Chatelherault Times

Last one of the this year.

Please leave your time, level of effort and comments on this form and see what everyone said here (ps be patient, it can take up to 10 minutes after you submit your times on the form for the results web page to be updated).

Ron Hill Running Seminar

We have been contacted by Dave Cooney of Cambuslang Harriers with the following notification (note this is the same Friday as the TTC):


I am contacting our local clubs to publicise a running seminar being held by Ronhill Cambuslang Harriers on Friday 14 September at 7.25 pm in the Rugby and Sports Club, Langlea Road Cambuslang.  The 3 guests are Ron Hill, Gordon Rimmer and Claire Gibson and the meeting will be chaired by Mike Johnston, the Scottish National Endurace Coach.  Ron, the former European and Commonwealth Games Champion with a pb of  2.09.28, needs no introduction.  Gordon, a Cambuslang runner, was Scottish and UK steeplechase champion with a pb of 8.26 while Claire is a Scottish Champion and Commonwealth Games Representative at 800M with a pb of 2.01.34.  It promises to be a stimulating evening and there will be the opportunity to ask questions.

If you or any of your members are interested please contact me and I can put tickets aside.  Tickets which are being sold on a first come first served basis are priced at £5 for seniors/vets and £3 for under 20s and tea/biscuits are included in the price. More information is available on the club's website.

Regards

David Cooney
Ronhill Cambuslang Harriers

High Heels Half Marathon

Following on from her High Heels Half Marathon, my Mum has been short listed for a Sunday Mail Great Scot 2012 community hero award! So that's where we've been going wrong all these years... wrong footwear! Anyway, should you wish to vote for her please follow this link.

Irvine 10k Road Race

Finally a race where it rained, my last few races have been very warm.  After being a bit disappointed at the Bella 5k last Sunday, getting a time of 18 minutes, I had decided to just do this race for the fun of it.  Finding the registration was not easy, I found the start and finish of the race first.  A churchgoer finally pointed me in the right direction.  As the race started I realised I was in eighth place, which was further up the field than I had planned.  I decided just to go for it and see what happened.  It was a good route going round the harbour and beach area of Irvine.  I held 8th place until after the 5k marker where I lost a couple of places and finished in 10th place with a time of 37.21.  I was surprised but delighted with this as this was my first 10k in over a year.  The winning time was 31.26.  Well marshalled and accurately measured this year.

Thanks to Ian Hughes for the report and well done.
Alan

Killin 10k and 1k

Saturday 25th August was the 2nd year of this 10K event with 110 runners taking part and high number of them unattached but still providing good competition and challenge.  I was delighted to take part as couldn’t last year and it allowed me to do the 2 things I like doing most, spending time with my family (my sister stays in Killin) & running.  After a good night sleep, we set off from East Kilbride just after 9am for the 90min journey to Killin to ensure we got there in good time. We arrived a little after 1030am and made straight for McLaren Hall (Event HQ) to pick up our numbers and timing chips.  By good timing we meet my sister and my niece at the same time.  Unfortunately my sister had to pull out of the 10K as she has a chest infection and my niece Emily was doing the 1k with her cousin.  Once we got our numbers we strolled up the Main Street to the start close to the Dochart Bridge.  Just before this point I went away to do a warm up run to stretch my legs after the car journey.

We all met at the start at the west end of the village in the Acharn Forest Car Park next to the war memorial.  Sarah & Melissa returned down the Main Street to get in a good position for video recording & pictures and Emma, Emily & I remained at the start.   There was the safety briefing at 11.55am and the 10k race started at 12pm with the 1k starting just after the 10k race at 12.05pm. This race was introduced this year for anyone age 5 yrs to 15 yrs so needless to say Emma was quietly confident she would win the race.  

The 10k went first with the first 2k of the race was slightly downhill & flat took the runners over the Dochart Bridge, running down the Main Street and past the McLaren Hall taking us out of the village and loop up Glen Lochay to the Hydro station before returning to the village and finishing in Breadalbane Park. The middle 6k was a slight undulating loop of Glen Lochay the last 2k was mainly downhill towards the Main Street.  It was a great run and my time was 50:04, over 2 mins faster than my last 10k time at Rouken Glen and my target time was 50mins so all good.

Click HERE for a map of the route on mapmyrun.com

The 1k runners ran the first part of the 10k route then before the McLaren Hall took a left into Breadalbane Park and ran through the finishing funnel. Emma let a few boys take the lead to the Dochart Bridge then proceeded to run past them as they ran out of steam and won the race with comfortable margin however the race was not chipped so not sure of her time.  1st overall and 1st Girl!

After the racing we all enjoyed the lovely spread in the McLaren Hall, which was selling soup and sandwiches, tea, coffee and home baking, along with the heavily sponsored prize giving, courtesy of The Real Food Café in Tyndrum. Emma picked up her prize to a large round of applause.

Thanks to Richard for the report and well done to both Richard and especially Emma.

Alan

ANOTHER CALL FOR HELP

Gerry McParland has requested the support of the Harriers. As you know, Gerry and his family are very close to wee Aidan McAvoy who suffers from Cerebral Palsy and underwent major surgery in the USA last year. The surgery has already made a significant improvement to him, however he needs a follow up operation, in March 2013 to lengthen his heel cords and they are trying to raise £12,000. A fundraising event has been organised for Saturday 8th September in the Ballerup Hall, East Kilbride from 8-1am with live band at a cost of £10 per ticket (1st drink free then £2 per drink). This could be another social night out for the Harriers and also would support a great cause.  I am sure Gerry can get tickets so leave a comment on this blog such that Gerry can get back to you or contact Gerry directly if you have his details.

Kayaking Harriers - Harriers' Paddle Playschool!

The Sunday designated as the Harriers Come and Try Kayaking day dawned bright and clear, no excuses for them not to turn up at the appointed time. Kenny and I waited expectantly.
Sure enough 11 Harriers duly arrived all bright and eager (Graham arrived well last with some sob story about having completed a long run and somebody got tired or something, yeah heard it all before, all the girls beat you this time Graham accept it) and were duly dispatched to get into their extremely flattering wetsuits. In case you don’t recognise them in their new finery in the photos they shall be named in no particular order.
Davy, Colin, Malcolm, Karen, Eddie, Frances, Geo, Joanne, Chas, Frances, Graham.
When they had all assembled Kenny and I had the daunting task of trying to estimate inside leg measurements to match to the kayaks which we had arranged on the jetty. Suffice to say we did not get it all correct, but with a bit of fiddling about got everybody sitting at least semi comfortably in their new mode of transport.
A quick outline of what they were in for and  that a straight line paddle was not to be expected immediately, along with the fact that it was dry, sunny, no wind, flat calm, ideal conditions therefore we did not expect anybody to fall in/over/upside down/capsize at any point. I know, I know it was tempting fate to say that and fate took us up on it.
Anyway everyone launched and floated about getting used to the situation, some smiles, some grimaces, some not even breathing, but everyone upright, so far so good.
Though it was a good job they were in kayaks and not cars, they would have been lifted for drunk driving as nobody appeared to have any definitive direction in mind, also as expected some circles were evident.
However with some perseverance things got appreciable better and we even managed to get everyone rafted up …..  eventually ( rafted up technical term landlubbers may not recognise but which our trusty crew now know and can perform at the drop of a hat).
In fact the forward paddling was beginning to look so good between two buoys at least 50 yards apart that Kenny decided a further challenge was required – paddling backwards, easypeasy!! Just the opposite of forwards.
I think fate was mentioned earlier, well it picked on Malcolm, who it has to be admitted was looking pretty good reversing backwards towards us, anyway a big hand came down from the sky and gave him a wee gentle nudge when he was not expecting it. With a soft splash and before he even had time to shout “abandon ship” he was upside down floating next to his kayak looking somewhat perplexed at how he had actually got into this position without particularly trying to.
However Malcolm being a hero took it in his stride, and we duly emptied his kayak in the middle of the heaving ocean!! and discussed the best way of getting him back into it. We tried one approach which was not too successful and then opted for plan B which saw him slither otter like straight back in to his kayak and ready for anything now he knew a wee capsize was no particular problem to a man of his caliber.
A round of applause from his watching shipmates I am sure made it all worthwhile, though they were probably all thinking “Glad it was him and not me”
Well you know what Harriers are like, one guy does something gets a round of applause and somebody else thinks they can go one better. Step forward Davy Searil, not one but two lapses of concentration I think he called them, when he was looking for attention and applause. Well done Davy you kept Kenny busy anyway.
After a short tea break we had a wee demo and go at throw line practice. All I can say is if you are waiting for Eddie and Malcolm to rescue you, you may get a rope but there may not be anybody holding the other end to pull you in, while they discuss between them who exactly was meant to be holding it. See the appropriate picture for this classic, never mind guys somebody always does it.
While this was going on Kenny was introducing Frances and Joanne to the delights of sea kayaks. Well at least they go in a straight line, though they do take a while to turn, a fact which Frances ably demonstrated by paddling straight into the jetty on her way back from visiting the distant island at the far far end of the loch. No damage as she was not at full speed ahead at the time, again there is a picture in which we will give her the benefit of the doubt and say she was in fact backpaddling to lessen the impact.  
The jolly tars finished with the throw lines and joyfully leapt back into their trusty kayaks for team games. Kenny drafted another 2 for a sea kayak trial and disappeared once again into the blue yonder.
The rest of the crew showed how far they had progressed by paddling without paddles, it can be done. At this point Kenny came back looking for the next 2 volunteers for the sea kayak experience. Karen was scheduled to give Geo her sea  kayak and take his wee river boat. She decided a mid Atlantic transfer was called for with no feet touching the shore, or backsides the water, would be a very professional manouver. Not sure Geo agreed, but he could not back down at this stage and the ensuing exchange between big kayak and wee kayak went so smoothly and with such success that from then on everybody was at it. Transferring from one kayak to another just to prove they could do it to. Harriers competitive !!! A further step on this was when Frances and Joanne changed from wee kayak to wee kayak looking totally stable all the time. (They may dispute this statement but that is the way it looked). Karen/Geo look what you started.
Chas as the last man into a sea kayak due to logistics was transferring at the jetty, and once he was settled, Graham pushed him off and in , ie literally as Chas ended up testing out his wetsuit. Graham did look suitably innocent as he said “Nothing to do with me Captian” but the jury is still out on that one.
 And finally at the very end of the session, Eddie decided he would like a go at the capsize and rescue, so as we aim to please we immediately threw him over, only kidding Sandra, he threw himself over without any hesitation, saying something like “Anything Malcolm and Davy can do I can do” (wee bit of poetic licence here maybe)
Eddie did the drill no problem at all, so well done Eddie.
To round of a fine time we managed to finish and get ashore just before the rain started.
A very well done to all who participated, Kenny and I thoroughly enjoyed our wee day, there is definite potential amongst you, and if you want more then you only have to ask.  


The gallery of photos with comments from Billy! A big thanks to Billy and Kenny for taking on the responsibility of not drowning Calderglen's finest!
Alan

Harriers Spreading Themselves About

The Harriers have been spreading themselves to the four corners of central Scotland over the past few days. First off, last Thursday Karen Allen went along to Cumbernauld for the Broadwood 5k, race three of the Tour of Clydeside. It was a big field in which Karen raced hard against another girl before dropping her at 4k, driven on by the thought that she may have been racing for a podium position. Although Karen did not at the time know what position she was racing for, it turned out that she was second lady (didn't see the first lady in the busy field of men) in a time of 20:32.

On Friday, Stephen Reilly raced in the Bella Belta 10k, race 4 of the Tour of Clydeside, his first race for a long, long, long time! However, Stephen was pleased to at least get a race under his belt despite lacking pace from his London Marathon training. Stephen finished in 38:58, a time he hopes to quickly improve on!

On Saturday, John McBride did his usual Pollok parkrun and is now closing in on the milestone (rewarded with a T-shirt) of 50 parkruns. John ran one of his fastest times of this year, finishing in 23:45. Billy Buchanan made the short trip down to Strathclyde parkrun where he ran an excellent 20:49, his second fastest time on this course.

On Sunday morning, Julie Beveridge travelled to the middle of Scotland for the Sheriffmuir 11 mile road race on the recommendation of last year's winner, her sister. Julie reports that this was a course just like the Islay half, in other words long hills and long views of the road ahead in very hot conditions. Nevertheless, Julie worked well throughout to finish in 1:26 and 4th lady. And, Julie's sister won again in 1:14.

On Sunday afternoon Russell Couper and Alan Derrick rolled up at Cartha Rugby Club in Pollok Park for the SVHC Glasgow 800, a 10k road race funnily enough. A field of only 43 contested this two and a bit lap race. Russell ran a tactical race, doing enough to hopefully secure the SVHC M45 series win whilst I was having a poor one, recording a disappointing 35:57, somehow having dropped over a minute in a year.

Well done to all the above Harriers and thanks for the individual reports.
Alan

A Wee Half in Islay

A record number of Harriers, family and friends made their way to Islay last weekend for the annual Ardbeg Islay Half Marathon. Although the traditional Road to the Isles was blocked due to a landslide, this did not prevent the 23 Harriers reaching the ferry at Kennacraig on time in two separate parties joining the Friday morning and evening sailings. Although the weather on the mainland had been atrocious, sunshine and clearing skies greeted us as the ferry arrived at Port Askaig. A 20 minute drive later and we were at the Bowmore Distillery Cottages, our luxury residence for the weekend. As a bonus, the cottages were right on the start line, so no excuses for missing the start!

The sun was splitting the pavements on race morning and we all knew this would be a tough, exposed race. The Harriers were all up early ready for registration and the 10:45 race start. Ever obliging, we even provided the electricity for the race announcer's Tannoy through one of the Cottage windows. 18 Harriers were running, including David Herbertson who had spent the past week there on holiday with the family, Jim Holmes who had literally flown in from a cruise holiday with his family and Ian Hughes who had travelled from his holiday on the mainland and caught the early morning ferry. The start came as a surprise to all of us as race organiser, Margaret in the same breath called for someone to move a car off the main street (clearly to distract our attention) and then said "Go" and pressed the start hooter.

Wary of the heat and the first 150m up-hill, the initial pace was slow but once we were on the upper street, the eventual winner, Robert Gilroy, stretched away and I found myself somewhat reluctantly in second place with heavy legs from the previous Saturday's Swiss Alpine Marathon 30km race. The first 6.5 miles is relentlessly uphill. Not steep but enough to hurt you. Despite being clear in second place to the top of the climb, I knew I was fading and heard Paul Thomson of Helensburgh steadily approaching. We ran together from 7.5 miles along the airport road until the final climb at 12 miles when my legs and heart screamed enough and I let Paul go for a relaxed finish into third overall in a personal worst of 1:20:59, three minutes down on last year but still first M40. Ian Hughes had been looking stronger than me in the first half mile but had a dubious result at a medical health check at the Campbelltown show the day before which seemed to have psyched him out for the race. Nevertheless, Ian held on for 7th overall in 1:25:26 (also 3 minutes down on last year) and second M40. Eddie Reid thought that he had run a stormer and claimed a pb until he realised that his watch had stopped at 12 miles (lap memory full!). Eddie finished in 1:30:41 as 5th vet and 11th overall. Stuart Waugh had knee pain again towards the end but held on to finish 15th and first M60 in 1:34:25. Next to finish was Billy Buchanan in 16th, second M60 and a massive pb of 1:36:34. Karen Allen is developing some great form and finished as first lady in 1:39:17 well clear of Julie Beveridge who was second lady in 1:43:13. Just ahead of the two ladies, Graham Ramage had paced himself well to finish in 1:39:00. Jim Holmes had tried to train on his cruise ship holiday but it was never going to be enough to keep him in shape for a tough half-marathon and felt he had a stinker, finishing in 1:40:13. Frances Maxwell was also recently back from holiday and confessed to lacking miles in the legs, slipping back to second F40 in the last mile to finish in 1:43:48. Joanne McEvoy had been ill before the start and was drained for the duration of the race. She therefore did very well to hold it together for the team to finish in 1:49:50. David Herbertson had technology failure of the day. His Garmin was set to bike speed (miles per hour) rather than running speed (minutes per mile) and he found himself pushing the pace early on to try to get the watch to go below 8 minutes per mile, which was actually 8 miles per hour! So the harder he pushed, the slower he seemed to get according to the watch. Eventually the wheels fell off and David provided mobile cheer leading services to the various Harriers who streamed passed him. David finished in 1:46:39. David Wardrope also saw a reversal of his recent good form but was still faster than last year, finishing in 1:48:29. Hugh Simpson was enjoying himself although had to receive medical treatment from his wife at the half way point due to a sore back. Hugh and David Searil ran to the finish together in a time of 2:03:50. Dawn Buchanan made a running race appearance without a preceding swim and bike (although she did cycle 60 miles to the ferry) and finished in 1:59:00. Geo Ferguson is making a comeback to running and knew he would struggle from 10 miles, which he duly did, finishing in 2:08:35. Meanwhile, the conditions were very much against Russell (and a self confessed lack of training). He finished in 2:17:19 which was within his predicted finishing window.

After a brief swim at the local pool (which was also on the doorstep of our cottages) we made our way back up the hill to the heavily sponsored prize giving, courtesy of Ardbeg Distillery. The first surprise for us was when Allan McLellan was invited up to do the prize giving, in recognition of the fact that his course record of 69 minutes still stands from 1989. Allan was delighted to do this. In addition to all the prize positions mentioned above, we were also first men's and ladies' teams so by the end of the prize giving we had acquired a warehouse worth of shields, trophies and whisky!

The Calderglen Winnings!

We then retired to the cottage garden for pre-dinner drinks and some relaxation. By 18:30, all 33 of us had squeezed into our pre-booked tables at the Lochside Hotel for an excellent dinner. With one eye on the watch, some of us escaped early from dinner to catch the Golden Hour of athletics on the TV. Inspired by Jessica, Greg and finally Mo, it was off to the ceilidh for a further 2 or 3 hours of exercise and/or relaxation. I think the Harriers won the ceilidh too!

A relaxed start to Sunday (at least for those who consider being out of bed, dressed, fed and packed by 10am as relaxed) and we were planning a trip to the beach. Meanwhile, Sandra and Maud were working on ensuring that next year we get the one prize we missed this year (first local) by signing up as an honorary Harrier one of the local ladies who was waiting to clean our cottage. The Strand was spectacular and windless (a first) although it did reveal that several Harriers have a cow phobia (townies!) as we walked across the dunes, past a herd of cows to the beach. Finally it was time to head for the ferry. A logistical problem of not having enough seats in cars to get to the ferry was solved by volunteering Dawn to cycle the 11 miles there (she secretly wanted to do that anyway!). A fantastic weekend was rounded off by watching Andy Murray win the tennis in the ferry TV lounge, with the Calderglen support led by Alan McLellan and Jean Buchanan. Next year's trip to Islay is already fully booked.

Hundreds of photos from Sandra, Frank, Liz and myself are here. Thanks to all for making this a wonderful weekend.

Alan

Helensburgh Half

While most of the club were at Islay a few Harriers made the trip 'doon the water to Helensburgh for the Half. Luckily the predicted torrential rain didn't materialise and although a bit humid there was really nothing to complain about weather wise. Its advertised as a fast, flat course (aren't they all) but apart from a couple of climbs generally it is.

For those that know Helensburgh it starts at the swimming pool and heads west along the coast toward Faslane. There was a short, sharp climb just at Faslane and you turn at the Peace camp to head back toward the town. On the way back around mile 9 the race turns up into the town and another short climb before winding through the backstreets. Finally a downhill section and a turn to run east back to the finish.

It might have been different on a windy day but the course lived up to its billing judging by the times.
Mark Saez smashed his PB with a 4+ minute reduction to come home in 1:28:15 (including a stop to tie laces), followed by Stephen Phimister with a 2 minute pb reduction to finish 1:28:59. Andy achieved his sub 1:30 target with 1:29:53 and Kenny ran 1:35:01 (to beat Billy's time from Islay).

Also good to see our new recruits to the Harriers, Jim (around 1:41) and Ruth (around 2 hours) TBC and Julie's sister 1:27.
Official results to follow.

It was well organised and a good race, complimented by a 2k (Mark Phimister claims 7:30 which would be faster than his dad !) and 5k family run. Free entry to the swimming was a nice touch.

Thanks to Stephen for the report and well done to all.
Alan

Islay Update

A few snippets of last minute information for those going to Islay:

1. The A83 at The Rest and Be Thankful is to be closed for at least tonight following a land slip. The diversion adds 50 miles to the journey but it should be open by Friday. Details here.
2. Sandra has advised that there is a small kitty which should cover the cost of tea, coffee, sugar, milk, bread and butter for each of the cottages. Frances will be one of the first to arrive and will check if the cottages already contain any of these essentials or not and let Sandra know. So no need to bring your individual supplies unless you have special requirements!
3. Sandra will also bring crisps and biscuits for the cottages.
4. However, do bring your own preferred breakfast cereal or whatever for the pre-race breakfast.
5. Don't forget your race number!

Any more developments will be added to this blog and also repeated at the club tomorrow night.
Alan

Road to Islay CLOSED

For information purposes all those heading to Islay this weekend there is a road closure on the A83 due to a landslide (again). You will have to drive via Crainlarich through to Tyndrum onto the A85 Oban Rd then at Loch Awe turn onto the A819 to Inveraray. This will add about 1hr onto your journey so leave in plenty of time. If i get info that the road is open i will update this post on Thursday night.