good times and even some pb's. First Harrier and first in the race was Alan Derrick in 16:53, an M45 gold standard and 1 second outside his season's best, followed by Neil Green in 18:50, just missing out on an M40 performance standard by 6 seconds. Stephen Phimister did very well to break the normal Harriers finishing order, setting a new pb of 19:01, smashing his previous best by 31 seconds and just pipping Eddie Reid (19:05) who set his best time of the season and achieved and M45 bronze standard. Scot Hill is gradually getting back to form (19:35) and led a tight grouping of Harriers with Jim Holmes (19:49, a new pb!), Andy Henderson (19:55, an age group pb and M55 bronze standard) and Stuart Waugh (19:58, M60 silver standard) in close succession.

First lady in the race and first Harrier was Joanne McEvoy in 20:12, slightly disappointed not to break 20 minutes but still a season's best. The Harriers also claimed second lady with Julie Beveridge setting a massive pb of 20:35, improving by 30 seconds in the space of a month. Amazingly, new member Karen Sturgeon gave Calderglen a clean sweep, finishing third in 21:42, only 4 seconds outside her best set a few weeks ago.

George Stewart was more competitive than of late, especially in the first half of the race and in the end came home in 20:55, a season's best. Not far behind was Billy Buchanan in his first parkrun and setting a new 5k age group pb of 21:02 which gets Billy a bronze M60 standard. New members Stevie McIntyre and Hugh Simpson were competing for the first time in Calderglen vests finishing in 22:27 and 22:47 respectively, this being another pb for Hugh. David Searil was at his first Strathclyde parkrun and set a good time of 23:07, a season's best (by 1 second) and his fastest for 2 or 3 years. Russell Couper had a self admitted bad one today with a time of 25:10. Youngest Harrier and making his first appearance at a senior race was 16 year old Stuart Hill who will hopefully flourish as a runner like the rest of his family. Stuart finished in 27:55, just 1 second outside his previous time. After the race a posse of Harriers headed for ATHelite in Hamilton to enjoy the usual high standard of hospitality, hand over their TTC payments and for one Harrier to swap running shoes for budgie smugglers (no reflection on the race result) for a forthcoming holiday.

The Grand Prix and Scratch championships have been updated and with one race to go there is still a little uncertainty over the final result, especially in the men's series. Well done to all on another impressive Calderglen club performance.

Alan

Trail Race Volunteers

PLEASE LEAVE YOUR NAME ON THIS BLOG IF YOU ARE COMING TO HELP SO WE CAN SELECT FROM THE VOLUNTEERS NAMES THAT CAN RUN IF THEY WISH TO.
This years Trail race is on the 24th June.
We need all members to commit to helping on the day.
I will be at the Sports Club from 1:30pm to start setting up and we need help from this time.
registration starts at 4pm and again we need help with this.
The first race is off at 6pm and marshalls have to be in place before this.
I need some key volunteers for some roles, Registration head, Start/Finish area head, Marshall orginiser, Results orginiser.
Anyone wishing a leading role let me know and everyone else please leave your name on this Blog with the time you are available from.
If we get enough volunteers to cover all the roles we could be in a position to let some run.

Russell

OFFICIAL CLUB CLOTHING RESTOCKED

We have the following items of clothing available. Anyone wishing any item please see Russell at the club on training nights.
JACKETS:- cost £25.
size .
XL - 1 off.
M - 4 off.
S - 2 off.
XS - 1 off.
MORE JACKETS TO COME.

VESTS :-.
LADIES :- cost £12.
size S - 4 off.
M - 4 off.
XS - 15 off.

GENTS :- cost £12.
size XS - 3 off.
S - 10 off
M - 12 off.
L - 8 off.
XL - 4 off.

T-SHIRTS :-.
LADIES:- Short Sleeved cost £8.
round neck M - 3 off.
V neck XS - 3 off

Long sleeved cost £12.
V neck XS - 3 off

GENTS:- Short Sleeved cost £8.
S - 3 off.
M - 2 off.
L - 5 off.
XL - 5 off.

GENTS:- Long Sleeved cost £12.
S - 3 off.
M - 3 off.
L - 8 off.
XL - 4 off.

There is also a few shoe/kit bags available at £1 each
FOR JUNIOR T SHIRTS SEE YOUNG ATHLETES BLOG

25th Anniversary Islay Half Marathon

(Update 19/06/11 - Looks like at least a half dozen Harriers are signed up for Islay and B&B's in Bowmore still seem to be available).
The Islay Half Marathon used to be an annual fixture in the Harriers' calendar until a few years ago when it seems we perhaps all got too old to handle the pace of what can be an exhausting weekend (and that doesn't include the race!). As this year is the 25th Anniversary of the event, I am planning to go back and run the race for the first time in 8 or 9 years. The race is on the morning of Saturday 6th August. However my intention is to follow our traditional pattern and head to Islay on the Friday afternoon, do the race in the morning, pace myself through the very liquid prize giving and survive until the Ceilidh on Saturday night. All this takes place in Bowmore. I would  then get the afternoon ferry back on Sunday with a little bit of Sunday morning sight seeing and beach action beforehand.

The big problem is the limited accommodation available in Bowmore (and its best to stay in Bowmore as that is where everything happens) as I have left it a few months too late to organise. I have secured every available room in the Lochside Hotel for the Friday and Saturday (OK, there is only one single room and one small double room left!) and am holding these rooms on my credit card. I will take the single room. The rooms are expensive (£57.50 per person per night B&B) and I know this will put people off. I will hold the double room until this Friday and then let it go if no one wants it. There are several B&B's in Bowmore which are a bit cheaper. Details on www.islayhalfmarathon.co.uk where you can also download the entry form. You also have to budget for the ferry from Kennacraig (Tarbet) to Port Askaig. If enough Harriers go I will take my 6 seater car (actually same price on the ferry as a normal car at £88 return) so we have only one vehicle on the ferry otherwise I'll probably just take my sports car for a bit of driving fun.

There are a few photos from some previous Islay Half weekends here to whet your appetite. See me at the club, send me an e-mail or leave a comment here if you are interested.

Alan

Penultimate Grand Prix Race - parkrun Strathclyde Park

This Saturday brings us one step closer to deciding the men's and ladies Grand Prix and Club Championships when we head to the Strathclyde Park parkrun. You need to do a once off, free registration at www.parkrun.org.uk before you can take part in any of these timed, 5k events. You will then be sent an e-mail with a barcode which you should print out and laminate or somehow protect from moisture and the elements (I sometimes use a resealable freezer bag). This barcode is your unique number for all parkrun races and is scanned when you cross the finish line, so you need to carry it with you in a non-soggy state! The race starts at 9:30 prompt. There is no on the day registration, you just turn up on the line at 9:30 and off you go. Best to use the car park a few hundred metres beyond the boathouse as this is nearest the start/finish line.

Alan

TTC 2011 Update #1

A great response so far with 15 of the 28 places already signed up and paid for only 1 week after the launch. The varied programme this year includes talks by David Nuggent from Ace Physiotherapy as well as the expected mix of running and conditioning sessions. Allsessions, talks meals and accommodation included in the total price of £65 for the Friday to Sunday. Further details and entry form are on the original blog post here.

Thanks
Alan

West Highland Way Relay 2011

Kenny Leinster runs in to Inveroran to hand over to Jim Holmes

While the rain fell all around Scotland once again the weather was kind to the minibus load of Harriers who made their annual pilgrimage along the West Highland Way, each running a leg of the 96 mile path from Milngavie to Fort William. You have to be full of energy to manage the 5am start and so Genevieve was called upon once again to drag Colin along the first leg from Milngavie Station to Carbeth (with a detour). Russell Couper was escorted on leg 2 to Dumgoyne by Mary Goldsmith and Davy Watt, warming up for their later legs and Genevieve Freeman, getting a few more miles in the legs. Davy therefore had the dubious benefit of a 3 mile flying start for leg 3, his own leg of 5 miles to Drymen with Colin Freeman maintaining a watching brief from a safe distance for the first few miles. Andy Henderson was given leg 4 over Conic Hill. Having run this leg under competitive conditions on the Highland Fling a few months ago, Andy would surely enjoy a more relaxed run over this route. Meanwhile the bus had moved on to Balmaha where a session of mini-rounders provided a gentle warm-up for all. By now George Stewart had changed from the night time attire in which he was picked up from beneath a Gardenhall lamp post at 4:15am to something more resembling a runner's outfit and was ready for leg 5, accompanied by Joanne to Milarachy.

George Stewart in as-found condition

A slightly distracted bus driving team delivered Gerry Mullen late to the lay-by at Milarochy but nothing can phase a runner of Gerry's experience and off he set towards Rowardennan on leg 6 with Eddie Reid and Colin Banks for company. I somehow managed to pick my self for leg 7, the longest leg from Rowardennan alongside Loch Lomond to Bein Gleias Farm at Inverarnan, a tortuous, running, rock climbing and staggering 14 miles. I handed over to Joanne McEvoy ready for the completely up-hill 6-mile leg 8 to the deer fence above Crianlarich. Billy Buchanan decided to accompany Joanne but given that he was effectively taking over from Joanne on a very tough leg 9, the club shepherd's crook was deployed where the route crosses the A82 and Billy was pulled for his own benefit. Unfortunately for Billy, his leg started a mile uphill from the bus access point and so he still had to make a considerable effort to get to his change over in time. George Stewart decided that a game of "chase-me" was the best way to motivate Billy to a fast time and promptly gave himself a 100m uphill start over Billy who saw George for the next time celebrating his "victory" at the end of the leg. Frances Maxwell took on leg 10 from Ewich to Tyndrum accompanied by the first of the WHW first timers, Neil Green. The first brief period of rain came shortly after Eddie Reid started leg 11 to Bridge of Orchy but fortunately did not last. Kenny Leinster has had a recurring injury for some time but was happy to get the short, sharp up and over leg 12 from Bridge of Orchy to Inveroran and completed this at great speed where Jim Holmes awaited for the notorious Rannoch Moor stage to Black Rock Cottage. Jim had only ever been on this stage years ago as a hike and thoroughly enjoyed his run over this bleak, atmospheric wilderness. At Black Rock Cottage we met up with Malcolm (who had walked from Tyndrum earlier in the day) and Carolyn and enjoyed some banter whilst awaiting Jim. Legs 13 and 14 were given to Colin Banks, through Kingshouse and on to the foot of the Devil's Staircase. Gerry Mullen accompanied Colin to Kings House and Kenny Leinster carried on with him to the change over. Then Neil Green got his first experience of a solo leg on the WHW, a tough leg at that, up the Devil's Staircase and down into Kinlochleven. Frances and George set off 20 minutes ahead of Neil to clear the course of walkers and to give George the chance of another scalp. David Wardrope was also a first timer and I felt that his double marathon stamina would see him through the very tough leg 16 up to Mamore Lodge and then along the rocky road to Lundavra. Andy Henderson and Gerry Mullen accompanied David and did well to keep him going as the rough surface was not to his liking.

David hands on to Mary

After many WHW relays, Mary Goldsmith got a change of scenery with her first experience of leg 17 from Lundavra to Glen Nevis. Eddie Reid, Billy Buchanan and Neil Green kept Mary company and struggled to keep up as Mary revelled in the final downhill miles to Glen Nevis. Then a mass finish for the final mile to Fort William brought the club home in a great time of 13:43:09.

An evening of relaxation, food, drink and conversation followed in the Ben Nevis hotel and was thoroughly enjoyed by all the Harriers and friends present. For a change we visited Ballachulish Slate quarry on Sunday to unwind. Here the club split into a sporting section to play rounders and a cultural section to tour the disused quarry (but mainly the cafe) before returning home.

Thanks to the impeccable organisation by Frances, Russell and Eddie, the bus drivers and travelling injured (Sandra), Malcolm, Carolyn, Jimmy Stewart and Jackie for making it another memorable WHW weekend for all concerned.

Some poor quality photos from my phone here but better ones to follow. Andy Henderson's, Frances' and Joanne's photos now added.

Alan

A Flat 5.........

Rumour had it that the Corstorphine 5 Mile Road Race being held on Wednesday night was a flat, fast course and a number of the Harriers of a certain age were heading through as the race also formed part of the SVHC Grand Prix this year. So I made a late decision to try to get there, leaving work on the south side of the Clyde at 5:35 for a 7:30 start. After taking a half hour to cover the first two miles (of the drive, not the race) things were not looking good. Eventually the M8 cleared and I arrived on Turnhouse Road on the perimeter of the airport at 7pm. I don't know how Martin can do it as this would still be early for him! Race entered, I did a few bursts up and down the start area to try and loosen the legs and met up with Scot, Jim, Russell, Stuart and Graeme who didn't know I was coming.

A field of 143 lined up on the road for an ever so slightly downhill and straight first mile. I was immediately dropped by the high quality leading pack of a dozen but still went through the first mile in 5:15, peaking at about 4:57 pace in the first quarter mile. Way too fast for me. Shortly afterwards we turned sharp right onto a country road and the fun stopped when a 1 mile long 100 foot ascent appeared out of nowhere. After Rouken Glen on Sunday and a too fast first mile, there was no power left in the legs. However what goes up must come down and after about 2.5 miles we had an equally steep down hill mile. Unfortunately at just over 3 miles the course went all the way back up another 100 feet in three quarters of a mile. This finished me but spurred on by regular rival Paul Thompson of Helensburgh easing past me, I managed to re-start the legs and was motoring by the time we hit the half mile finishing straight. Not wanting to be out-sprinted two races in a row I was able to pile on a sustained effort for the final half mile to finish in a disappointing 27:58 and 14th overall. Scot Hill was the next Harrier to finish in 31:29 in 50th position with Stuart Waugh and Jim Holmes a minute behind in 32:25 and  32:31 respectively. Graham Lyndsay was able to make a rare race appearance, finishing in 35:17. Russell had a tussell with Kenny Gunrussell (poetry and I think the surname gives a clue to the result of that challenge) of Harmeny AC even resorting to my tactic of the long, sustained sprint home. Unfortunately Kenny Gunrussell outgunned Russell with Russell finishing in 39:43, still a very pleasing time given how he had struggled at Rouken Glen. Well done to all the Harriers and thanks to Maud for her support even if we were all too "focussed" to hear her cheers!

The race was won by Ross Houston of Central AC in a new course record of 24:14, with the first vet being Steve Cairns of HBT in 4th place in 25:45.

Course profile - definitely not flat.
Alan

Mobile Blog Launched

For those of you with smart phones, iPhones, etc if you now browse to this blog from those devices a simplified version of the blog optimised for your mobile device will now appear. No excuse for not knowing what is going on now!
Alan

Chatelherault Times

Perfect conditions last night at Chatelherault. Please record your times using the usual form and see how everyone got on here.
Alan

Great 10k

Check out this 10k featuring Mo Farrah courtesy of Alan Hill via Scot Hill! The recommendation is to skip forward 15 minutes at which point it gets interesting.
Alan

Trossachs Training Camp 2011

Entry Form Available here.
I am pleased to announce that by popular demand, the TTC is a goer again for 2011. Taking place from the evening of Friday 16th September through to around lunchtime on Sunday 18th September. The residential event offers a focussed weekend of training, education, food and fun in the idyllic setting of the Trossachs Backpackers Hostel just outside Callander.

The programme of running sessions (4 running sessions over the 3 days) will be interspersed with some fun conditioning sessions and this year David Nuggent of Ace Physiotherapy has volunteered to come along and impart his wisdom and experience of injuries and injury prevention in two talks. All runs will be in equal ability packs and this year we will have 5 pack leaders specially selected from within the ranks of the Harriers coaches. As usual we will cater from all abilities from beginners, through jolly joggers to the competitive harrier types.

We shall retire to the Lade Inn for dinner on Friday and Saturday evening whilst Saturday and Sunday lunches will be provided in the usual comprehensive buffet format. Breakfast is a help yourself affair from the hostel kitchen. Accommodation is in nicely furnished dorms each with their own en-suite facilities. For those who have not been to the TTC before, the hostel is a privately owned business along the lines of a scaled up bed and breakfast establishment, so is far from basic. Places are restricted by the accommodation to a maximum of 28 people.

For this year we have raised the price for the first time in two years. The cost for the weekend will be £65 per person. This includes two nights accommodation, 2 x 2 course dinners at the Lade Inn (third course may be taken for an additional £4 payable on the night), 2 x buffet lunches, 2 x breakfasts, all coaching sessions and talks and a technical fabric event T-shirt.

The entry form and flyer are available at this link. Completed forms and payments should be returned to Genevieve at ATHelite in Hamilton, cheques made payable to Calderglen Harriers. Be quick, the places have filled up fast in the past two years.

Alan

Bishopbriggs & North Berwick Triathlons

Last year Ian McKenzie had been talked into doing his first triathlon at North Berwick by David Herbertson, veteran of…well, one. Hit 40 and you try these life changing events!  I chose North Berwick as a good starter triathlon, on the basis that it had the shortest swim of any novice event in Scotland at 250m. They also have a relay triathlon with a lot of families getting involved - children do the swim, some …..well most of them, faster than us!  Last year North Berwick triathlon was on the same day as Bishopbriggs but with the events split by a week in 2011 we decided to be brave…..mad and do both! Bishopbriggs came first and brought double bad news – a later start in the day and a longer swim at 400m.

Race day nerves were very evident when a somewhat nervous David turned up at Ian’s house 25 minutes early on the basis he would have been thrown out the house if he hadn’t left of his own accord. Funnily enough, Ian was already kitted up and ready to go as well….the journey to Bishopbriggs found two “veterans” gibbering nervously like idiots. David has been practicing hard at improving his swimming on a Wednesday night, training with Athelite in Hamilton College, but was still worried about maintaining the front crawl for sixteen lengths. Ian hadn’t been swimming as much and was now wishing he had!

Standing poolside David’s “nervous cough” appeared at regular intervals until his heat was called and he finally got in the water – when keeping your mouth shut is one lesson he has learnt! This was a first real attempt at swimming front crawl through an event (two years ago I couldn’t swim ten yards freestyle). The suggestion from a marshall that I could use the five minute warm up to do some extra lengths was greeted with a polite but incredulous “are you having a laugh?”. Suffice to say that the entire poolside crowd was in amazement as a thrashing Tasmanian Devil created a whirlpool that sucked in anything within five yards except on lengths where the swimmer in front had been caught – yes I did say caught! Even overtaken!!! Elegant, no. Effective, no. Done, yes!

As David departed out on the two laps of the bike course (10:39 mins later) it was Ian’s turn to hurl himself in the water in the next heat. A nice smooth swim from Ian all the way saw him leave the pool in a much faster time of 9:22 to chase David on the bike. By this time David had the bit between his teeth and had overtaken everyone he could see but the penny didn’t drop that he was now at the front of his heat until he got annoyed with a guy on a motorbike who turned out to be a marshall! David finished the 11k cycle in 22:20 and Ian 22:42.

As usual David’s bike to run transition was long enough for a cup of tea which lost a couple of places to the people previously overtaken on the bike. Ian’s transition was 35 seconds compared to David’s 1 minute 20 and that allowed him to catch right up, albeit we didn’t know how close our times were at this stage as we were in different heats. David recorded the second fastest time of the day over the 3km run at 12:23 with Ian completing the course in 14:36 racing down the finish in typical style but narrowly losing out to the lady who took 3^rd place in the ladies race…yes George, he was beaten by a woman too….

When we walked back in to the sports centre the organisers had some results showing on a computer which showed David in 3^rd place which gave us a good laugh at the very thought. One hour later the official results did go up with David in 5^th place overall (3^rd male and 1^stvet) and Ian in 7^th overall (4^th male and 2^nd vet). How delighted and shocked were we!!!  Martin Duthie also recorded a much more impressive 15^th in the main Sprint level triathlon event placed as 5^th vet. After the shock of actually having to go to a prize ceremony we went home still not quite believing the results!

Next we went back to North Berwick where the shorter swim is always good news for David. Having both just made it into the top half of the results last year we would have settled for something similar again this year. As usual the families came along to make a weekend of this weekend and we booked accommodation in Berwick as the 8am briefing in the sports centre would mean an unearthly departure time from EK if we didn’t stay through there. A visit to the pool the day before did nothing to settle the nerves which had returned…

David was first in the pool and managed to record a time of 5 mins 30 seconds which was half a minute ahead of his prediction. After the mad dash outside to change he was away on his cycle run of 11k. Ian hit the pool forty minutes later and just didn’t quite find his groove this time, recording 6 minutes for the swim. Ian did find some form again in the transition area where video evidence later proved he could have a leisurely towelling down and still left for the bike leg  in 5 seconds less than David’s transition time of 1:25.

Both of us had very similar cycle times and the second transitions were again very close although David’s run time of 17:11 for the 4km opened up a gap on Ian for the first time at this race.

After what he regarded as a disappointing start in the swim Ian came home in 23^rd place while David recorded his second good finish, this time with 3^rd place overall (1minute and 20 behind the winner…)

So we have one more event lined up in the triathlon calendar – Stirling Novice Triathlon while you are all at Rouken Glen. Watch this space for the next adventure….

Thanks to David for the comprehensive report.

Alan

Rouken Glen 10k Report

Only a few missing from the team photo (David Searil and Stuart Waugh)

Photos Added Monday
Today was the 19th running of the Rouken Glen 10k, an event that Calderglen Harriers have supported for most if not all of these 19 years. The conditions were cool and windy; as if the long hill did not make the course difficult enough! Thirteen Harriers lined up in a field of no more than a few hundred, somewhat less than in previous years. From the start I was able to break away with the lead 5 or 6 before the first two (Alan Adams and Luke Traynor) quickly disappeared out of sight. With the first 2km in and around the park over, I moved into third place for the long ascent to the 6km mark during which I had several different shadows on my shoulder. However, the old legs could not generate any pace downhill into the wind despite the 4km downhill section to the finish and I could not shake off the fourth place runner. With the final up-hill 150m sprint to the finish I was inevitably easily passed and had to settle for 4th place, first vet in a time of 35:29, a slightly disappointing 18 seconds slower than last year. Eddie Reid is still suffering from the mystery ankle pain he has had since before Ayr 10k but managed a more competitive performance today (40:28). In-form Stuart Waugh was not far behind (41:28) picking up the first super vet prize closely followed by Jim Holmes (41:45). Julie Beveridge improved by 3 minutes on her time at this same event last year, finishing in 43:56, truly demonstrating the benefits of training with a club. George Stewart is beginning to make progress with his form recording 44:36, although noting that he did record his 10k pb of 40:12 on this course some years ago, so still some work required! Colin Banks had the fastest sprint finish of anyone that I saw, streaking past two or three in the final 50m to finish in 45:40. David Wardrope thinks he is finally getting his two back-to-back marathons out of his legs and finished in a comfortable 46:45. Closest Harriers race of the day was between David Searil and John McBride with just two seconds separating them on the line (47:47 and 47:49 respectively). Colin Jarvie ran a steady 49:04 with Richard Lawton continuing his gradual come back from injury with 50:50. Russell has had a difficult week of night shifts and this was reflected in how he felt during the race, almost having to stop on several occasions. Russell finished in 55:15.

Thanks to all of our supporters on the course, a very vocal Neil Green, Frances, Sandra and Maud. Photos from Frances are here.

The grand prix and club championships have been updated. With two races to go, positions could still change.
Alan

Grand Prix Updated

The Grand Prix and Scratch Championships are now up to date on-line. Use the links in the menu to the left to access them. Stuart Waugh now holds a comfortable lead in the men's Grand Prix whilst Frances  Maxwell is in front for the ladies in both the Grand Prix and scratch. Eddie Reid remains at the top of the men's scratch championship.

Alan

Scottish Masters Track Championships

Two and a half harriers made the trip to Meadowbank Stadium for the national masters track championships. Bizarrely ex harrier Kevin Downie was listed as Calderglen & East Kilbride in the programme. Even more bizarre was my event, the 1500m. A track race should be relatively straight forward. A perfect running surface with no obstacles, but it turned out to be one of my weirdest races.

The first 100m were into a strong headwind, so I decided to take shelter in the pack. However approaching the first bend one runner suddenly adjusted his position and caught my foot. Down I went, faster than a striker in the penalty box. It's the first time I've fallen in a track race. I got myself up to see the pack disappearing round the bend about 20m in front. Gradually, by working harder than I wanted, the gap was closed. Midway through the second lap and I was back in the race. I was just settling back into the pack when the runner in front stumbled. Before I could say I'm a track runner get me out of here, I was cart wheeling down the track. I was down for the second time. When I stopped rolling I was facing in the wrong direction and all I could focus on were a couple of pairs of running spikes trying to hurdle over me.

My main rival in the race was Keith Farquhar from Metro Aberdeen, we've had some close battles in the past but, lying on the track I knew he was too far ahead to catch. My first reaction was frustration but then I just had a bit of a giggle to myself. I thought for a few seconds on whether I'd had enough and should just walk off the track. If it had been a horse race I'd have been pulled up, but Calderglen Harriers are a tough bunch and don't give up, so off I went again. I thought if I catch a few runners it would be a bonus. 300m to go and a time of 4.03 was called out. I then realised I still had a chance to get under the medal standard of 5.00. Pushing hard into the wind I came home in 4.57, which surprisingly was enough to gain a silver medal in the M45 age group. Keith won in 4.37.

With two falls in this race and a fall in the national cross country earlier in the year maybe it's a sign that I should take up fell running. Boom, boom.

Before the race I was worried that running in spikes would injure my suspect calf, but ironically it was just about the only part of my body intact at the end of the race. I'd skint knees, elbows, back, ankles and a spiked foot. If that can happen in a track race I don't hold much hope for Stirling triathlon this weekend, where I broke my collar bone a few years ago. 

Stuart Waugh also had a great performance in the 5000m, winning an M60 silver medal in a time of 19.26. The overall race winner was Kevin Downie with a time of 16.29.


Well done to all and thanks to Martin for the report.