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| Harriers await their turn to run in the dry |
The club tent came into its own at Saturday's 45th Allan Scally Road Relay in Baillieston. It was an afternoon of heavy showers but the 16 Harriers in attendance were well protected from the elements until it was time to run thanks to the club tent, strategically positioned 20m from the start line. With this being the 6th week of racing in a row for some and the longest of the season's Grand Prix races so far (4.8 miles per leg), we really did not need the weather to be against us. However, the first leg runners got the best of the weather, starting in a shower which quickly passed leaving windless conditions perfect for running. On first legs we had Alan Derrick for the vets team, Andy Henderson, Colin Banks, Chas Steven and Joanne McEvoy. As this race is also the Scottish Universities Road Relay Championships, we were all very quickly dropped by the young students who were flying. However I moved steadily through to finish in 28:26. The first half was mainly downhill and so the pace was quite nippy but naturally the second half had a lot of uphills on which I struggled, particularly inside the last mile. Although not a hugely impressive time, on checking back it was only 13 seconds slower than 4 years ago, the only previous time I have run this course. Goodness knows what must have been wrong with me 4 years ago! Andy Henderson used his considerable experience to pace this one well, finishing a second faster than last year in 31:51. Joanne McEvoy was the third Harrier to finish, well aware of the hills in the latter stages, Joanne took a more cautious approach at the start which worked well, finishing in an excellent 33:41, a result which takes her to the top of the ladies Grand Prix. Colin Banks had led all the Harriers for the first 50m or so but did fade. The first leg was good for Colin though and kept him in close competition with others, eventually out sprinting an Edinburgh University student to finish in 34:34. Chas Steven had never done this new course before but really enjoyed the twists, turns and undulations through the leafy streets of Mount Vernon. Chas finished in 41:00.
David Herbertson was out on leg 2 for the vets A team and by this time the weather was starting to deteriorate with not only torrential rain but also strong winds. Even by leg 2 the field was well stretched out meaning that every competitor was more or less doing an individual time trial. Even so, David ran well to finish in 31:43, only 20 seconds or so outside his best achieved in much better conditions and jumping to the lead of the Grand Prix. Stuart Waugh took over from Andy in the wildest of conditions for the B team and consequently did not get a clear answer to the question of whether he is back to good road racing form or not. Stuart finished in 33:45. Ruth Kelly was on leg 2 for our incomplete ladies' team (Frances having twisted an ankle at training last week) and confessed to having enjoyed this varied course despite the weather. Ruth finished in 41:03. John McBride was happy to be back on the roads but would have preferred better weather. Nevertheless John smashed his debut time from last year by some margin to finish in 35:51. Russell Couper is still held together with bandages and was not sure what would happen with this longer road race. However he did get around and was inside his target time, finishing in 45:48.
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| Hugh talks tactics with Joanne |
Eddie Reid arrived straight from work for leg 3 for the vets team and despite some worries about a pain in the knee during the warm-up, this proved to be no problem during the race and Eddie kept the vets team in contention, finishing in 31:27. Richard Lawton was another who demolished his previous best time, completing the third leg for the B team in 35:55. Hugh Simpson is running well now and is benefiting from weeks of back-to-back races. Hugh also set a course best of 36:09 for the C team. Final leg for the vets team was assigned to Jim Holmes who had been suffering from a cold through the week. A good soaking was the last thing Jim needed. However the race was sufficiently spread out not to put Jim under too much pressure and he ran around in a good time of 33:00. Jim Mearns is really getting conditioned to these shorter road races and has the confidence to attack from the start, knowing he can hold on. Jim finished in an excellent 34:05 and despite saying that this club will be the death of him, moves up within sight of the leaders in the Grand Prix. Jim was set off together with Phil Marshall and the 3 other remaining final leg runners, making a race of it. Phil battled hard to finish in 37:30. Well done to all!
Once the results were compiled, Calderglen's Vets A team were announced as first veteran team, so well done to Alan, David, Eddie and Jim on a great performance, keeping the Harriers' name in focus.
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| Veteran Winners: Jim Holmes, David Herbertson, Eddie Reid and Alan Derrick |
A great event, with a long history that should be better supported than it is. Only 39 teams started this event which in years gone by has had over 100 teams. Shettleston Harriers had marshalls out on all the many corners in atrocious weather and had a good spread of rolls, biscuits, tea and coffee back in the school, free for all entrants, together with generous prizes. Calderglen were one of the best represented club teams, which was great to see and appreciated by the organisers. A big thanks to Frances for her support, timing and photography and to Andy for bringing the much needed tent down. More photos will follow.
Alan
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