Central Park NYC

As my wife was inconsiderate enough to have her birthday on the weekend BETWEEN the New York Half Marathon and the Scotland 10k then unfortunately I can't bring you a race report from the Big Apple. However I did do a bit of running so a report of sorts ---

 

Within half an hour of arriving I had bought a new pair of Brooks Pure Cadence and staying across from Central Park meant I just had to try them out. So at 7am I joined the hundreds of other New Yorkers who exercise in Central Park. The Park is a great place with tarmac, gravel paths and even off road sections that would make you think you were in the Glen. People use all sorts of ways to get round, as well as the runners and cyclists there were roller bladers, scooters, ski blades (?) and a group of Mommies with strollers that kept up a pretty good pace.

 

I started at the 7th Avenue entrance to the park and had read that the convention was to go anti-clockwise. However people walked on the running lane, ran on the cycle lane and cycled on the road so perhaps like the rest of New York there is no convention. There is no traffic allowed in the morning so it was a great run. I had always imagined it was flat but in actual fact it is anything but. There is a hill just after the half way mark which is steeper and longer than Avondale. Some guy even tried to go with me on the hill but as all he saw was the back of my t-shirt I'm sure he was left wondering who this Calderglen Harriers club was that trained elite hill runners! !

Anyway back to the 'race' report. I was running well but fading as I headed for home, when a cyclist came by and shouted (on my life) "Hey man nice pace .... looking good" well what more encouragement does a man need so the last kilometre was covered at effort pace!

 

As usual I don't travel anywhere without the Garmin so the scores on the doors were 9.85km in 43:09. Of course once I had a time I had to try and beat it so the same again the next morning for a 42:03.

 

Would love to have included a picture of me running but the wife wouldn't get out her bed so the best I can do is one from the room window - I'm out there somewhere!

Phimi

 

Well done to Stephen on continuing the tradition of a true Harrier and running wherever we go!

Alan

Livingston Teams

Despite a few injuries and illnesses, we still have good teams out for tomorrow and especially encouraging to see a strong ladies team. The teams and running order are here. Teams will be declared by around 11am and cannot be changed afterwards, so any problems or call-offs, then please let Russell or me know well before 11am.

NOTE THAT THE PARKING IS IN A DIFFERENT PLACE THAN USUAL DUE TO A FUN FAIR IN THE FOOTBALL STADIUM CAR PARK. THERE IS NO PARKING AT THE SCHOOL. INSTEAD CARRY ON PAST THE FOOTBALL STADIUM TO THE NEXT ROUND ABOUT AND TURN LEFT INTO THE WEST LOTHIAN COLLEGE CAR PARK (EH54 7EP). IT IS A 15 MINUTE WALK FROM HERE BACK TO THE SCHOOL, A GOOD WARM UP JOG!

Map of parking is available to download here.

See you all there.
Alan

D33

Saturday 17th March 2012

For the third consecutive year the runners taking part in the D33 ultra marathon left Duthie Park in Aberdeen under cloudless skies, the organisers once again managing to provide perfect running weather with just a slight breeze to keep the two hundred-odd (two hundred odd?) runners from overheating on the westerly
section to Banchory.

Being an ultra virgin I started ultra-cautiously (I know, sorry, I’ll stop this punning right now).
I had picked this race as my debut ultra for three reasons, one it was run along a footpath built on the old Deeside railway, i.e. flat or gentle hills, two it was the shortest ultra race I could find (honest, 33 miles is short!) and, three and best of all, I got to visit my eldest brother and his extended family in Aberdeen.
As a result of my conservative start I reached the turn narrowly ahead of my target time but most importantly still feeling comfortable however the depressing part of an out and back course for those nearer the back of the field is seeing just how many runners are ahead of you and, even worse, by how far. Having exchanged
shouts and high fives with my experienced ultra running clubmates Ian Rae and Benny Rooney I optimistically picked up the pace a little and started to overtake a number of runners during the first part of the return leg. Sadly I ran out of steam over the last few miles and had to walk a couple of long sections although this didn’t come as a great surprise since my longest training runs had only been 21
miles due to illness in January. On a more positive note for the future I overtook many more runners than overtook me.

The downhill finish looked inviting but was not enjoyed as I found out the hard way that running for hours at a time does funny things to your quads, see picture left, (those two women with the pram were catching me!) so much so I almost fell over while standing chatting on a sloping path shortly afterwards.

On the bright side Ian came in 21st overall in a mightily impressive 4.25.16, over 3 minutes faster than 2011 (not bad for what for him was just a long training run) Benny was delighted with his trophy (and hair gel!) for 3rd Super Vet in 4.46.52, back to his form of two years ago. I on the other hand trailed in 20 minutes outside my target time in 5.50.21, coming home 152nd of 192 finishers on the day.

As is becoming the norm for this race the medals were unusual this time being ‘hand-branded on wood reclaimed from Hurricane Bawbag’, also handed out were very welcome cans of Guinness, bottles of Miller and their very own D33 beer from Brewdog. Oh and water too.

Ian, Benny and I were very grateful for the all-day help from Angela, Carol and Alison. Without the girls driving all over the Aberdeenshire countryside handing out drinks, gels, jelly beans and, in my case, honey pieces we would never have got to the finish. Given the amount of running Carol does while keeping Benny supplied I don’t know why she doesn’t just run the rest of the race with him!

Finally I’ll leave you with some motivational quotes from race organiser George Reid, aka Loon Dod,
‘do epic shit’, ‘trample the weak, hurdle the dead’(this could be our Grand Prix mantra!)
and his sign off line on emails…

Pee clear

Davie

6+4 stage relay

We have 3 mens and 1 ladies team entered for the race this Saturday
Could everyone confirm that they are still running by letting me or Alan know by Thursday.
The following are entered
F Maxwell, J McEvoy, K Sturgeon and J Beveridge.
R Couper, A Derrick, S Waugh, J Holmes, D Herbertson, H Simpson, C McDougall, D Watt, M Duthie, A McCaffery, A Henderson, C Banks, G Stewart, S Hill, G Mullen, E Reid.
At the moment there is 2 places for the Mens teams and 0 for the Ladies but if any become available the following reserve names have been entered so if any want a run let us know before Thursday and if places are available we can put you in the team.
reserve names are:- I Hughes, C Jarvie, R Lawton, K Leinster, J McMonagle, G Lindsay, J McBride, B McDougall, I McKenzie, S Phimister, I Rae, G Ramage, S Reilly, B Rooney, M Saez, D Searil, C Steven, D Wardrope and M Goldsmith.

LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS BLOG OR BE AT TRAINING THURSDAY

As this is the last race of the winter season it has become traditional to meet for refreshments in the Monty on the Saturday night from 7.30pm onwards. All welcome wether youve ran on Saturday or not 

Russell

Round the Houses 10k

Some of the Harriers feeling the pre-race heat, particularly Frances who is on fire!

A fine squad of Harriers assembled on a cracking day for the annual Round the Houses 10k in Grangemouth today. Although often sunny on the day of this race, it is a very rare occasion when there is no wind. But today was one of those days. Fast times were therefore up for grabs on the flat course. Indeed several of the potential winners were predicting times close to 30 minutes.

With many of the Harriers having run the Alloa Half Marathon a week ago (and one having run considerably further), there were some tired legs lined up at the start in a field of many hundreds, but major pre-race excuse of the day was the potential hazard of running in un-tested Red Nose Day socks which all but one of the Harriers were sporting (spot the odd one out in the photo above). From the hooter, the field quickly strung out with the Harriers spread randomly in the pack.

On form Stephen Reilly was the leading Harrier from start to finish, running a very well controlled race to set his second pb in a week, recording 36:43, an U23 Bronze standard and taking him to the lead in the club scratch championship. Scot Hill was next in, expending the minimum possible effort to break 40 minutes, recording 39:59.99! Both Stephen and Scot look to be coming into nice form for the forthcoming London Marathon.

Stuart Waugh and Andy Henderson had their usual close battle, with Andy setting the early pace. But by the end Stuart had turned the tables and came home in 40:35 (M60 Gold Standard) with Andy close behind in 40:43 (M55 Silver Standard).

Julie Beveridge was another having a great run, not managing to catch her sister but setting a new pb of 42:59 and stretching her lead in both the Grand Prix and the scratch championships. Frances Maxwell is fresh from the apres ski and without the aid of gravity, propelled herself to a time of 45:14 (F45 Bronze Standard). Meanwhile, we were glad to see Katrina Downie not only back training with the club but setting a new pb today of 42:02, running unattached.

The war of words between David Wardrope and George Stewart continued right up to the start of the race. Despite starting off at the very back with the walkers, George was able to come home in front this week, finishing in 43:56 and regaining his lead in the Grand Prix. David was just back from a trip to the football in  Liverpool but still managed to beat his target time of 45 minutes, finishing in 44:45.

David Searil had the best excuse of the day for being tired having competed in the 33 mile Deeside Way race last weekend (5 hours 50 minutes, race report to follow). David finished today in 51:57. Russell Couper is not his usual self at the moment and again struggled, finishing in 59:26.

Well done to all. Some of my photos are here.
Alan

Grand Prix Updated

The Grand Prix and Scratch Championships have been updated ahead of the Grangemouth Round the Houses 10k tomorrow. Still tight at the top of all the championships. Perfect conditions for fast 10k times are forecast for tomorrow. See you all there!

Alan

Round the Houses Idea

Originally this Sunday, I was meant to be running the Sport Relief 6 mile race in Glasgow for a bit of fun. But when I realised it was the same, day as the Grangemouth Round the Houses 10K, I decided to switch race and run for my club seeing as my entry fee for the Sport Relief race was a donation to charity.

Along with the entry pack that was sent to me, was a pair of Sport Relief socks, to be worn during the race. My dad suggested I should wear the socks at Round the Houses to still support the charity that day, and he said he would do the same.

So we thought it would be a good idea if as many Harriers as possible wore the Sport Relief socks this Sunday during the race. They are only £2.50 and can be bought from any Sainsburys store.

It would be good to see Calderglen Harriers supporting this great cause.

Stephen Reilly

SAL Membership renewals

Could everyone make sure their SAL Memberships are up to date and if their not going to renew please let me know as i cant enter you for races. Ive had an email from SAL regarding the entries for the 6+4 stage relays letting me know some of our entries are out of date. I find this embarrassing as members should let me know if theyre not renewing. You can all check to save me having to go round individuals then get back to me if your out of date to let me know your intentions and if youre not sure about your status ask me.

ALLOA HALF MARATHON

11 Harriers turned up at Alloa for the 30th Alloa half marathon on what turned out a very warm day due to the direct sunshine. We had a mixed bag of results some good and some not so good but we'll get to that later. For my own part i started off well enough but had to watch most other Harriers disappear into the distance and out of sight only John McBride holding back a bit. As we went through 2miles the course starts a gentle climb and John eased past and rapidly moved away and i found myself in a nightmare. The legs were gone, stomach churning, and a knock to the thigh i got at registration was louping. Pace plummiting i had to think about stopping but thought its a nice day so if it has to be a long walk so be it. I did find a bit of recovery at Alva (7mls) and found myself running 2mins a mile quicker but still slow then came the last 2 climbs which i thought i was going to die on but the times were still quicker than i had gone downhill earlier in the race so from half-way heading for over 2.30 i was not as dissappointed to finish 2:17:35. A long way up the road the other Harriers had mainly good fortune with Stephen Reilly leading the Harriers home with 1:23:02 a PB by 2mins and a Bronze performance award. Next in was Scot Hill 1.26.52 but nowadays having to watch Stephen run into the distance. The Harriers came home in a bit of a prossesion after this with Stuart Waugh 1:29:48 and surely a performance award followed by Andy Henderson 1:30:12 then Mark Saez 1:32:06 although official results give him 2:08:00. Next came debut girl Karen Sturgeon clocking 1:32:23 with future performances sure to improve. Jim Holmes kept his averages with 1:33:34 then we had a gap to David Wardrope 1:38:27 outrunning the GPL George Stewart who was really dissappointed in 1:41:17. Last but one Harrier to finish was John McBride 1:48:38 again a good average for John and eventually me.
Some jokers were played which will make a difference to the GP. I think we will find Jim Holmes leading both the GP and Club Championship for the men and no difference to the Ladies but Karen closing the gap.

Falésia 5k Road Race - The Algarve

A field of 107 lined up at the top of the hill in 24 deg C heat to launch into the usual too fast pace for the first 400m downhill section of this annual road race. The usual mixture of UK runners, Germans and a few internationals, all there for warm weather training in different camps, contested for age group prizes over this two and three quarter lap course, the only flat bit being the final 400m on the track.

The main pack of 10 Germans and Estonians were gone within 400m but as each lap progressed, many of them came back to me, particularly on the hills. On the last ascent, the leading M45 German was 15m in front of me and struggling, to the extent that he stopped to much abuse from his supporters. I gladly took the position and another to move into 5th, a position I maintained to the finish in 17:17, about 20 seconds slower than last year but acceptable given I've been carrying an achilles injury sinnce the National XC.

At the prize giving, I received first M45 prize from 2 x Olympic 10 000m finalist and Chicago marathon winner Paul Evans (pictured). I don't like to mention that I also beat Paul in the race but he only runs for fun nowadays (as indeed do I!!) and he was first M50 about a minute behind me. Wish I didn't have to come back!
Alan