Callander Winter Crags Race

I know a few are interested in doing the Winter edition of the Crags race on Saturday 5th January, starting at 1pm. For those that have not done it before, it is a hill race up and down over a circular route. The first mile is straight up 800 feet on a rough footpath, then descending along the moorland ridge top on a sheep trail for a half mile before a further mile downhill on tarmac before the final half to three quarter mile on a steeply undulating forest track. It will either be very muddy or very frozen under foot, so some sort of trail shoe is usually best. Here is the latest information from the organisers, Alistair and Sheila, sent out today:

It's time to kick start your New Year with a wee run up the Callander
Crags.  Your organising committee have been working hard all year to
make this event a huge success with all the usual wonderful prizes, and,
of course, the chance to see all your results from 1986 to last June's
race.

Are you at your peak or over the hill. Find out this Saturday

Adults and children are all most welcome to come along and join us.
Children under 13 need an adult who can keep up with them!

Registration starts at High Noon in Tulipan Crescent. Look for the red
VW van/Race HQ.

For gadget lovers the postcode is FK17 8AR.

Looking Forward to seeing you.

Alistair and Sheila

New year greetings

Hi all. Carolyn and I would like to wish all at the club a very happy, healthy and successful 2013. The weather down under has been a bit hit and miss with a fair bit of rain although the temperature still in the 20's. Carolyn continues to make good progress with her new shoulder under the care and attention of her nurse, house keeper and all round good guy, AKA me!

Malcolm & Carolyn

Training Thursday 27th Dec

Training on Thursday 27th Dec will be or annual tour of local drinking venues (pub run).
The run will start at 6pm prompt and will be run as one pack at a leisurely pace for all.
Please bring kitty money and money for socialising in the club bar after the run.
Non alchoholic drinks are allowed to be consumed on this run as well as stronger refreshments.
Please don't be put off if you don't drink or have to drive its all about being social and enjoyment and if were lucky enough to have snow we may have 5mins for a snowball fight.
Any of our newer members that are not sure what this event entails please feel free to ask any of our older members who will be happy to tell all.

Christmas Handicap 2012

A very colourful lineup for the 2012 Calderglen Harriers Christmas Handicap and almost perfect running conditions (depending on what costume you were wearing!). 18 Harriers of all shapes and sizes and from fantasy, movie and cartoon worlds gave it everything over the 4 mile course, all in the name of fun. In the cartoon corner, Minnie the Mouse, faced up to a Power Ranger, Oor Wullie and Fat Boab. The battle of the superheroes saw Super-Vegas-Man (and his dog) chasing Banana Woman whilst Ming the Merciless was merciless in setting the fastest time of the day (26:10). Representing the world of wildlife, a bumblebee modeled the club colours whilst handicap of the day went to the reindeer towing a 2-tonne sledge (despite there being a couple of Santa's helpers, there were no assistance being administered, that would have been cheating!). A rare siting of a leprechaun (been missing from training for a few weeks) did not signal a mystical return to form but the smile was still there. There were some colourful characters of unknown origin and some numbered athletes on display from Mr 50 parkrun (nice of Russell to celebrate Eddie's birthday so publicly  and an always topical, 007. Then there was the fittingly gold clad Emma Lawton who caught and overhauled Russell on the last lap to win the handicap with the 4th fastest time overall (26:51) to become the youngest ever winner of the Christmas handicap.

Well done to all and a big thanks to all the supporters. A special thanks to Martin Duthie for the donations to charities of the choice of the first 3, Emma, Russell and Christina.

More photos here courtesy of Joanne and full results here.
Alan

Devils Burden Relay

The date of this event has changed to Saturday 9th February and no longer clashes with the vets relay weekend. Therefore, please add your name using the links below if you can now make it. If this change of date means you cannot now do it, then please also use the form to create a new entry and write a comment in the "additional information" section of the form.

A possible new adventure for the club, the Devil's Burden Hill Relay takes place on Saturday 26th January 2013. Kenny Leinster is a veteran of this event and with his recommendation, we would like to get some teams entered. The event comprises teams of 6 but is in fact a 4 stage relay as some of the legs require runners to run in pairs for safety. This is a full-on, Winter hill race in Scotland so there are compulsory equipment requirements for safety. Full details of the event are here on the Scottish Hill Racing web site. Kenny is going to take us on a recce a few weeks before the race and after that we will have a better idea of who is suited to which legs. The more teams the merrier as always.

Please leave your name on this form if you are interested and speak to Kenny if you want some advice on the event. Names received so far are here.

Alan
(I should point out that this event is on the Saturday, the day before the vets relays at Strathclyde Park. We have more than enough members of the veteran and non-veteran varieties to be well represented at both events! See the comments to this post for further views on this).

Christmas Handicap

Our annual fancy dress Christmas Handicap is next Sunday, 16th December, with the first runner off at 11am. Time to get thinking of a costume. The usual format is that everyone brings a small value prize up and those that bring a prize then get to choose a prize at the end.
Alan

Harriers AGM Monday 10th December

As it is the Harriers' AGM on Monday at 8:30pm, the club run will start at 7pm prompt, so please be there ready to run at that time.
Alan

West District XC - Russell was not Last!

We had several motivational performances on a cold and soggy course by Inverkip on Saturday. Not least was a strong, agricultural run befitting the venue from Russell Couper who declared with a huge grin "I was not last" to anyone who would listen having passed David Wardrope within a few km of the finish and managing to hang on by some 50m to the end. The other motivational performance was from David himself who surely will now be motivated to get his training back in gear and not let that happen again!

Russell Couper ploughing through the mud

The event had a record entry throughout all the age groups. The Inverclyde Athletics Partnership handled the organisation well, including the logistical problem of the course being 3 miles from the sports centre where registration was held. However, a slick bus shuttle was in place and there were no problems getting to and from the course. As all of our women members were allegedly preparing themselves for the evening club dinner/dance (any excuse to get out of cross country), only the Calderglen men were represented in the senior events. On the face of it the course looked very flat but complex, skirting the perimeter of 3 or 4 individual fields and taking two laps to cover the 10km race distance. However, this was not a fast course despite the lack of hills. Most of the course was at the very least soggy and at worst almost knee deep in tractor track mud baths. There was even some ice in a shaded corner of the course. The only firm, non-icy section of the course was a slight downhill section along the edge of a field, however this was only dry because the water had run off it to make the bottom edge of the field even wetter.

Andrew McCaffery quickly established himself as the lead Harrier and although he felt he was struggling, he looked strong all the way to the finish. Eddie Reid found the going tough, as did all the Harriers, and needed a few gee ups to keep him going through the second half of the race. David Herbertson and Andy Henderson traded places throughout the race, David generally the stronger the deeper the mud and Andy the faster on the slightly firmer sections. At the end David pulled away from Andy. Jim Holmes would normally be challenging David and Andy but was somewhat isolated today and thought it was possibly the toughest cross country race he has ever done. Kenny Leinster had a good run and a particularly strong finish, with a very impressive sprint to the line which arrived sooner than he thought. However, Kenny is now next on Russell's radar! Then it was Russell followed by David who seemed to be struggling from the start.

Well done to all on a fantastic effort on a tough course. More photos here.
Alan

West District XC

The West District XC is this Saturday.
we only have men entered so just one start time 2PM.
Please be at Ravenscraig sports centre (Greenock) by 1pm at the latest.
I will be there till 1pm then moving to the course so if your late i will be at the course with your number.
Anyone leaving as a group from the sports club i would suggest you meet at 11pm to leave.
I will be going direct from my work.
Please refer to previous Blog to see whos entered.

Russell

Club Dance Arrangements

This Saturday is the Harriers dinner/dance at the Sports Club. Could everyone be seated by 6:30pm when dinner will be served. If there are any special dietary requirements, then please contact Eddie, Russell, Frances or me asap or leave a comment to this post.

If you can, please bring a prize for the raffle. Finally, bring your dancing rather than running legs.
Alan

Thursday Training - AGM

As this Thursday is the Sports Club AGM at 7:30pm and as there is a proposal for a fairly significant increase in membership fees across most membership categories (see the noticeboard in the entrance foyer for details), it is important that the Harriers are well represented to take part in the vote on this proposal. THERE WILL THEREFORE BE NO TRAINING ON THURSDAY. YOUR ATTENDANCE AT THE AGM IS OF GREATER IMPORTANCE. If we have the same turnout that we have on a good training night then the Harriers stand a good chance of being in the majority at the AGM. (note that the Harriers committee was supporting an alternative proposal to make a substantial donation to the sports club from Harriers funds, with perhaps a small increase in membership fees so as to protect our members from greatly increased costs. The other sporting sections were expected to do the same).

Alan
(note that I am unfortunately away with work till Friday night so cannot attend)

Grand Prix Race Update

The final Grand Prix race of 2012 is the West District next weekend. It could be that the University Road Race is re-scheduled for January and presuming it does not clash with anything else we are doing, it will be back in the Grand Prix.

DEVILLA FOREST 15K CORRECTION. THE DATE IS ACTUALLY 24TH FEBRUARY, THE DAY AFTER THE NATIONAL SO THIS IS DEFINITELY NOT IN THE GRAND PRIX.

For the vets, the Scottish Masters XC Championships (not a grand prix race) are on 2nd February up in Forres for anyone who is interested.

Alan

Big Sur Half Marathon on Monterey Bay

Inside the last two miles

I wasn't going to report this PW too widely but seeing as the Uni Road Race was cancelled, we need a race report of some sort!

Although the main purpose of my recent trip to California was in connection with my other hobby (cars), I couldn't go all that way without fitting in a race. Former Harrier, Jimmy Stewart, had suggested that following some car related meetings just north of San Diego, a race of about half marathon distance should be possible to fit in. The first suggestion was The Death Valley Half Marathon but this was going to involve thousands of miles of driving (and possibly death) so I had another look. Monterey, a beautiful seaside town a few hundred miles north of LA, seemed the best option as their half marathon was celebrating its 10th anniversary, had a good quality field of many thousands and was a scenic, non life threatening, out and back course along the edge of the Pacific.

All the preparations were in place well in advance except the training due to the back injury I picked up back in September. So on arrival in California, barring a miracle, I had no intention of running the race, only having run twice in the previous three weeks and being in some pain just walking about. This was just going to be a relaxing holiday for a change. Fortunately (or unfortunately), two days before the race I was going through my usual stretching regime when something clicked audibly in my back and the pain in my lower back and hip suddenly disappeared. A miracle! Clearly a trapped nerve had become un-trapped. A trial run proved that I could sort of run although the legs were stiff as boards and I was blowing out my ears at a reasonably gentle pace. But there was no pain. So race day saw an early start (7am race start California time, which equals 15:00 UK time so not too bad really). Jogging the two miles from the hotel to the race start in the pitch dark provided a good warm up in perfectly still conditions. The early morning forecast was for rain but this was clearly not going to happen as there were no clouds visible. The start line band (some old guys who were somewhere between the Beach Boys and the Eagles and who obviously knew what they were doing) built the atmosphere up nicely as the sun rose at 6:45 and the field of around 9000 gathered in their assigned "corrals". A smattering of Kenyans in the elite field promised a fast pace that I would clearly not be a part of, so when the hooter went, I eased away gently. This was going to be about getting around only.

An initial circuit around the quaint old town split the field up nicely before heading south along the coast. Every few miles there was a live band to spur you on and even a kilted piper giving it laldy inside a 400m long tunnel! There was no wind, the surf was crashing against the shoreline, the sun was shining and the temperature was perfect. This is what running is all about. I was quite comfortable until about 9 miles when the wheels started to fall off and then it was a case of hanging on to the finish. This was not a surprise given the lack of miles in the legs but I wasn't losing many places so I wasn't bothered. With one mile to go the crowd were lining the coastal path and cheering enthusiastically, including one particularly Californian shout which I shall use at the Club sometime ("half mile to go man, SPEND IT NOW!" Little did he know that I was already overdrawn.)

Race Winner

On crossing the line the impeccable US organisation kicked in with medals, goody bags, kit bags and refreshments all brought straight to me which was just as well as I couldn't walk, everything having seized up completely as soon as I stopped. Free beer and minestrone soup (separate cups) preceded the prize giving which was extensive to say the least, with prizes for the first 3 in every 5 year age group from 15 to 85 years old! My time, a PW by over 5 minutes, was 86:31 and 7th M45 in 68th position overall. The race was won by an American athlete in 64:45, leaving at least 3 Kenyans in his wake. His wife also won the ladies race in 72:18, so a big pay day in that household. Jimmy Stewart finished in 1:48:21 and was 9th M60.

To prove how wrecked my legs were, on walking back to the hotel along the perfectly flat cycle path, I was easily passed and dropped by the woman who had won the F75 age group (in just over 2 hours!). If this race was not thousands of miles away, I would thoroughly recommend it to the club.

One for Billy and Kenny - Special treatment for Kayakers in Monterey

Alan

University Road Race -CANCELLED

.... due to black ice. The latest news (via Robert Rogerson on Facebook) is that GU Hares & Hounds hope to re-schedule the race for early 2013.
Alan