NATIONAL 4K XC

This Saturday is the National 4K XC.
Start times are Ladies @ 12.15 and Men @ 12.35.
I will collect the numbers before declarations close and take them to the start area but please arrive in plenty of time to get your number from me.
Remember this is a straight race not a relay.
If you cant make the run on Saturday please let me know asap or by 11am Saturday.
Entries are F Maxwell, J McEvoy, J Beveridge and K Sturgeon.
R Couper, A Derrick, R Lawton, G Stewart, J Holmes, S Hill, D Herbertson, A McCaffery, D Wardrope, G Lindsay, C Banks, M Duthie, E Reid, A Henderson, S Reilly and H Simpson.
Could those that have still to pay please do so at the club this week (£4.50)

Russell

BRAMPTON TO CARLISLE RACE

ENTRIES ARE NOW AWAY BUT THERE IS STILL 3 SPACE ON THE BUS
This years race will take place on Saturday 19th November. We have booked a 53 seater bus and places will be filled on a first come first served basis with a payment of £16. We shall be leaving the Sports Club at 8.30 am and return at approx 8.30 pm after our usual stop at moffat for dinner. Entry forms can be found at
http//borderharriers.co.uk/app/webroot/uploads/File/B2C-2011-entry-form-A.pdf Please return forms with entry fee of £14/£16 to Russell by 31st Oct at the latest. If we fill the bus we will be able to discount the dinner. Non runners and guests are also welcome to come along.

Allan Scally report

We had 14 harriers running today but for the first time this season we didnt have a complete ladies team.
Frances led the ladies off with a time of 33.43 coming in about 3rd or 4th place and handing over to Joanne running 33.19. Both ladies played jokers today so have now pushed Julie into 3rd place but she still has jokers to play. With a space free in the ladies team Don Kennedy without any of his club running today joined our ladies and can now be referred to as Donna.
Onto the men and with 3 complete teams Davie Watt came home with a great run of 26.42 in about 6th place overall handing over to Jim Holmes who is still struggling a bit with form but still managed 31.44. Next up was Charlie McDougall keeping the team in the running for the vets prize with a time of 29.50 and handing over to Eddie Reid who was going to get the heavy rain towards the end of his run but looking well over his recent injury in 30.36 and bringing our A team into 2nd place in the vets race.
Our B team was led out by David Herbertson (31.25) followed by Andy Henderson (31.19) both running very close in times again. 3rd leg was our current GP leader George Stewart who was a little off the pace of others that he's competed with recently (33.01) and again getting the heavy rain on leg 4 was Brian McDougall straight from work running 31.35 and finishing 3rd vets team.
Our C team was led off by David Wardrope putting in another consistent performance 34.47  5 secs faster than last year and the same time as 2 years ago. then came the battle of the day, Richard Lawton on leg 2 and Hugh Simpson on leg 3, both have been nip and tuck for a while now and we had some trash talk going on at registration. the times were 37.30 and 37.12 respectively so Hugh comes out on top today. On the 4th leg was Russell Couper who warned both Hugh and Richard that he was trying to upset both of them but it wasn't to be 39.07 but closing on them, watch out guys I'm coming to get you.
GP and Scratch will be updated at Alan's convenience when he returns from Sweden
Next race is the National 4k XC next week and entries are now closed. A few photos from Joanne here. Photos from Frances also included (31.10.11).
Watch the Blog for arrangements for this race

Allan Scally Road Relay Teams

The teams for Saturday's Scally Grand Prix relay are listed here. Unfortunately I am not going to be back until midnight Saturday so can't do it. The changing and declarations are at Bannerman High School, Bailieston and the start is a half a mile or so away. Please let Russell know if for some reason you cannot now make it (its a 2pm start). As this is an enter on the day event, then I am also sure we can accommodate some late entries if you let us know before 11am say on Saturday by leaving a comment on this blog or phoning/txting Russell.
Alan

Change of Date for Calderglen Harriers AGM

New date for the AGM is Monday 21 November 2011 at 8.00pm

Training will be held earlier to allow members to attend the meeting.

The committee look forward to a good attendance at meeting.

The reason for the change is that the Sports Club are holding their AGM on the 24th November
and they had forgotten to book the hall for that night.

Calderglen Harriers Annual Christmas Night Out

Yes it's that time of the year again.
Everyone is invited to join in and have a good time with the Harriers.

When : Saturday 10th December
Where : Di Maggios, East Kilbride
Event : Party Night Tribute Entertainment - with (not Eddie) but the Stewart Reid Boogie Band
Cost : only £ 22.95
Includes : 3 course meal

A deposit of £10 is required per head to enable Frances to make a booking for the club.
A minimum of 12 required for a booking. Additional numbers can be added on.

PLEASE NOTIFY Frances as soon as posible if you with to attend in order that we can secure a booking. ( It would be ideal if we could have the required numbers within a week or two at the latest, including deposit).

The menue for the 3 course meal will be posted on the Harriers notice board.

Allan Scally Road Relays

Next Saturday 29th Oct takes us to Bailliston for the last relay this year.
The race starts at 2pm near Bannerman HS and is approx 4.8mls per leg.
Dont know the cost yet but will be £3 or £4 approx each.
RACE START TIME IS 2PM
i will need those on early legs there by 1.10 at the latest as we have to  let the 1st leg runners warm up. those on later legs if you let me know by text an approx arrival time on Sat morning.
If you want entered please leave your name on this form or see me at training by Thursday night 27th Oct. See who we have so far here.

Russell

NATIONAL 4K XC (Bellahouston Park)

This years National 4K Xc has a change to its format to bring it into line with other championship races.
Entries are no longer individual but a block entry from the club.
It has also been brought forward from January and the Ladies now run first.
The race is Sat 5th Nov start times are 12.15 for ladies and 12.35 for Men.
I need names by Monday 24th Oct at training at the latest.
Entry fee is £4.50 per head and should be paid to me before race day.
Please leave your name on this FORM if you want entered. Here are the names we have so far.

Club Entries for the London Marathon 2012

The club has now received 2 entries for the 2012 London Marathon.

Please let myself or Frances know

1) If you applied for an entry to the 2012 London Marathon and had your entry rejected.

2) Let us know if you wish to be considered for a club entry.

3) Let us know before the Brampton Race on the 19th November

Depending on the number of runners who would like a club entry, a ballot will be held during our trip to Brampton.

The rules are the same as for last year's draw.
If a runner received a club entry for this years London Marathon and there are 2 or more other runners who wish to be considered for the club entry, then they will be excluded from this years draw.

Palma Half Marathon 2011

Its billed as the Most Beautiful Island Marathon in the World. Having only ever run the Glasgow (half) marathon I didn't have really anything to compare it to although for a Glasgow boy running over the Kingston Bridge or the final stretch in the Green probably means more than the admittedly stunning images of the La Seu Cathedral in Palma !  

 

As it was the start of the October school week we made it a family holiday basing ourselves in Palmanova - a short bus or taxi ride from Palma. We went through on the Saturday afternoon where you collect your number and a special kit bag for clothing. There was a marathon market and a really good atmosphere. At 5pm they had a series of fun run for kids and across all of the age groups had over 2000 kids taking part. Emma and Mark ran 1200m and 600m in their respective runs and both really enjoyed the atmosphere. Majorca was experiencing unseasonably high temperatures and the Saturday afternoon was no different.

 

It was a 9am start on the Sunday so it was just getting light when we left the hotel. It was much colder and I had 4 layers on just to keep warm. It was at that point I decided that there would be no need for sun cream or a hat during the run, thinking gloves might be the order of the day. Schoolboy error ! By the time we were in Palma and a short walk to the changing area at the Parc de Mar the sun had come up and it was pleasant enough just to wear the Calderglen vest.

 

The event is sponsored by TUI and as expected it was well organised. Plenty of marshals, changing areas and a proper 'big event' type set up. There was the normal complaint about lack of toilets and while the men made the usual use of natural surroundings I felt slightly uncomfortable to see such a long line of men using the Cathedral walls ..... oh well, if you cant beat them join them.  

 

There is a full marathon, half, 10k and Nordic walking events, all starting together and following the same route with turn offs at the various stages. The organisers claim 9000+ runners representing 59 nationalities over all events, a 15% increase on last year. Obviously a large Spanish contingent but also well attended by the Germans. They have a competition to see which City gets the most runners (Reutlingen with 89) but followed closely by Dortmund and Berlin. A couple of Scottish and a decent crowd from England.  It was getting busy near the start and I took an early position in the pen. The atmosphere built at each time warning. At 90 seconds they played Chariots of Fire, followed by a chant from the Germans and strange clapping thing and I honestly thought I was about to 'let go' !!!   Off we went and although very busy it was no worse than Glasgow. By the 1K mark everyone was into their stride. The first 9k is out and back along the sea front, passing the Cathedral and the hundreds of boats in the Marinas. Nice and flat but completely open and the sun was a blazing 23 deg with not a cloud in site. No sun cream - no hat.. remember. At 4K I had to take on water. After 9k we turned off the front and into the old town. The narrow streets offer some welcome shade but the downside was that there was more of an incline. Lots of twists and turns at least let me see the lead pack a few times but there were some long inclines. I went through 10k in 42:17 and still felt good. At 12k there was one of the dreaded inclines which cost me 10-15 seconds on that kilometre alone. You really need to make up the time on the flat or downhill and although I came back that time there was less improvement after each remaining incline. At 18k I had another bad time then the marathon people break off at 19k to head along the sea front in the opposite direction. Its one of those cruel races that take you back towards the finish line but out for another 1k loop but by this time we were back in the sunlight and I was struggling. Came home in 1:31:39 (13 secs slower than Glasgow), placed 193 and 35 in the M40 category. I was a bit disappointed in my second half performance but whether it was the heat or just the inclines that were too much I don't know.

 

There was a course record for the half in 1:08:41 (Spaniard) and another course record for the 10k in 31:51. An English guy won the full marathon in 2:34:17. Lots of other prizes for other categories including the lowest time for a 4-counting team.    

 

I don't have a lot of experience of these types of big races but I am a fan of Glasgow and this was definitely on a par. If you are just going for the run and to enjoy the experience then I wouldn't hesitate in recommending it.  Its not a slow course but not totally flat either. As I said the weather was at the top end of what they normally get. Last year it rained during the run and the afternoon of the day I ran it was cloudy. For a 10k or half its a good course. The Half seems to be the event of choice and TUI have said they will make it a bigger cultural event next year. Spoke to one guy who ran the marathon and although the first 10k and last 20k are flat they are also out in the open and so exposed to the sun if it shines. That said I had already convinced myself to go back and do it next year but then found out they have moved it back a week so its now at the end of the school week (21st Oct). If I could ditch the family it would make a great weekend trip .....

(All the photos from Phimi are here - not for those easily offended!!)

 

Hasta Luego

Phimi

National XC Relay 2011 - No Cups, Just Cakes

(More photos from Frances added to album, link at end of report 30/10/11)
A fantastic turn out from the Harriers today at Cumbernauld, fielding 1 and 1/3 women's teams and 3 and 3/4 men's teams. The course was in surprisingly good condition considering the recent rain but the sting in the tail today was the wind which was biting cold and gusting strongly, meaning that overall the conditions were a bit tougher than last year.

The ladies were off first and Julie handled her established role on the first leg well, running a time of 18:00 in 34th position in a very competitive field of 88. The experience of Frances Maxwell was called upon on leg 2, pulling us up one place in a time of 19:05, handing on to Joanne McEvoy for the last leg. Joanne has plenty of speed just now but is lacking a little strength and so found the hills a bit tough, finishing in 19:08 in 35th position. As Karen Sturgeon is relatively new to cross country racing, the first leg in the ladies second team seemed a good chance to give her a more conventional race experience with plenty of runners around her. Karen also found the going very tough but has now set a benchmark of 19:28 and is definitely in the mix for first team selection.

As this event was also the National Masters Relay Championships, we fielded 2 mens vets teams, a mixed senior/vet team and an incomplete vets team. Andrew McCaffery was on the first leg for the men's vets A team and once again, in his second race for the club, was the man with the local knowledge, having grown up in Cumbernauld and trained in this park. Andrew ran a very competitive 15:57 in 65th position out of a field of around 130 men's teams. Returning from injury, Eddie Reid was glad to be racing again and really enjoyed leg 2 finishing in 16:46 in 69th position and only 12 seconds down on last year. Martin Duthie was instructed to chase and this he did, bringing us up to 62nd in 15:44, again only slightly slower than last year. At this point we reckoned we were maybe 8th or 9th vets team and so it was going to be a tall order to get in the medals. However Alan Derrick gave chase on the last leg and had a fun run (until the last 1km when it was really painful) passing loads of people to bring us up to 41st position in a time of 14:34, a full 2 seconds quicker than last year but only 7th veteran team this time compared to last year's 4th.

The vets B team was lead off by David Herbertson (just flew in from LA, so he had no problems getting to the race on time this week) in a time of 17:51, which was just enough to pip George Stewart on leg 2 (17:55) and Andy Henderson on leg 4 (17:52). Jim Holmes was not a well man and probably should not have run. This was reflected in his time of 18:04 on leg 3 but completing a very well matched team who are driving each other on to better performances each week.

Continuing the recent Harriers' tradition of forgetting something important just before the start, Stephen Reilly on leg 1 for the C team left his trail shoes in the car and did not have time to go an get them. This meant running the course in trainers, so his time of 16:08 was particularly impressive. David Wardrope ran strongly on leg 2 to finish in 19:24, only 11 seconds down on last year. It is great to see Graham Lindsay making most of the races this season. Graham was on leg 3 completing in 18:45. Colin Banks made his first Grand Prix appearance of this year on leg 4 finishing in 20:10.

This was Hugh Simpson's fist time on this course and only his second cross country. A back twinge early on in leg 1 impeded him a bit but he completed in 20:42. The official times are the one's that count and so both Richard Lawton and Russell Couper on leg's 2 and 3 are shown as beating Hugh! However, we must admit that the official times are 1 minute out and so Richard and Russell's times are in fact 20:14 and 21:15 respectively (so Richard does in fact beat Hugh for the first time).

Shock, horror, George Stewart now leads the men's Grand Prix. Just shows what some consistent training and motivation can do.

Well done to all on great performances in difficult conditions. Thanks to Joanne for the following photos and more especially the Calderglen Harriers decorated cup cakes, the only cups we picked up today! More photos here. Photos from Kenny Phillips have now been added to the album.
Alan

National Cross Country Relay Teams

The teams for tomorrow are listed here. Please see Russell's earlier post for details and specifically could the ladies be at Cumbernauld High School for 12:30 (race starts at 1:40) and the men by 1:30 (race starts at 2:40) at the latest. If you arrive outside of these times then Russell will be out on the course with the numbers (usually by one of the large trees on top of the hill near the start/finish area).

There are course maps and, most importantly, road diversion maps on the Scottish Athletics web site here. Note that the course is about 1 mile from the school and there is no car parking at the course, so allow time for a gentle warm-up jog to the course from the school and also a further warm-up on the course.

The Grand Prix and Club Championships are updated at the usual links on the menu to the left.
Alan

Calderglen Harriers AGM 2011

This years AGM will be held on Thursday 24th November 2011 at 8.00pm.
in the main hall in the sports club.

All members welcome to attend.

Details of the AGENDA to follow.

National XC Relays (Cumbernauld)

Alan will post teams in advance on the Blog as usual but if you cant make it let us know asap.
the teams will be selected from the following and there is reserve places available so if any reserves want entered let us know by thursday night by leaving a comment on this blog.
Those entered are.
Ladies.
J Beveridge, J McEvoy, F Maxwell and K Sturgeon.
2 reserve place available and reserve list is G Freeman and M Goldsmith
Men.
R Couper, A Derrick, D Herbertson, J Holmes, E Reid, G Lindsay, S Reilly, H Simpson, G Stewart, C Banks, A Henderson, D Wardrope, M Duthie, A McCaffery and R Lawton.
5 reserve places available and list is C Freeman, N Green, I Hughes, C Jarvie, K Leinster, J McBride, B McDougall, C McDougall, I McKenzie, J McMonagle, S Phimister, G Ramage, D Searil, C Bain. C Steven, G Mullen and S Waugh.
On Saturday if the Ladies could be at the School by 12.30 and men by 1.30 after this time i will be at the course with the numbers and you will have to find me.
Again if you wont be at the school by this time send me a text to let me know your on your way so i can declare the teams.

Russell

Ladies take Silver (Official Times)

Another fine turnout from the harriers in the Lanarkshire Road relays saw our Ladies team take the Silver medals behind a very impressive Cambuslang team but well ahead of the rest of the field.
First leg was run by julie beveridge in 15.29 then Frances on the second leg with 16.16 and the glory leg went to Joanne McEvoy with 15.35. Karen Sturgeon ran a solo leg for the B team in 16.14 edging out Frances's time by 2 secs and fighting for a place in the A team.
The mens race saw a few ties and close times so Alan wont be able to update the GP and scratch championship till we get the official results. The A team ran M Saez 14.34, S Reilly 14.14, J Holmes 14.52 and M Duthie 13.26 place unknown at this time. The B team was S Hill 14.24, G Mullen 15.20, G Stewart 15.22 and A Henderson also 15.22 but when comparing watches Andy wins by 2 hundredths of a second. The C team ran G Lindsay 16.08, D Wardrope also 16.08, H Simpson 17.27 and R Lawton 17.39. Russell ran a solo leg for the D team despite a strained hamstring in 19.08 an improvement of 26 secs on last year so still making progress on the long road back. Their was a few harriers improved on last years times but too many to mention them all. George was also delighted to beat Julie but as we know Julie has the 20 second handicap to be added by the officials.

OFFICIAL RESULTS in. Those affected are:-
G Stewart 15.21, A Henderson 15.23, G Lindsay 16.10 and D Wardrope 16.08

Some more pictures from Frances and Joanne here.

Harriers lift SVHC prizes

The SVHC Run and Become Series Prize winners were presented with their trophies today and the Harriers were well represented. Congratulations to Stuart Waugh who was 2nd overall out of 107 names on the final table. Stuart also won the age category award for 1st M60.

Scot Hill won the M40 age category prize narrowly beating Jim Holmes by 0.7 of a point in the complicated scoring system.

And in another all Harriers tussle Graham Lyndsay came out top in the M45 category, pushing Russell Couper into second place.


Earlier in the day the 2011/12 Series got underway with the first race being the SVHC 10k Track Championships in Coatbridge.
With a brisk wind to be contended with on every one of the twenty-five laps it was a tough run for the Harriers involved.
Stuart Waugh, in his first race since being injured in August finished in 41:42.
Jim Holmes clocked 42:14 with Graham Lindsay completing his first track run in 44:15 and Russell Couper finishing in 54:25.

Lanarkshire Road Relay Teams

The teams for tomorrow's relay are at this link. Please be there for 12:30 at the latest such that Russell can declare the teams, distribute the numbers and do his own warm-up. If you do have to pull out, then please phone or txt Russell before 12:00. Note that I am not in the country, so don't contact me.
Alan

Speed of Light Take 2

Another chance to participate in a rehearsal for Speed of Light, this time at a weekend rather than evening. Please leave a comment on this post if you are interested.
Alan
(NOTE - that I won't be participating in this rehearsal due to the clash with the Scally road relay, so if you are going to SoL, please group together with others to work out travel arrangements)

Dear Runners,

The planning for Speed of Light is well underway and following on from our successful trial runs in August we have started planning our next rehearsal. We are looking for 150 volunteer runners to help us continue to trial routes, movements and other choreography on Arthur’s Seat before the big event next year.

Are you and any of your running enthusiast friends available and willing to take part on Saturday 29^th October 1.30pm – 5.30pm? Those aged 16 or 17 can also take part if they attend with an adult. If so, please reply by Monday 17^thOctober to speedoflight@nva.org.uk

We are also looking for 20 people to stay on after the main rehearsal to try out the new and improved prototype light suits on the hill, so if you are interested in this too, please let us know. This will take place from 6pm – 8pm.

This is your chance to be part of Speed of Light before we launch the runner opportunities nationwide at the end of the month and will mean that you get to register as a runner before anyone else and secure your place in what promises to be the best run of your life!

Please don’t bring any bags, extra clothes, etc. that you will need to leave behind when on the hill as we don’t have the capacity to look after these for you. Don’t forget to dress for the weather! There are facilities nearby to lock up bikes, but please be aware that you will be leaving your bike at your own risk.

We will be meeting on the parade ground on Queen’s Drive at the base of Arthur’s Seat (map attached).

Please feel free to pass this email onto any of your friends or colleagues who you think might be interested in this opportunity (be quick – first come, first served!)

Lanarkshire Road Relays (Drumpellier Park Coatbridge)

Sat 15th Oct is the Lanarkshire Road Relays.
Ladies and Men run together with a start time of 13.15.
Cost is £5/team. Full details here.
I need names by Thursday training or leave your name using this form before then. Here are the names we have so far.

West District Conspiracy Theory

As we all know, the official results are the ones that count. I therefore note that in the official West District XC Relay Senior Women's results, Julie ran 16:41, some 20 seconds faster than she claimed and hence faster than George in the senior men's results (16:47)! Unfortunately, Julie's 20 second gain turned into a 20 second loss for Frances and as this is clearly an error we will stick with the original times. But nice to see that Scottish Athletics are also working on George's motivation.

The missing times from race day are David Herbertson 16:37 and Hugh Simpson 18:55. The men's Grand Prix will be updated soon.

More photos added to the album, this time from Kenny Phillips.
Alan

West District XC Relay Medallists

Driech conditions seem to be suiting the Harriers' veteran men as for the second week in a row we ran in the rain into the medals. With an almost complete change in personnel from last week's team, Scot Hill, Alan Derrick, Jim Holmes and Andy Henderson, club stalwarts one and all, secured the masters bronze medal in the West District Cross Country Relay Championships at Drumpellier Park, Coatbridge. Once again we had to wait until the prize giving to find out if we had won anything as identifying vets teams in the field was difficult. Indeed most of the team were oblivious to the fact that we were even in with a shout and this probably helped the performances as Jim Holmes for one later stated if he had known he may well have bottled it! Scot Hill ran the first leg in 15:54 handing over to Alan Derrick, chasing a Scotland veteran international team qualifying performance with 14:04 in this the first of two trials for the team, a presumably totally relaxed Jim Holmes on leg 3 (16:02) and Andy Henderson on the last leg drawing on his vast experience of this course since his school days(!) bringing the team home in 16:27. I believe this is the first (masters) team medal the Harriers have won at a West District championships (and possibly the second ever team medal, see Chas' and my comments to this post) .

Scot Hill, Andy Henderson, Jim Holmes, Alan Derrick
and race convener Jim Young

Our ladies reverted to the McEvoy/Beveridge/Maxwell line up and again proved to be a very consistent and well matched team. Joanne shed her pink wellies for leg 1 (17:40) before handing on to Julie who had the added pressure of trying not to tie with George for the third week in a row. Clearly there were two ways Julie could handle this, either go for an absolute flier so far out of sight that George would not stand a chance or take a stroll in the park and capitulate. Julie's time was 17:01.......... Frances ran powerfully and pulled in several places with a time of 17:55, her fastest ever 4k cross country time on any course. Well done to the ladies on another fine team performance.

Our second team was led off by our youngest senior member, Stephen Reilly who ran strongly in his first race for a while (15:25) to remain at the top of the Hill/Reilly household. On leg 2 David Herbertson had journey of the day for the second week in a row, following last Saturday's flight in from Singapore to arrive just before the race, this time he had a car break down on the way to Coatbridge from East Kilbride, requiring a phone call to Mrs H and the kids to come and pick him up and bring him to the race just after the start! After all that, David ran without a watch and so no time yet. The logical solution is that David should fly in from Singapore next week too if he wants to get to the race on time. George Stewart was on leg three and feeling the pressure, so much so that only when he took his jacket off to run his leg did he realise he had left his number in the car with no chance of getting it before David came in! Some very understanding stewards allowed George to run without a number and this he did to complete in a great time of  16:48, so Julie's plan seems to have worked. Graham Lindsay had a rare chance to run a cross country and again performed well to finish leg 4 in 17:15.

Ian Rae led off the third team and proved the team selectors wrong running a very competitive 16:30, handing over to David Wardrope (18:02). Watchless Hugh Simpson did his first ever cross country race (what a muddy introduction) on leg 3 before handing over to Russell Couper, who despite carrying a knee injury, finished very strongly indeed in a time of 20:07. Late addition Richard Lawton ran leg 1 in the incomplete fourth team in a time of 18:57.

Well done to all, it was great to see everyone running very strongly on the finishing hill, proving that our recent strength training has not been wasted. Ladies GP and Scratch championships have been updated. The mens' results await the official times. Thanks to Joanne for providing some photos of the proceedings which are here including a couple more from Frances. Thanks to Eddie and Sandra for supporting us all in rain.
Alan

Point of Contact and Point of Order

Can i ask that if your racing in GP events this year that you make sure you have either mine or Alans mobile number so that if you cant make the event by the time ive asked you to be there i can still do my own preperations rather than waiting in a school or hall wondering when and if everyone will turn up. This way if people are running late (things do happen) if ive asked you to turn up by a certain time i know your on your way (or not) and i can declare the teams and go and do my own thing.
Please see me at the Club for my number
 Thanks.
 Russell

West District Cross-Country Relay Teams

The teams for tomorrow's West District XC Relays are listed here. If you have to withdraw, then please let either Russell or I know as soon as possible, preferably before 1200 on Saturday so that the teams can be re-arranged. Once the teams are declared to the organisers we cannot change them.

Changing is at St Ambrose School as shown in the map below.

View Larger Map

Houston and McAndrew Photos

Some more photos of Harriers at Houston and McAndrew courtesy of Frances.
Alan

West District XC Relay

The west district xc relays are this Saturday 8th Oct and will take place in Drumpellier Park Coatbridge.
We have 4 Male teams entered and 1 Ladies team.
There is a space for 2 more males so if ive entered you on the reserve list and want a run see me before thursday
Those entered
J Beveridge, F Maxwell and J McEvoy.
R Couper, A Derrick, D Herbertson, J Holmes, I Rae, E Reid, G Lindsay, S Hill, S Reilly, H Simpson,
G Stewart, A Henderson, D Wardrope and D Watt.
 Could those that have still to pay for this race please do so.

Reserves are C Bain, M Duthie, N Green, I Hughes, C Jarvie, R Lawton, K Leinster, G Mullen, G Ramage, C Steven, S Waugh.

Alan will pick the running order after training on Thursday and i need Ladies to turn up for the race at 11.50 and the men at 12.40 anybody that cant make it let myself or Alan know.

Loch Ness 10k

Harriers Nails - photo courtesy of
Scott Sport Photography

Whilst Mary was doing the marathon, Joanne McEvoy was representing the Harriers in the 10k event where her time was 41:52. Joanne was not too happy with this time but did nonetheless sport a set of Calderglen Harriers striped finger nails, so not hard as nails but Harriers Nails.
Alan

NATIONAL XC RELAYS

The National XC Relays will again be at Cumbernauld on the 22nd Oct
Entry fee is £4.00 per head
Ladies race starts at 1:40pm
Gents race starts at 2:40pm
Again please make sure your SAL memberships are up to date
If you wish entered for this race i need names by Monday 3rd Oct
Please leave your name on this form or see Russell at the club. See who has entered so far here (can take 5 or 10 minutes to update so be patient).

SVHC Half Marathon

On a weekend where record temperatures were broken in the south of Britain, many in Scotland were bemoaning the fact that we were being served up with cloud and rain. This did not, however, include the four harriers heading for Clydebank for the Scottish Veteran Harriers half marathon. The drizzle and light wind was more than welcome.

As a handicap race, we were set off individually based on our predicted times which amounted to a 13.1 mile time trial, out and back along a muddy canal path towards Maryhill.
Jim Holmes took advantage of his 4 minute starty over Scot Hill and was first harrier back in 1:31:47. However, Scot posted the fasted harriers time of 1:28:47. Russell Couper was next to cross the line in 2:00:49 and Graham Lindsay finished in 1:39:32.

This was the final race in the SVHC series of races which started last October. Many harriers have taken part this year and some are well placed to lift prizes.
Watch this space.
We can now take a well earned rest from the series before the next one begins… in two weeks time!

Loch Ness Marathon

Very well done to Mary Goldsmith on breaking the 4 hour barrier for the first time at today's Loch Ness Marathon, completing the course in 3:57:24. Mary said she can die happy now but we must remind her that she has a whole load of performance awards to collect first including this bronze standard for the marathon. Mary is the only Harrier to achieve a full set of performance awards this year at 5k, 10k, 10 mile, half marathon and marathon.
Alan

Brancumhall Training

Cross country training at Brancumhall resumes this Monday 3rd October and fortnightly thereafter. This is a great session to build the strength and running style required for cross-country and also a chance to get your spikes or other off-road shoes out before the West District Relays on Saturday. Please bring your normal road shoes and off-road shoes or spikes to the club. We will run out to Brancumhall and your off-road shoes will be transported there for you.
Alan

McAndrew Two in a Row

On a very wet afternoon in Jordanhill, the Harriers once again were amongst the trophies when the men's vets A team retained the veteran title in this the 72nd annual running of the famous road running event. (Loads of photos in Chris Upson's album and just about every Harrier in Kenny Phillips' album)

Although the conditions appeared to be favourable, many of the harriers' times were down on last year, no doubt due to the slippery leaves and large puddles to be avoided. Given the catalogue of illnesses and injuries which Davy Watt has experienced this year, he did well on the first leg to record a time of 17:51, the fastest M50 of the day and second fastest veteran time overall. Thrown in at the deep end, Andy McCaffery (or maybe we should refer to Andy as Mary's brother given the blog tradition set by George when referring to Julie's sister in an earlier series of posts) arrived with good running credentials and fully deserved his place on leg 2 of the A team. After a very enthusiastic start, Andy eased back and put his local knowledge to good use to record a time of 18:56. Martin Duthie had no traffic problems this year and arrived in plenty of time for leg 3, thereafter recording a time of 18:33. Having spotted a Cambuslang vet take off about a minute before Martin finished, it seemed that we were destined not to win this year. However, a strong 4th leg by Alan Derrick of 17:54 (third fastest vet) seemed to cement second place. It was not until we were announced as winners at the prize giving that we realised that the Cambuslang team was not a vets team, adding Calderglen to only a select few clubs who have retained this trophy.

Karen Sturgeon made her first relay appearance in a Calderglen vest leading the ladies off in a time of 22:58 and enjoyed the close competition on the first leg. Frances Maxwell was only slightly down on last year's time finishing leg 2 in 22:39 (8th fastest vet) and having taken the opportunity to play a joker, jumps into the lead of the Grand Prix. Julie Beveridge took the third leg this week, finding the race a little too short for her liking but still setting our fastest time of 21:18 (10th fastest senior lady) to extend her lead in the club championship.

Scot Hill had been suffering from a cold and like several other Harriers, is doing the vets half marathon on Sunday. Despite this he set a good time of 20:44 to extend his lead of both the Grand Prix and Club Championships.Brian McDougall is making a good return to form (21:07) with Andy Henderson one of several Harriers who had just flown in for this race (from Philidelphia) finishing in 21:00. David Herbertson won the furthest travelled prize, stepping off a plane from Singapore at 12:30 and coming straight to the race to record a great time of 21:18. George Stewart did not travel as far but did demonstrate his ever improving form to record an identical time of 21:18, 1:30 faster than last year. Spookily, George Stewart recorded an identical time to Julie Beveridge for the second week in a row! If its three in a row next week, Julie gets to keep George. Gerry Mullen was also a big improver taking 1:17 off last year to finish in 21:12, completing a very tight grouping of Brian, Andy, David and George. David Wardrope was another improver setting a time of 22:56 (13 seconds faster). Hugh Simpson warmed up with a 23:07 at Strathclyde parkrun this morning and so did well to set a reasonable 24:30 in the relay this afternoon. Russell Couper improved by 22 seconds despite finding the conditions tough, finishing in 25:33 his fastest time since 2005.

Well done to all. The updated Grand Prix results are available using the menus on the left.
Alan