SAL Consultation with Clubs on Masters Age Groups

Scottish Athletics has issued a consultation letter to member clubs seeking their views on a possible reclassification of masters (veteran) male and female age groups from the current 35 year old lower limit to the previous 40 year old lower limit. A second question is asked seeking views on whether the female age group lower limit should remain the same and only the male age group should change (change 35 to 40). The original letter outlining the options is here.

The club is allowed one vote which has to be returned by 15th September. I have reproduced  a less ambiguous variation of  the questions from the SAL letter in this on-line form and added a box for you to leave more detailed comments. I would appreciate if you could take time to fill in the form so that we can gain an accurate picture of the opinion of the club to feed back to SAL. Only responses from current club members will be considered. The responses received so far are summarised here.

Alan

KILLIN 10K

For the 3rd year Tay Fitness held their now annual running event on Saturday 24^th August in the village of Killin which is on the outskirts of Stirlingshire about 30mins from Callandar and 90 mins from East Kilbride.  This year they had their highest number of entrants in the 10k with 165 and 55 for the 1k fun run.

The 10k route started at the west end of the village in the Acharn Forest Car Park next to the war memorial.  From there 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 (Event HQ) 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.

To my surprise I was joined by Stuart Waugh at the start line which was unexpected however it played well in my race plan to get a pb.  Both Stuart & I ran the BMAF 10k last week and we were running close to each other so I knew if I could stay near to him I could get a pb.  Stuart was initially running consciously as he has an achilles problem so for the first 4k we were taking turns leading.  After that distance marker Stuart slowly started to accelerate away and I thought about chasing him down but chose to stick to my own race plan but keep him in sight.  Once we had climbed the hill at Lochlay Hydro station and looped the Marshall it was downhill from 7k.  I could still see Stuart at this point so at every distance marker I ran short hard reps for about a minute to make up time.  When I reached the 9k mark I was about 42 mins on my watch so I felt if I was going to get a pb I better up the pace.  So for the last 1k I just imagined I was running the last section of Chatelherault and ran as hard as I could to the finish.

Stuart’s debut time on this course was 46:22 and my time was 46:47 (2mins 17 secs faster the last year).  This is a season’s best for me, only second time under 47 mins and 13 seconds shy of my pb.

After the racing both Stuart & I enjoyed a free massage, well for a small donation, from the team of therapists from Athletes Angels and 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. 

Heres the link to Tay Fitness if any other Harriers fancy it next year: http://www.tayfitness.com/killin-10k/

Thanks to Richard for the report

Extreme Hill Reps

Just in case you think I am here in Canada to relax, a wee update on the situation so far. I have now run 9 days in a row totaling about 50 miles (a big step up considering I have been struggling to run 9 days in a month for the past year). Feeling better and more like my old self everyday. Most of the runs have been in the Quebec ski resort of Mont Tremblant, venue for Ironman Canada and where 8 of us were sharing a wonderful lakeside apartment (Colin and Dawn doing Ironman and 6 of us supporters/hingers oan).

Mont Tremblant Training Run Profile

Biggest training run for me was a 10 miler up and down Mont Tremblant. 2000 foot ascent to the top of the mountain on a really rough trail through the forest in about 1:10 and then an "accident waiting to happen" descent straight down one of the ski slopes which took only 15 minutes! Dawn's boyfriend, GB International ultra runner Matt Williamson did the run with me and was kind enough to wait for me when I mamby pampied over some of the rougher bits.

Highlight of every training run has come at the end where it was a case of vest and shoes off and dive off the jetty into the lake for a swim. With the water temperature at 22 deg C and the air temperature at 30 deg C, this was not open water swimming as we know it in Scotland!

View from the top. Apartment is on the far shore of the lake below.

The important stats for the Ironman were that both Dawn and Colin set pb's, Dawn finishing in 12:40 and Colin in 10:18 which included a hugely impressive marathon time of 3:30 on a hilly course and 30 degree C plus heat.

See you all for the final Chatelherault of the season at 7pm on Monday.
Alan

Irvine Marymass 10k

After a bit of a confusing start with some saying 7.15 and others saying 7.30 and an announcement saying  7.30 the horn went at 7.26. Feeling a bit self conscious in my new flashy running shoes, I had a great start. Good conditions for running a bit warm but a slight breeze. I decided to just stay somewhere in the top 10 and came in 8th place with a time of 36.20,  (10th last year) and 2nd vet. 1 1/2 from 3rd place. This is a great wee SLA measured course. I will be back next year but will have to get myself a flashier pair of trainers!
Ian Hughes

Westerlands Time Trial

Westerland Cross Country Club invited Calderglen Harriers to take part in their 5 mile handicap time trial on Wednesday night at Calderglen country park.
So last night 3 members of Calderglen turned up to take part Chas,Neil and Eddie.  The course was around the top of the Glen and back to the castle.
The fastest man was Marc Roper in a time of 32.29 and the fastest woman was Sarah Adam in a time of 37.32. Eddie was the first harrier home in 33.30, third overall.
Neil was fourth in 33.45 and Chas completed the course in a time of 50.02.  Following the run the Westerlands club were invited to join us socially in the sports club for
a post-match refreshment.  A great night was had by all and a  big thanks to Westerland for letting us take part in their time trial.

Eddie

CHATELHERAULT TRAINING

Monday 26th will be the last training session at Chatelherault and due to fading light it will start at 7pm instead of the usual 7.30.

BMAF 10K CHAMPIONSHIP

Today we had seven Harriers take part in the BMAF 10k Championship at Pollock Park. At registration we decided to move D Watt and myself down in age group to make a M35 team with R Lawton then with about 15 mins to go we headed to the start which is just over 1k away. This is a 2 lap plus route and soon we were all lined up for the off in a large field for a vets only race of just over 200. Charlie McDougall being a bit smaller than most of us found the speed bumps like hurdles and round about the 1k mark clipped one with his trailling leg and down he went. With a few scrapes and bumps he picked himself up and got on with the job in hand. 1st Harrier of the day was D Watt in 45th place (36.48). Next in was the bloodied C McDougal 100th place (40.41) definetly not running at his best after his tumble. A Henderson running steadily after his tumble on Monday was 122nd (42.01). Next in was Billy the boxer Buchanan who declared after the race he had been learning about the use of elbows from me as in the last half k he found himself in a battle with a W60 and M65 which he edged out with afore mentioned elbows finishing in 133rd (43.43). S Waugh still struggling badly with injury worked hard to complete and got round in 157th (46.49). Next the ever improving R Lawton 163rd (47.29). Finaly after everyone was washed and changed ME 189th (56.54) happy enough as over a minute faster than when I ran the course in May and a negative split. Good news at the prize giving with our M55-64 Charlie, Andy and Billy picking up Bronze medals. For the record Davy, Richard and Myself just missed out 4th place M35-44. Many thanks to Maud and Neil for their vocal support today.

Forth Road Bridge 10k

On a windy Sunday I set off to do the Forth Road Bridge 10k, which I have done previously in 2010. There were strong cross winds on the bridge.  After a breathless warm up ,  the gun went and the leaders surged forward and I felt as though I had been left behind.  Staying calm I managed to pick a few off coming in 11th place and 4th vet,  in a time of 37.44. If I had known at the time that the bridge has some structural problems my time would have been much faster!
Ian Hughes

Thanks to Ian for the report and well done on a good time on an exposed route.
Alan

Harriers Island Bagging in Loch Lomond

Billy and Kenny took a pair of Harriers out of their natural environment at the weekend to go kayaking on Loch Lomond (I would have been wary about going out to the middle of the loch in case Billy and Kenny were out to seek revenge for the fact that we never let them forget a certain hill relay in Fife!) Pictures of the weekend are here.
Alan

Here is the full report from Billy.
Harriers Island Bagging on Loch lomond.10/11 Aug 2013
The long planned trip to Loch Lomond finally materialised as Eddie and Jim presented themselves at the EEKC kayak club lockup to be "decked out" with the appropriate equipment on saturday morning. If you see the photos from the trip please note that they are beautifully colour co-ordinated with matching bouyancy aids and sea kayaks. This was a pure fluke and nothing to do with Kenny "Gok Wan", so ladies if you volunteer for this at some point do not naturally expect this to be a normal occurrence.
Saturday we launched from Balmaha at which point Jim stated he wanted to visit as many islands as possible, Ah well ! we aim to please so the trip became the equivalent  of Munro bagging ie Island bagging. I think they took it a bit far as they landed on anything that had a strip of land 2 kayaks wide and at least 1 stunted bush/tree even when it was not on the map at all and certainly not named but once they started we could not stop them.
The day progressed well the sun shone and even though there was a fairly stiff breeze both "novices" looked fairly relaxed and at times looked as if they were enjoying themselves, I am sure the photos bear this out. As a side trip we visited the Loch Lomond Championship Golf Course attacking it from the water side and bagging a few golf balls. How Jim spotted these is a minor miracle, it must be his finely tuned golfers instinct for lost balls.
 A few islands were bagged and approx 7 miles paddled, oh and with lunch on an island another stipulation made before we set out. (The demands some people make !!)
Saturday evening was spent at Sallochy Wood campsite on a lochside pitch, was was sufficiently far away from the wardens that they could not see our fluid intake during the evening which was possibly breaking one of the camp site rules. 
We stayed up  past our normal bedtimes to check the skies for a meteor shower which had been forecast for that evening, and were rewarded with one big sighting of at least 2 secs, but impressive nerveless and one smaller of the blink and you miss it variety. 
All slept well despite the rain bouncing off the tents during the night.
Sunday we drove round to Luss and launched from there with even more islands to bagg. We even bagged a castle ( ok a small one , a very small one with only one window) but it is marked on the map. Lunch was on Inchmoan island which is meant to have a Wallaby population, we cannot confirm this as they stayed hidden obviously not fancying our "peices"
As a change from the normal posing pictures we tried for some "star jump" action pictures as perfected on Islay the previous weekend . Obviously not perfected by the deadly duo Eddie and Jim who look more look they are doing something else entirely !, nothing to do with the camera man's timing you understand.
After visiting the last island in the vicinity which was more or less directly opposite Luss we headed back directly into the wind.
The "novices" here showed how they had progressed over the weekend - they were " flying" I think they thought they were in an Aulhouse time tria lwith something to prove. No seriously they both looked good and did very well considering this was their first time on moving water , no tides obviously but plenty wind to whip up some waves and cause a wee bit excitement especially when they were broadside on on. If you want to make them feel superior ask them what a skeg is . 
Finally as the sun came as we got to shore in Luss they decided to get wet (that is Eddie did, Jim naturally had to follow or be called a wimp), Kenny and felt we had the T-shirts for this and left it to them to  provide a bit of entertainment for the people on the beach. I think it was actually appreciated as Eddie did ask some people if they had been entertained , they said yes but did not put anything in his hat.
Anyway it was a great weekend and if this "wets" your appetite for some of the same then you only have to say. 

Quiz Night - Friday 6th September

Jim Holmes' Mum is organising a quiz night to raise funds for her church roof repair. It would be great if we could get a few Harriers teams in (teams of 4ish). The quiz takes place on Friday 6th September in the British Legion and goes on to around midnight. The cost is £5 per person.
Alan

Helensburgh Half Marathon

Last weekend was a weekend of halves.  With more than half the club at Islay and I am sure more than a few half pints at Islay ceilidh, less than half the club made the trip to the west coast for the Helensburgh Half on Sunday 4th August. More precisely it was a small band of 3 Harriers (Stephen Phimister, Alison Lessells and myself) deciding to take on the fast & flat course minus a few climbs thrown in to spice the race up.
With an early race start of 9.30am meant an even earlier start from EK leaving at 7.30am to get there for 8.30am to allow enough time to get race numbers and to warm up. At the start the weather was very pleasant with the sun out but not too warm kept cool by the sea breeze.

The race started 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. I passed the 3 mile mark about 23.5 mins and 6 mile mark about 47.47mins so I felt was on course for 1:45 target.  With cooler weather conditions I think anyone in good shape can get a good time but we all felt we ran well half way and found the rest of the race hard as the sun’s heat intensified during the race with no shelter in any part of the route.

Stephen Phimister was 1st Harrier home in 1:31:38 which was about 3 mins down on his time last year,
followed by Alison Lessells in 1:42:34 and Richard Lawton with 1:12min pb (despite the heat) in 1:47:21.
Julie Beveridge’s sister Louise was running the race and achieved at time of 1:25:01.

For the juniors there was a 2k fun run and Stephen’s son Mark was flying the flag for the junior Harriers in that race.  He was 3rd in his age group, under 11s’.

A small foot note, Scottish International runner Hayley Haining was competing in the Half for her club Kilbarchan AAC and was 2nd overall and 1st in her age group in a time of 1:15:42.  Not many races you get the chance to run with a Commonwealth Games 2014 athlete.
Richard

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

TTC Dinner Choices

It is time to gather your choices for Friday and Saturday evening dinner for those who have entered the Trossachs Training Camp. Your entry fee includes 2 courses per night (starter + main or main + dessert) however you can add a third course by paying  £3.50 per extra course.

Refer to the menu here for a description of each course and then record your choices on this on-line form. You must make a choice for each menu item. If choosing only two courses then please select the "none" option for the course not being taken.

Leave a comment on this post or ask me at the club if you have any questions.
Alan

Islay Half Marathon 2013 - Whisky Galore

Most of the 2013 Calderglen Team. You can never round them all up!

A massive team of Harriers spent a fantastic August Bank Holiday weekend on Islay for the Half Marathon and various other very enjoyable pursuits. Throughout Friday the Harriers arrived on the island and settled into our very luxurious accommodation in the Bowmore Distillery Cottages. We had booked out the cottages a year in advance such is their popularity with 14 of us in a very smart, 3-floor "cottage" with top floor observatory and the others split between even more luxurious 4 place cottages complete with jacuzzis. Its a long time since we spent the Islay weekend camped out in a van or spread across the masonic lodge hall floor!

Support team outside "Oor Hoose"

On Saturday morning we stepped out into a very windy but warm day with 25mph winds forecast, giving us a cross wind on the way out and perhaps a slight tailwind on the way back.  A record field of 182 had entered the race of which 169 turned up on the day. A fantastic field considering the remote location. Before the start the many Harriers attracted a lot of attention with comments such as "Look at all the Bumble Bees!". The uphill start quickly spread the field out and soon it was the familiar uphill slog for most of the first 6 miles. Ian Hughes and Davy Watt stretched away with the lead pack whilst I struggled along back in around 10th place very much on my own. The wind was slightly into our face but mainly a cross wind so not too much of a problem. However on turning downhill just before halfway we felt the full force of the wind in our face and at that point two runners powered past me. Turning onto the airport straight, the wind was again mainly a cross wind but there was a little bit of a push in the back too which was very welcome. After a few more miles a squally shower moved through for about 5 minutes providing some welcome cooling. Then the sun was back out and burning all the way to the finish.

There are so many Harriers to mention that I shall leave it to the official results list to present the times. Davy Watt was first Harrier to finish in 3rd overall (2nd M50) followed by Ian Hughes who not only gets faster every year but also gets younger as the official results did not list him as a veteran (he was last year!). Next in was me who was only saved from a personal worst by the fact that I did a half marathon in California last November after two months out with injury and absolutely no training and hence was a minute slower than at Islay (makes me wonder if its worth training if it only gets me a minute faster!). Eddie Reid ran a controlled race, except for the last 50m where he was involved in the closest sprint finish of the race and helped secure the team prize for Calderglen's men (4 to count). Julie Beveridge was our first lady to finish (2nd overall) and dragged Billy Buchanan around to our only age group champion of the day, Billy winning the M60 category. Not far behind was Jim Holmes who had the whole family over for the weekend. Joanne McEvoy was next across the line (5th lady) with a totally controlled, stress free run.

Graham Ramage continues to make steady progress back to form whilst John McBride continues to have a fantastic year with yet another pb. Colin Banks is another who is making a good, steady recovery from injury and ran a fine time on his first attempt at Islay. Frances Maxwell wasn't even sure she would start due to a recurring injury but was fine for most of the race and finished hand in hand with Jim Mearns, also making his Islay debut. Geo Ferguson made a rare race appearance but finished in good form despite realising after 3 miles that he was wearing the wrong shoes! At least they were not brogues! David Searil stepped down considerably in distance so had no problems whatsoever in completing one lap of the half marathon course. Ruth Kelly continues to improve and set pb's in every race and this was no exception and finished feeling better than she has ever done after a half marathon. Ruth completed the winning ladies team. Russell Couper was fearing the worst before the race but actually finished well ahead of his prediction and was relatively pain free too which is always a bonus.

Russell races himself to the line (first time that time lapse photography has been used for a photo finish! Only joking Russell)

Ruth makes a showbix style finish. I have no idea how Google turned this into a movie!

After a quick swim in the pool, it was off to the prize giving where the sponsor, Ardbeg, excelled themselves again with the biggest spread of prizes you are ever likely to see at any race, of which Calderglen once again walked away with a significant portion.

The Calderglen Prize Haul (and Russell)

Before we knew it, it was time for our dinner appointment at the Lochside Hotel (table for 24 please!) where the food and drink were well received. A few hours later and we were off to the ceilidh where stiff legs and sore feet were tested to the limit in the best Islay ceilidh for many years. The hall and dance floor were packed. Russell and Davy had a particularly enjoyable evening on finding out that the sponsor's product was still available for free and displayed some very nifty footwork navigating the dance floor and the road back to the cottage later on.

As we were staying to the Monday this year, Sunday was a very relaxed day with some beach time (the beautiful Saligo Bay) and some fire raizing (aka barbecuing) back at the cottages. The beach was fantastic and it was not long before the wet suited surfers were joined by the toughest of the tough in trunks (Davy Searil and John McBride). It could have been California!

Back at the cottages a team of Harriers launched themselves into the task of preparing for the barby with many experts looking on and offering advice. After much deliberation about where to site the barby, a position was chosen beneath the cottage propane gas store (well it looked like an electrical cabinet, not a gas store. They should have put a bigger "no naked flames" label on it!), Eddie was head chef and coped admirably with the combination of apparently fire-proof Co-op disposable barbies combined with half a cow's worth of burgers and 70 chicken breasts (supplied by the absent Hugh Simpson). Everyone survived. What more do you want!

Usually there is no smoke without fire but there is
 always an exception to the rule!

The day ended with a spectacular sunset across the bay and was a perfect end to a perfect weekend. On Monday morning those of us on the earlier ferry departed after breakfast whilst the lucky few stayed on for a Bowmore distillery tour and an afternoon departure.

Thanks to all for making this a wonderful weekend. We are hoping to do the same next year but unfortunately the accommodation will be different as the Bowmore Cottages are already booked out. Still its the people that make the weekend.

Some of my photos from the weekend are here (thanks to Sandra for expertly managing the photography whilst I was trying to run the race and to our enthusiastic supporters - Maud and Stuart Waugh, Dot McBride, Sandra Reid, Jean Buchanan and Alison Searil). More photos will be added as and when they are received.

Davy and Alison's photos are now available here.

Alan

Auldhouse 5k

Its amazing what a difference the element of danger makes to performances = the fright and flight response in action! No one was hanging about for long in the vicinity of Auldhouse tonight. There were many course bests, season's bests and personal bests in the record equaling turnout of 24 Harriers for tonight's penultimate time trial of the Summer. I shall provide further details of cb's, sb's and pb's later but for now please enjoy the full results using the link to the Auldhouse times in the menu to the left.
Well done all and thanks to Joanne for helping with the timing!
Alan

Muchty Run

Made it to the 5k Auchtermuchty race tonight (Wednesday). A tiny wee village in Fife. Registration was full of smurfs, Popeyes and all kinds of fancy dress costumes. I felt the odd one out for a change! However, come 6.30pm it was clear that this lot were in the pram race. This coincided with the heavens opening up! Good to watch as they all sped off one after one (think it was a time trial). By the time 7pm came it was still pouring as we all huddled together at the start and hummed the tune to singing in the rain! No warm up for me beforehand, just peeled off my top and got on the start line. The route was an out and back, and I suppose it was similar our own time trial, but going up to the windfarm instead. Time 21.34 and think I made a top 10 place! Not too sure what to make of it? Obviously you lose time on the climb, but possibly make it all up on the way down. Another day - another race!
George

Well done George, 6 races in a week. You will become a runner yet.
Alan

TOF DAY 5: SKULL MOUNTAIN

Sunday was the final race of the 5 day Tour of Fife!
I was feeling okay having raced 4 days in a row. My legs were obviously tired, but any aches and pains from the first few days were gone. I arrived in Falkland early, and after a quick visit to the village hall toilet, and seeing it full of guys trying to decide where's the best place for their skull tattoo, I decided it was too scary and just go to the start! I was talking to a few of the locals to see where we were going? Some had a recce of the course over the weekend and told me the news that I didn't want to hear "it's not 3.2 mile as advertised, it's now 4 miles!" Great!
It was a warm and sunny day, and just perfect for the last one. Everyone was in good spirits. Plenty of skull tattoos around and the flag flying high with the slogan "No quarter given - No mercy! The race organisers Brian Crucikshanks and Tony Martin had put on a fantastic race series. So after a brief speech and appreciation from the competitors, we're off.......
The race starts with the usual charge down and round the hairpin bend. This time we head up a tar track which is fairly steep, but runnable (for me anyway, which makes a change!). Then a sharp left turn to what I'd describe as "down the glen". Before long we hit the tunnel - this was spoken about at the start - it's a brick tunnel with a BEND... and with a bend, you can't see the other side!! I've posted a picture of Dell Ray from Anstruther who finished second in every race, apart from this one! He past me at the turn and I kinda thought it was fake for a minute, but I found out afterwards that he hit the tunnel wall. Luckily, I was pretty safe as there was lots of people around me and we kinda did a conga line through it... with a few sexual assaults claims afterwards!
The trail then brings you back to the start and it's back up the hill on the tar. I was thinking "this is ok...so much for skull mountain?"....but instead of turning left, we are sent straight up. It was horrendous, struggled like hell and loads were passing me. Eventually I reached the monument and was soon on the decent. Possibly 1.5 miles straight down the rocky path. This was great, as there was now lots of runners on the receiving end. I ended up catching most of them that would normally have been behind me. In a finishing time of 31.13 which gave me a total of 2.30.19 for the 5 days.
All in all, a very enjoyable 5 days. A great variety of running, both tough physically and mentally, but always with a bit of spice and humour in it as well.  Managed 1 PB, realised that I'm crap on long hills and better on sand, made loads of new friends - which was highlighted when you hear people from other clubs shouting "come on Calderglen" when you are in the home straight.
And as Arnie says "I'll be back!!
George

TOF DAY 4! CHARIOTS OF FIRE

I wasn't too bothered about this one to be honest. Whereas some of the competitors were dreading it....It's SAND! My legs were really tired and sore going in to the hill last night, but it was short and I felt slightly better today. This is a different race entirely, more for speed, different muscle groups, and of course, it's flat. I probably ran 4.5miles on the sand a few weeks ago at Sandy Slither and as long as it's the wet stuff, it's fine. The other big talking point was shoes - I opted for racers.
I arrived early as there was a wee concern about traffic around some silly golf thing. It was a very windy day which stopped play and allowed me to get parked. The beach was deserted at this point.
I waited until I was stripped and had a wee run about on the wet sand, probably not enough, but I'll need to do. Soon there was the usual bunch of around 150 at the harbour end of  St Andrew's Beach. I noticed the no-one was warming up either and just standing around waiting on the start. All a bit strange, 6.30pm on a Saturday night!
Next thing we're off. I started fast, not intentionally, but I was with runners that I'm not usually with. Think I paid for it as one of the Fife guys that has been a few places behind me past me before the bend. I was fighting to stay on the wet sand, but it's a fairly sharp left turn and I was losing too much ground. I needed to give in and hit the soft stuff, then some grassy dunes, followed by sinking sand as I hit the water. There was 2 steaks in the sea with Brian and Tony dressed in Hawaii shirts, splashing you as much as they can.
On the way back I just headed for the wet stuff and ran on my own. But as you come in to the finishing straight (hard to judge as it must be more than a mile) you all end up back together and I didn't seem to be any closer to the runners in front. I was suffering and just wanted to get back. I had the guy from Fife, girl from Corstorphine that was a place or two away from me in previous nights and another girl about 5 meters ahead. It stayed like that for ages. We were also closing other runners down. I knew if I pushed myself I'd fly past them, I just had to wait and time it. I looked up from time to time to see the finish and try and judge the distance. You can see the buildings clear, but the people are ants, then bigger ants..... I made my move and shot past them before refocusing and thinking, Jesus there's still about 600mts to go! I hung in there and was not passed, but there was about 6 of us with only a few seconds apart. Time 30.26 PB by 9 seconds. Distance 4.25miles.
Collected my free skull tattoos for tomorrow's final race "skull mountain".
George

TOF DAY 3: UP HELL TIME TRIAL

After 2 days of trail racing my legs were tired. I was looking forward to this one being really short, which would give me a bit of a well needed rest. I know it's pain as we are running up a ski slope, but it is only 1.4 miles.

This is the race that probably has the most atmosphere. All meet at the village hall in Falkland to declare yourself, confirm your start time...we are off in two's at 30 second intervals, selection amongst the mere mortals is random to prevent any advantage being gained, although they contradict this by leaving all the fast guys to the end.
It's limited car spaces at the mast on East Lomond, so I was car sharing with my Las Vegas best buddies. The warm up was ideal with a 20 minute run down the hill to the start.
At the bottom, they line you up ready to go by calling your name, there's always 3 sets of 2 waiting...2 ready to go, 2 with 30 secs and the last 2 with 60 sec. There's over 100 people here warming up in a small area and plenty of banter combined with the natural apprehension of having to run up what you have just came down.

I had a start time of 8.05 and 30 secs, a bit late as I have done it twice before and I'm usually up early enough to see most of the others crawl up behind. There is a threat of getting wet tonight, as I'm told that the 2 organisers will be in costume "the grim reaper and the devil (think we have our own version of these guys at out club too)" and have water guns!

Anyway, the runners disappear in pairs, up and round the corner, and out of sight, until there's only about 10 of us left. What am I doing still here, I ask myself? Then I realize that there's a good chance that I'll be last, as these guys will fly up it. My previous times were 14.36 then 14.07. A young U20 was going 60 secs behind me and was trying to set a new U20 record of 10.20.
My turn and I'm off, hell, hell, hell! They all pass me as expected and I could sense the sweeper car behind me. By now everyone is up and cheering away, with a few already starting to make their decent back down and giving me a supporting shout. I finished like a train (well, last 200mtrs anyway)....to have the devil squirt me in the face with a high powered water pistol. Just what I needed!! 14.53 for my efforts. A bit disappointed as I was at 7.11 when crossing the halfway marker on the road, but it just gets harder as you climb.
Hope legs are no worse for beach race tomorrow.
George

TOF DAY TWO! TARVIT TRAIL RACE

(note to myself - you talk a load of crap at times!)
What made me think this was an easy run? Firstly - it's a massive 4.8 miles, and secondly - there's hills in it!
I managed to arrive here in plenty of time, so loads of chatting to fellow competitors (sorry Alan, I know, should be stretching and warming up).

I knew the course from last time, so did a quick warm up with a couple of the Fife guys. I seemed to have forgotten about 2 steep muddy hills. We ran the first one, but the other was like the start of Chatelherault, steep and kills your legs...no point in doing that unless I have too! The course was 3 laps and a bit (the bit being 400/500 mtrs which takes you off the tar path and on to a lovely grassy lawn with the finishing post at the far end). Each lap was 1.5 miles, but this is about the hills as everything else is completely manageable.
Like before the race is started by some old bloke dressed in some dodge gear - not me for a change! (to be fair, he was a nice old boy who must be responsible for the mansion house and was dressed in old plus4's golfing clothes). After a quick speech, he blows his whistle and we are off. An element of control is required as we are 400 mtrs away from the woods and first hill. I'm determined to run them no matter what! As soon as I hit the woods, some beastie goes down my throat, while another one is busy stinging my arm. I swiped the wee bugger, but there was a sting in my arm throbbing away. There was no way I was stopping, so did the best I could to squeeze it out. After both hills you come down through the car park (on tar) and have about a mile round a field, through another wood (flatish) and back on to the tar road at the start.
First lap 11.38. Just need to get the flamin hills over again. Managed it without being attacked!! Back round the field and approaching the hills for the last time. I was running nip and tuck with a guy from Perth. I was happy staying at this pace as no-one was catching and we were slowly closing people down who were in front. I waited until the end of the tar, before hitting the grass finish to make my move, and past 3 in the run in. Finished in 38.18 67th place. 37.42 2 years ago, so not too bad.

Tomorrow is the 1.4 hill on road. I'm glad as my legs are tired.
I've been talking to my pals from Leven Las Vegas and they told me that they have a surprise for me tomorrow?
George

TOF Squirrel Twirrel

Well, here I am at in Fife facing 5 days of racing. The first race always has a bit of fear and apprehension, which is just pre-race nerves.....but after the adrenaline starts to kick in, you wake up on the 6th day thinking that there's something wrong with you because you are not racing.
Registration was at the village hall, Falkland (a familiar sight for the Devil's Burden/National Trail Race Harriers). Followed by the usual warm up of about half a mile through the twisting streets to "the duck pond" Falkland Estate.

Some of the (more serious) clubs were well represented, like Anstruther Haddies with 20 runners of all ages. I guess some (less serious) clubs allow their flock to go on a 3 day jolly with one race in the middle, something I'll never understand!

The race started on a hairpin bend, so for once in my life I had to become Russell (sorry pal) and get up the front. It was frantic as the 1st mile was all down hill. We then went over a few wooden planks and up, up, up through the woods. My claim to be a hill specialist was soon found out as I was walking at one point. I was certainly going through a bad patch here and was disappointed as 2 Fife runners (usually close to me) sped past. I soon hit the top of the woods and was met with a mile down hill finish. Great, just what I needed! This allowed me to reinvent myself and at least past several runners, including one of the Fife guys.
Distance 4.6 mile Time 35.28 Sitting 59th position
It was a hard start for sure with 4.8mile on Thursday night. I've ran this before and it's not as demanding (as long as you wear studs).
George

Well done George for a fine performance on day 1 of the Tour of Fife and for not blowing our cover as one of the less serious clubs (walking in a 4.6 mile race!). The rest of us are off for a less than serious weekend on Islay for the half marathon (13.1 miles). By my reckoning its going to take you 3 days of racing to match that distance. Keep the reports coming through.