Scottish Primary School XC Champion

I am delighted to pass on the news to the senior Harriers that Emma Lawton won the recent Scottish Primary Schools cross-country P6 girls title in Kirkaldy. Full details of the race can be found on the Junior Blog here.
Alan

Highland Fling 2012 - Seven in a Row

Ian Rae smiles his way to the finish

With near perfect, cool but sunny weather conditions, Ian Rae became the only person to have completed all 7 Highland Fling 53 mile ultra races, despite suffering a severe ankle sprain on the loch side which slowed him considerably. Ian completed the course in a not un-naturally slower than usual time of 12 hours 28 minutes and 20 seconds in 262nd position. Well done indeed to Ian for toughing it out (note that the only other person who was on for 7 in a row was a female runner who had to withdraw on the loch side after sustaining a broken shoulder. There is no truth in the rumour that Ian sustained his sprained ankle whilst landing awkwardly from a mistimed karate kick whilst passing said runner!!). Ian's next race is the full West Highland Way Race in 8 weeks time.

Regular TTC participant and occasional pack runner on Harriers' training nights, Graeme Allan of ATHelite Tri Club also completed the individual race, his first ever ultra, in a time of 13:08:15 in 319th position. How tough this ultra event is, was put into perspective by the fact that this is a similar time to Graeme's two Ironman distance triathlons which he has completed so far. Well done Graeme and despite what you said at the finish, I am sure you will do another one!

Meanwhile Calderglen Harriers were running under cover in the relay event (4 legs of 12 to 15 miles). Entered as Speed of Lite, The Mighty Midges and The Oyster Catchers, our two men's and one ladies' team respectively were out to avoid the ribbing we took at last year's prize giving when we entered as Calderglen A, B and C, which apparently was not the done thing. We also had Harrier Benny Rooney out with his mixed team under the name of Rooney's Rogues.

Frances receives the 2nd place prize

Genevieve Freeman was on first leg duty for The Oyster Catchers and, despite a relative lack of running miles in her training so far this year, proved that she has plenty of endurance from recent big miles on the bike to set us off brilliantly in 3rd place in a time of 1:43:11 for the 13 miles from Milngavie to Drymen. Joanne McEvoy took the longest leg with biggest climb from Drymen over Conic Hill to Rowardennan (about 15 miles of "undulating" terrain) and set second fastest time of the day to finish in 2:26:46, maintaining third place but closing the gap on second. Julie Beveridge has not really run or raced over this sort of terrain before and so it was a little bit of a voyage into the unknown on the Rowardennan to Beinn Glas Farm 13 mile leg up the side of Loch Lomond, a treacherous stage underfoot. Julie was delighted with her run, recording 2:23:12, 5th fastest time on the leg and keeping us in 3rd place. Finally, Frances Maxwell was released on the last leg from Beinn Glas Farm to Tyndrum, a 12 mile stage with a 1000 foot ascent over the first 6 miles. Frances had a stunning run, setting fastest time of the day of  1:47:07, some 4 minutes faster than last year and bringing the team through to finish in second place behind leaders from the start, the Fifie Wifies. What a great performance from Calderglen's ladies.

3rd place prize giving

The men's veteran A (sorry Speed of Lite) team was also fielding slightly different personnel this year, with the introduction of Davy Watt on a trial basis to see if he was any good! Leg 1 went to in-form Stuart Waugh who unfortunately had a recurrence of a knee ligament problem after only 2 of the 13 miles which slowed him considerably. Being a relay, there was no way that Stuart was going to stop and there can be no complaints over his performance, finishing in a great 1:37:42 in 13th position. Davy Watt comes from a hill running background a long, long time ago and so we knew he would be good on the long second leg up and over Conic Hill and then the not insignificant other undulations between Balmaha and the changeover at Rowardennan. Davy covered the 15 miles in an incredible 2:01:18, 3rd fastest time of the day and bringing us up to 6th place. I think he passed the trial! Eddie Reid has not had his usual continuity in training recently but still hoped to get around the 2 hour mark for the lochside leg. This he did, finishing very strongly in 2:03:21 and 6th fastest time of the day, bringing us up to 5th place (at this stage, we really had no idea what position we were in but as we had seen two definite relay teams going through, we assumed 3rd place. How wrong we were!). So it was then up to the boy of the team, me, to try to maintain 3rd place or, as seemed unlikely given the gaps, to improve upon that. With experience of this leg from last year, I tried a more cautious approach from the beginning for the 6 mile, 1000 foot ascent. Apart from a crumpled up sock cutting off circulation in my foot requiring a quick pit stop at the top of the climb to fix, I had no real problems and was sailing along quite nicely, passing many but not seeing anyone that looked like they were running at relay pace. I crossed the line in 1:31:05, around 50 seconds slower than last year (mainly due to the pit stop to sort my sock out and stopping to cross the main road) which turned out to be 2nd fastest time of the day and (thankfully) actually had brought us up to 3rd place, having passed two teams somewhere. The winners were Stonehaven Top Dogs (who had lead by a long way from the start and we had not seen at all), followed by Glenpark Haggis Bashers (who we had thought were the leaders). A great result for the team, particularly as we span the age range 47 to 61.

David Wardrope powers to the line

Russell Couper has probably never been described as a midge but he had the honour of leading off The Mighty Midges. Despite various ailments, Russell surprised himself by running 4 minutes faster than last year to finish in 2:00:47, a great effort on that terrain and a sign that Russell is coming back to form (although he is now away on holiday for two weeks, hopefully not undoing the good!). Andy Henderson had an eventful second leg, falling several times and sustaining a few cuts and bruises. However, he kept it going and made up loads of places to finish in 2:26:35. Jim Holmes had volunteered for the loch side, a leg he had never done before although he had walked it years ago. Jim had an enjoyable and fast run, finishing in 2:09:33 made all the more fun by the fact that Jim was also making up many places. Finally, the leg that should have been GPL but due to a claimed SGS or perhaps MBC, the GPL was a LMW and super-sub David Wardrope stepped in for the glory leg to the finish (click here for a key to the abbreviations). David was unfamiliar with the route and that does make a difference on this leg as there is some good running in the second half if you have saved something. David finished looking tired in 2:09:14 and knows he would pace it differently if doing it again.

Another very enjoyable event in the wonderful countryside we have to run in here. Unfortunately, the introduction of a new sponsor was perhaps not that impressive as the event T-shirts had not turned up and the prize giving by the sponsor was one hour late at 20:30 (as they spent at least a half hour arranging their banners and so on to make the stage ready), by which time most of the prize recipients had left (hours ago). It would have been a better prize giving atmosphere if the prizes had been awarded as and when the finishers came in when there were still hundreds of spectators and competitors around. As it was we were not very happy to be hanging around that long but at least should get some credit for doing so (as we know ourselves from organising races it is not very nice doing the prize giving when prize winners are not there). Just as well our miscounting of the team positions had not been critical and we had still won something too!! (Benny's team won the mixed team prize too but we were so hacked off with the lateness of the prize giving that we forgot to stay to pick up that prize. No doubt it will be in the post along with the T-shirts).

Well done to all the Harriers and supporters for making this another event to remember and look forward to next year (although I doubt we will stay for the prize giving!).

All the results including stage rankings are at this link.
Alan

Virgin London Marathon 2012

During the week leading up to the Virgin London Marathon, the weather forecasts were showing the Sunday to be a day of heavy rain and strong winds. These weren’t good signs from an early stage but determined that things would change, 4 harriers made the journey to the London.


On the Sunday morning, after expecting a cold wet day, the conditions were dry and much milder. While my dad (Scot Hill) and I were on our way to our allocated pen, we passed Mary Goldsmith to quickly wish her good luck and once we were in our pen, Graham Ramage joined us. So quickly we all gave each other pep talks, posed for official photos and before we knew it, were being guided towards the start line.

So the gun went off, and as the elite athletes ran off into the distance we were only able to jog at this point but soon crossed the start line in about 30 seconds. As the runners started to spread out, it gave a chance for myself, Scot and Graham to move up the field slowly. The three of us were aiming for similar times so we decided to stick together. We went through 1 mile in 8 minutes, which was good considering it took a while for us to get into a good stride. At this stage I was already enjoying the atmosphere, with lines of people on either side of the route shouting and cheering us on. At 3 mile, we were all starting to feel the heat, not expecting it to be as warm as it was. Thankfully a water station was due so we broke formation to collect water for ourselves and then reformed into our pack. The three of us worked together like this for most of the race. The crowds continued to grow but as we turned to go by the Cutty Sark, the sheer amount of support was amazing, which really lifted everyones spirits and the pace quickened.

A cheer of “C’mon Calderglen” from Benny Rooney was a great suprise around 10 miles (he then appeared at 2 other points along the course). And the support just grew from there as we crossed Tower Bridge. We all ran on the right hand side of the road, which prompted people shouting on the ‘bumblebees’, referring to our vests. The noise of the cheering was immense on the bridge. As we passed Denise Lewis, she personally cheered the three of us on and Graham got a high five from her. Coming off the bridge, we all tussled to get to the front of our small pack, so we would look better for nearby TV cameras. We all continued to run together and crossed halfway in 1:38:50.

As we all headed towards the Canary Wharf, the leader of the elite race passed us on the other side of the road, as he was approaching the end of his run. At mile 16, I was feeling good and was starting to think I could run faster. Sadly, after 17 mile Graham started to suffer from cramp and fell off the back of our pack. So my dad and I continued on and at 18 miles, with us both still feeling good we decided to try pick the pace up. Weaving in and out of runners ahead, I was enjoying being able to stride out but this increase in speed was about to have an impact on my legs. At 20 miles, my legs started to seize up and I could feel my dad was starting to suffer as well. Soon the pace was slowing back down and at 22 miles my dad stopped after his knee locked up.

So after running for so long in a pack, I was now running solo. Knowing I only had 4 miles to go, I tried to push on, but my legs continued to seize and soon it was getting hard to lift my legs. At 24 miles, I was starting to get blurred vision and found it hard to run in a straight line. I knew I wasn’t going to beat my target time, so I just wanted to finish. And I knew if I stopped to walk, I wouldn’t be able to start running again. So I pushed through to 25 miles and knowing that only 1 mile remained, I recovered and managed to cross the line in 3:21:21. After recieving the medal and collecting my kit bag, I rested and I saw my dad and Graham walk towards me. Graham had managed to recover from his earlier cramp to pass my dad, who had walked and jogged from 22 miles, in the last few miles of the race. Graham finished in 3:25:28 and Scot was exactly a minute behind in 3:26:28(Pb).

Mary found the race equally difficult as everyone else, not helped by a tumble at 6 miles, which left an injured knee and broken watch. She was running well going through half way at 2:03:11 but started to suffer later on and crossed the finish in 4:31:33.

It was a very tough race, and for my first marathon I am pleased that I ran a decent time. Nothing could have prepared me for the way I felt at 24 miles. But the support shown by crowds helped me get round. Well done to everyone for running their great times. And finally thanks to all the support along the way from Irene Hill, Nicola Reilly, Benny Rooney and Julie Beveridge.

Stephen Reilly

West Highland Way weekend

Could all those going on the west highland way weekend please pay Frances the £45 accomodation cost by Monday 14th May. Any problem with this speak directly to Frances.

Even Stephen (Scot and Graham) at Half Way

Nothing to separate the 3 Calderglen men at the half way mark in London. Mary is running very even 5k splits, going through 15k in 1:26:11. Go Calderglen!

Deafblind 10K

4 Hardy Harriers made their way to Bishopbriggs for the Deafblind 10k.
We arrived early in glorious sunshine but every time a cloud came over you could feel the huge drop in temprature. Plenty of time to relax and get properly warmed up but Frances and Hugh timed theirs wrong as they went up and down the canal to Cadder bridge. On their way back the heavens opened and everyone scarpered into the sports centre for cover and some 10mins later these 2 drowned rats turned up. At 5mins before the start everyone had to brave it and head to the start and Martin and Mandy on hand to support us drove up but never thought to offer a lift, cheers. Anyway as we waited for the off the rain changed to hail and then we were off up the road running through rivers running down the road and having to keep the head down. At 2k your onto the south side of the canal and the hail and rain stopped but had left the path in a state leaving a choice run down the huge puddles in the middle of the trail or run on mud. I tried the mud but nearly went up in the air looking like Bambi walking for the first time so it was down the middle in the puddles after that. As i came towards the canal crossing at the sports centre i spotted Frances just behind Davie Wardrope on the other side, couldnt see Hugh as he wasnt wearing his vest (bad boy). After this the running was fairly good with a few puddles to dodge but weather perfect for running, cloudy with the odd spit of rain. Through 4k i now had no sign of the other 3 but had a few runners in front that were slowly moving away round the golf course and a big gap behind me. When we hit the road Just before 7k to take us back to the canal i put on a spurt and caught 2 going up the hill but took a while to drop one of them and by 8k i had closed the gap on a lady to about 10metres. Alas my spurt was starting to hurt so started to drop back again after this and by 9k was about 30metres down. However even though im slower these days i still have that wee competitive devil inside me and wasnt giving it up and about 500metres out started to close the gap. As we approached the barrier with about 40 metres to go she started to sprint as she could hear me chasing and i had to open up completely and yes ive still got it i caught her. With troubled knees i was happy to post my fastest time of the year so far 53.49. Other times are David 44.42, Frances 45.48 and Hugh 48.04.
Thanks to Mandy and Martin for hanging out the car window getting soaked to cheer us on.

One other result from Saturday. Julie Beveridge down in London to watch the Marathon ran the Mile End parkrun in a time of 20.55 and 2nd lady.

Lochaber marathon report

Despite the forecasts of snow for the weekend the weather was nigh on perfect for the 29^th running

of the Lochaber marathon last Sunday. After catching up with ex-harrier Alan Cullie before the race

I was soon watching him disappear into the distance as I started cautiously having blown up badly

over the latter stages of the D33 ultra four weeks before.

My longest runs since then had only been a couple of ten milers so headed off in the direction of

Mallaig with a conservative target of ten minutes per mile (4.20 pace)

Thankfully the benefits of the long winter months training were still in my legs as I seemed to gain

a little time with every passing mile but still tried to keep my pace under control. I had a bit of a

wobble around mile 22 on a gentle but seemingly unending hill which led, surprisingly, to a strong

last four miles. I was aware of having something in reserve and managed to finish in fine style,

overtaking around a dozen runners within the last mile and practically sprinting the final 500 yards. 

As it turned out my last gasp effort should have been unnecessary as numerous Garmin wearers had

already forcibly told the organisers that the course was around 26.5 miles in length, around 500

yards too long – can I therefore claim this as another ultra?

As Russell can see from the photo above the swing bridge over the Caledonian Canal was in place

both times I needed it to be, no diversions over the lock gates for me!

Alan meanwhile had been spotted running strongly just past the turn but must have faded badly as

his official finishing time was 3.28.07, well outside his usual capabilities. Needless to say he wasn’t

around by the time I finished, in 4.17.01, as he had to travel back to EK that day. Alison and I, on the

other hand, headed back to the Ben Nevis Hotel, for a very relaxing swim and an even more relaxing

session in the jacuzzi!  

I was 323^rd from 415 finishers in times ranging from 2.38 to 6.04

Davie

PS all the very best to Mary, Scot, Stephen and Graham in the VLM this coming Sunday, I’ll be

watching out for you from my sofa!!

THE HIGHLAND FLING

Would all those doing the Highland Fling please bring your payment for the event to myself or Frances before next weekends race. Cost is £17.50 each.
We will also be having a discussion about arrangements in the lounge after tonights training (19th)

Russell

DB 10k

Just a reminder that next Saturday, 21st April, the DeafBlind Scotland Canal Run 10k takes place at Bishopbriggs Leisuredome, 2pm start (there is also a 5k which starts at 1:15. Registration for the 10k closes at 1pm. You can also register on-line at http://www.deafblindscotland.org.uk/.

This is an event which the Harriers annually support in memory of a friend and supporter no longer with us, so hopefully we get a good turn out.
Alan

Chatelherault Training Starts 23rd April

Our popular fortnightly training sessions around Chatelherault Country Park commence on Monday 23rd April, starting at 7:30. As for last year, please make use of the main Chatelherault Car Park (indicated by the green arrow in the map below), entering through the main Chatelherault entrance opposite Chatelheraulut railway station on Carlisle Road (A72). Either make your own way there or if you need a lift, be at the club, changed and ready to run at 7pm at the latest.

The route follows a challenging 7 mile circuit which is great training irrespective of whether you run it hard or take it easy.

For your diary, the dates for this year are: April 23rd, May 7th and 21st, June 4th and 18th, July 2nd, 16th and 30th, August 13th and 27th.

View Larger Map

Tom Scott 10mile Road Race

12 Harriers turned up at Strathclyde Park today to race in the Tom Scott 10mile road race. There were problems before the race started, with a large queue to collect the race numbers causing many runners to miss there warm up and in some instances, the start of the race.

The course is held mainly on the pathways around Strathclyde Loch. The hilliest part of the course is between 3 and 4 miles as the route heads towards its highest point on the road. However, as the majority of the course is almost flat and traffic free, it gave an opportunity for fast times. A strong wind on one side of the loch made this harder to achieve though.

First across the line was Stephen Reilly in 62:44 (U23 Bronze) followed by Scot Hill in 66:31 who both used this race as a final preparation for the London Marathon in 2 weeks. Stuart Waugh was not far behind in 67:38, running well to finish first in the M60 category and well inside his gold standard.

David Herbertson was next finishing in 69:07. Graham Ramage set out to run at his marathon pace in preparation for the London marathon but picked the pace up about half way round to finish in 70:36. Julie Beveridge crossed the finish line next with a time of 71:06 with Graham Lindsay not far behind in 71:27(with the help of Eddie as a pacer).

Frances Maxwell was next in 74:12 but was unable to keep up with her pacer (Stephen). John McBride followed in 78:18 and Russell Couper rounded up the field of Harriers in 94:58.

Sadly the some Harriers had to pull out of the race due to injury, with Mark Saez injuring himself at the start of the race and Hugh Simpson’s back pain not allowing him to finish.

But their support at the end of the race was greatly appreciated as they joined Joanne, Maud, Eddie and Sandra in cheering on the runners over the finish line.

WEST HIGHLAND WAY WEEKEND

The West Highland Way weekend will be 26th /27th May
Cost for the weekend will be £65 and possibly a small contribution to fuel if your going on the bus or £45 if your going to travel independently.
A deposit of £20 is required to secure your place on the bus (no deposit no place)
Frances will take deposits from tonight at training and there are only 17 places available on the bus.
These places could go fast so dont delay.
For those new to the club the weekend consists of early morning pickup on the bus (approx 4am) then everyone will get a leg to run between Milngavie and Fort William although your free to run with others on their leg. Dinner Bed & Breakfast in the Ben Nevis hotel and a gentle activity on the Sunday morning (bring swimming costume) before returning to East Kilbride by Approx 6pm
ONLY 1 PLACE LEFT ON THE BUS

Livingston - Oh Dear!

Link to my photos fixed, so should now all be visible.
The story of the National 6/4 stage relays on Saturday was all about the first, short leg (at least according to some). The result of that leg is fully described by the photo on the left. There are winners and losers. Julie Beveridge was very much the winner, finishing the 3 mile leg in 20:19 to bring our ladies home in an excellent 10th position and the fastest Calderglen short leg time of the day (men or women). Not only that, Julie dismissed B team lead-off runner George Stewart (20:35) who himself triumphed over the heavily jet-lagged Jim Holmes (20:45) who was leading out the A, vets team. So it was an unusual sight to see Davie Watt chasing down Colin Banks and Frances Maxwell on the second leg, trying to get the A team back in front. This Davie accomplished quite near the start of the 5.8 mile leg, which he finished in 34:06 bringing the team up to 36th position. Meanwhile Colin Banks caught and passed Frances, finishing in 41:37 with a somewhat under the weather Frances finishing in 42:33. Andy Henderson took over on leg 3 for the A team and ran a controlled effort to finish in 20:51. Russell Couper was out on this leg for the B team and despite being mistaken for Andy Henderson in the results (an easy mistake to make) was awarded a time of 25:27 for the 3 mile leg. Joanne McEvoy was feeling full of energy on the third leg for the ladies, overhauling Russell to finish in an excellent 20:42, one of her best runs for a long time.

Karen Sturgeon had her first outing at Livingston and was put under pressure immediately by being set off alongside Scotland veteran internationalist, Sue Ridley of Edinburgh AC on the last leg. At this point the pre-race pep talk to Karen of ignoring all the men who would be going too fast at the start and just sticking with the ladies seemed to be bad advice! However, Karen stuck to the task and finished in 43:46 (note that Sue Ridley went round in 37:24, so Karen was probably dragged along too fast at the start). The team finished in 19th place, our best position ever in what is becoming an ever more competitive ladies field at this event. Well done ladies.

Fourth leg for the A team was handled by Andrew McCaffrey who, despite carrying a knee problem, was very satisfied with his run, finishing in 35:22. Hugh Simpson ran this leg for the B team and was  delighted with his time of 44:58. The A team carried on with David Herbertson on the 5th leg. David finally set George straight by setting our fastest men's time of 20:22. The glory leg went to Scot Hill, deep into his London Marathon preparations, who brought the A team home in 37:39 in 38th place and 8th vets team, confirming our veterans' strength in depth. Well done to all (except me who clearly inflicted a tragedy of justice upon George by selecting him for the B team :-))

Many photos from Joanne, David Herbertson and me are in this album with many more on the www.roadrunpics.com web site.

Alan