Brampton to Carlisle 2011

No weather excuses this year for the bus load of Calderglen Harriers, their family and friends who travelled to a sunny Brampton for the 60th Brampton to Carlisle 10 Mile Road Race. For some this was their first Brampton but for others, such as club stalwarts Chas Steven (27th Brampton), Gerry Mullen (26th Brampton) and Andy Henderson (23rd Brampton), this was a familiar but still much anticipated race. Pre-race preparation started with the usual psychological warfare on the bus journey down the M74, not least through the ritual of declaring your anticipated finishing time in the sweep stake. Interestingly the finishing order based on the predicted times matched the actual finishing order down to 7th place and was actually quite accurate all the way through the field, particularly with the more experienced runners (so why can't most of the club put themselves in the correct pack on training nights?????). Notable exceptions and main protagonists in the mind games were Colin Banks (18 positions down), David Herbertson (7 places up) and George Stewart (6 places up), having already let go of his title GPL even before the race had started.

After an un-eventful tea stop at Gretna Green (except for an alleged case of home made scones being smuggled in to the tea room - you know who you are), the bus proceeded the15 miles to Brampton where the final stages of race preparation continued. Timing chips were collected (a Brampton first), face paint applied (another Brampton first with Joanne doing the honours and George the trend setter, soon followed by several other style icons), warm-ups completed and team photo captured. Meanwhile Billy Buchanan was experiencing a first of his own, finding out what effect caffeine laced energy gels would have on his endurance. Unfortunately the taste was not to his liking but they did seem to have the right effect!

The course had been re-measured for this year due to some slight road alterations, putting the start about 20m down the hill. As the coach containing the Calderglen travelling support passed the start line it seemed obvious that they would slide the timing mats off the verge and out across the width of the main road when they were ready to start. Apparently not! When the race started the field of 700 had to funnel through a 10 foot gap to cross the timing mat, taking up to a minute for some to get across the line (the outcome of this is that for the purpose of the Grand Prix the order across the finishing line is what counts as that is a head to head race.  However for the purpose of race time, pb's, performance standards, etc, the chip time is the one we will take such that those stuck at the back are not penalised for being delayed at the start).

The full results are on-line here with many fine performances achieved throughout the field. Most impressive performance was former Calderglen Harrier Stuart Gibson, finishing 2nd overall in a massive new pb of 50:42 (2 minute improvement). The race was won by UK based African Yared Hagos in the incredible time of 47:51, despite having a skint knee from a fall on the start line. First Harrier across the line was Davie Watt, recently turned 50 but not showing it with a time of 56:03 (M50 Gold standard), finishing just behind the leading M50. Martin Duthie was in a forgetful mood today, forgetting a towel for the shower and pants too apparently. He was able to borrow a towel from me after the race but nothing else. So the question is did Martin go commando for the race or for dinner in Moffat? Answers on a post card to Mandy please. Martin did not forget how to run though, posting a time of 59:38 (M45 Gold standard).

Ian Hughes was striving for another sub-60 but it was not to be this time, just missing out with a time of 60:09 (M40 Silver) but helping to wind the third vets team prize for Calderglen with Davy and Martin. Stuart Douglas, boyfriend of sister of Julie (I know, its getting difficult to follow) was next in with a time of 60:35, a minute better than he expected. Stephen Reilly was really going for a silver standard time today but things fell apart a little in the second half. He still recorded a pb of 62:25 (U23 Bronze), so progress is being made. Eddie Reid, fuelled with illicit scones, is returning to good form, setting a time of 63:50 (M45 Bronze). Ross "Son of Gerry" Mullen showed that running runs in the family, setting a great time of 64:13, a pb! Andy Henderson on his 23rd Brampton had set himself the ambitious target of running the time he ran 10 years ago (63:46). This was a big ask, so although he missed it he was delighted to achieve a Gold M55 standard time of 64:49. First lady from our bus was Louise Beveridge, Julie's sister, running for Dundee Hawkhill Harriers, setting a time of 65:41 and 12th lady. Stephen Phimister has made massive progress since recovering from his injury of last year and improved his PB by many minutes to finish in 66:42. There is definitely a lot more to come. Stuart Waugh ran very close to what he expected and seemed disappointed but he should not have been. Stuart's time of 67:02 made him first M60 in the race and achieved a comfortable Gold M60 standard.

And then David Herbertson, "The Man who Time Forgot" or more usually, the man who forgot to time, was guaranteed to record a time here as it was a chip timed race. But no, David's chip fell off near the start, so all we can say is that David finished somewhere between Stuart's 67:02 and the hard charging Jim Holmes (67:36) which means it could have been a PB (67:21) but we shall probably never know! Graham Ramage has only been to Brampton once before and that was 2009 when the course was shortened to 9.1 miles due to flooding. So this year was a very definite PB, recording 68:08, almost 3 minutes faster for 1 mile further than he achieved 2 years ago. Very well done. Brian McDougall headed Graham until the last half mile but should be happy to be returning steadily to form, recording 68:19. Scot Hill was aiming to move back towards the top of the Grand Prix and this meant staying ahead of George "GPL" Stewart. This he did with a time of 68:32. George ran a well paced race despite the running face paint and made up many places when others were fading in the second half. George's time of 69:42 was his second best time at Brampton (he has run the event more than twice by the way).

Frances Maxwell is hitting fine form now and set her second PB in a week (5k PB last Saturday) with a time of 70:30 (F45 Silver) and 5th F45. Gerry Mullen was heavily delayed crossing the start line which probably upset his composure in the first few miles but still his chip time of 70:44 was his fastest for four years. Billy "The Gel" Buchanan has not had many podium experiences in his running career and he didn't have one today either because he missed the prize giving. However Billy was an excellent third M60 in the race with a time of 71:05 (M60 Silver).  Karen Sturgeon, Brampton first timer, set a great opening time of 71:07 which surely will be bettered in years to come. Graham Lindsay has not managed to fit many long training runs in recently and was not confident beforehand but did much better than expected to finish in 71:19. Julie Beveridge had some stomach problems in the second half of the race which slowed her down somewhat. Even so, this debut time of 72:24 gives her something to easily improve on in the future. Kenny Leinster was looking comfortable and cruised through to the line in 72:24. David Wardrope improved by 3 minutes on his previous best to record a great time of 72:46. Sub 70 must be a target for David next year. Colin Banks had a rather sporadic run, getting across the start line very quickly (1 second after the gun), fading backwards through the field until inside the last half mile when, instructed to sprint, he caught a few more of the Harriers in front to finish in 72:54, a time that Colin can easily improve upon. David Gray and his wife joined us for the day out, David finishing in 72:56. John McBride always enjoys his Brampton day out and this year recorded 74:59, very similar to his previous times on this course. Benny Rooney is definitely coming back to regular running training (I know that for a fact because he told me so......again) and should see his time of 76:22 as one that he can easily take lumps out of. Hugh "Grandaddy" Simpson was experiencing his first Brampton in his usual enthusiastic style (aided by face paint). Hugh ran comfortably to the line in 78:12. Mary Goldsmith is easing her way back into running after her recent marathon and looked to me quite relaxed approaching the finish. Mary's time was 79:13 (F50 Bronze). Dawn "IronMan" Buchanan made a rare outing in a Harriers' vest, setting her 4th fastest Brampton time of 84:47. Russell Couper had a bad one today, not surprisingly given his calf injury and indeed, this gave him severe gip throughout. Russell's time was 86:50, very close to his prediction nonetheless. It was very disappointing to see that Chas Steven had to pull out early on in this his 27th successive Brampton race. Chas has a chronic hip pain which unfortunately is inhibiting his running severely at the moment. Hopefully Chas will get to the source of this and get it fixed soon.

After some post race refreshments in the conveniently located "The Turf" pub the Harriers set off for their annual occupation of the UK's narrowest hotel in Moffat for a fine dinner and more refreshments. The prize giving took place here where awards were presented for first Harrier (David Watt), sweep winner (Carol Rooney predicting Eddie Reid's time to within 2 seconds) and last seasons PB and Performance Award winners. The whole team were then transported back to EK by about 9pm for a continuation of the celebrations at the Sports Club.

Well done to all who raced and the travelling support of eleven who made it such an enjoyable day. Further pictures of almost everyone are in this album. The Grand Prix will be updated over the next few days.

Alan