Auldhouse Time Trial 2014 Season Starter

This Thursday 1st May is our first outing over the Auldhouse 5k time trial course. As usual, please turn up at the Sports Club prior to 7:30 so that names and starting order can be worked out. This is run as an individual time trial with runners starting at 30 second intervals. The main purpose of the session is to monitor progress on a consistent course through the Summer season. The reason for running it as an individual time trial is to take away the pacing and tactical aspect to a certain extent leaving it as a pure effort and exercise in pace judgement. It is not a fast course, so the absolute time is not so important, it is how you improve as the months go on.

The time trials will be held on the first Thursday of each month May to September inclusive.
Alan

Scottish Athletics Trail Championships

Now in its 2nd year the Trail Championships will take place on Saturday 17th May in Falkland Fife.
The route is the same as last year and provides some excellent running suited to Calderglen Harriers.
The Ladies start at 1pm running 10k.
The men start at 2pm running 15k.  Declarations close 30mins before each race.
Cost is £6 each.
This race is recommended as a should do so please add your name below or see me at the club on training nights and I need names by Thursday 1st May.
Please add your name HERE.
Those already entered are listed HERE.

MEMBERSHIP FEES OVERDUE

It has now been some time since membership fees were due. Several members have not renewed nor been at training. Can i ask anyone that has not renewed if you could let us know if you are intending to return or if you are resigning your membership. This is important to allow us to keep our records up to date.

Many thanks

Chatelherault Kick-Off

Thanks to all for a great turn out on our first Chatelherault session of 2014. Hopefully the weather continues to be fine for the rest of the season. As usual, please record your time, effort and comments using the "Enter Chaterlherault Times" link in the menu to the left. You can also see previous years' times and comments using the "Chatelherault Times" menu item. Already we have some pb's!
Alan

LADIES NIGHT @ RUN4IT GLASGOW TISO BRANCH

All Calderglen Harriers Ladies are invited to RUN4IT Glasgow Tiso Branch on Tues 29th Apr from 7pm till 9.30pm. There will be discounts and a prize draw. Download this poster for details.

Chatelherault Training Starts 21st April

Our annual fortnightly decamp to Chatelherault Country Park for Monday training instead of the Sports Club starts tomorrow, Monday 21st April and fortnightly thereafter until the last session on 8th September (daylight allowing). Meet at the main Chatelherault Car Park (through the entrance on Fernigair Road and follow the drive to the last car park on the right hand side) ready to run at 7:30pm. If you need a lift or don't know how to get there, be at the Sports Club changed and ready to run at 7pm and we will try to make sure there is someone there who either has a car or knows where they are going.

The full schedule of dates is on the club events calendar and repeated below.
April 21st
May 5th and 19th
June 2nd, 16th and 30th
July 14th and 28th
August 11th and 25th
September 8th

If there are any changes to those dates, then they will be announced on the blog.

Note that this is a reasonably tough 7 mile route. Road shoes are fine. If you have not done the lap before or not often, then please remember to run with a pack and do not go off on your own if you feel you are too fast for your pack. Chances are you will get lost and we have to send out search parties looking for you; not an easy task in this network of paths. So be sensible, you have plenty of opportunities to learn the lap in the coming months and to go for a fast time when you are familiar with the route.
Alan

Virgin London Marathon

Overall I really enjoyed the London marathon experience, but it didn’t go as well as I’d hoped.

I felt really good and well prepared on race morning. The sun was shinning at Greenwich for the start and spirits were high. Conditions seemed ideal for me, but possibly a bit warm if you were expecting to be in the bottom half of the finishers. My only concern was that I'd applied enough sun tan lotion.The gun went off at 10am and 30 secs later I'd crossed the start line.

The race felt comfortable in the first six miles. I felt I was pacing it well, breathing wasn't heavy & I was ticking off the miles at a constant 2 hour 50 min finishing pace. However, just after mile six my hamstring tweaked. It was the same injury I got just after Christmas that took 3 weeks to get over and I thought it had healed. I had to shorten my stride to keep going, but I knew there was no way it would last another 20miles. I was still holding a decent pace shuffling along, but was just waiting for it to completely go. I got to 10 miles in 65 mins, the same time as I did in my only other marathon at Inverness and I still felt good apart from the hamstring.

Then, unfortunately, at mile 11 the inevitable happened and I’d a much bigger tweak which forced me to stop and walk. I tried to move to the side of the course, but was constantly getting bumped into by people who didn’t see me. The crowd also kept on shouting "keep going, don’t give up you can do it". So it was turning into a bit of a nightmare. I just wanted out of there, but wasn’t going to give up even if I’d to walk all the way to the finish. At that point I was thinking, I’m going to be out here for at least 5 - 6 hours. I then decided to try a bit of easy jogging just to get a bit of peace from the crowd. Thankfully I didn't seem to be making it worse and just kept it going. It felt like huge numbers were flying past me in big waves. The worst bit was when the fancy dress brigade started to pass. It was bad enough getting passed by a bride in a full length gown, I could swear it was Frances (a big congrats btw), but getting passed by someone dressed as the Gherkin building was really painful.

I had been jogging for about another eight miles when I was passed by a guy holding the 3 hour.15 min pace banner. Without realising, my pace had been picking up a bit. I thought that the guy wasn’t really going much faster than me. Suddenly I was thinking that if the hamstring doesn’t get worse I could still get the 3.20 qualifying time for next year. That really lifted my spirits and gave me something to focus on. I was now constantly checking the watch. I knew 8 min miling would just about do it, but as always you get a bit greedy and try to increase the pace slightly. Every time I did this my hamstring started to twinge and I’d have to ease off again. Once I was on the last half mile I was pretty sure I’d get under 3.20 and started to really enjoy it. I even could afford to waste a bit of time after spotting my sister and niece in the crowd. It was hugs all round before making my way down the Mall, which was was just amazing.

 

So looking forward to next year now, but feel like this year has been a missed opportunity for a decent time.

At my lowest point on the course at about mile twelve I was passed by Julie's sister Louise, who seemed to be running very well and offered me some much needed encouragement.

I didn't find Graham Ramage in the masses after the race, but heard he ran as hard as he could. Despite an unfortunate virus a few weeks before London, and not being able to get many miles in his legs leading up to the race, he was still well under 4 hours. I'm sure there's still another PB left in him.

A huge well done to Mandy. She worked her socks off in training and knew on the start line that she'd given herself the best possible chance to survive a marathon. Something that she felt could be beyond her when her entry was accepted. She was delighted with a time of 5.37, which included a ten minute queue for the toilet at halfway and a 10 minute hug from her support crew at mile 25. She said it was the hardest thing she has ever done and never again.....never say never.

I also wanted to mention a fantastic time of 2 hours 46 mins achieved by Gerry McParland at the Manchester marathon last week. a massive PB of 6 mins by a marathon veteren. Just shows what is possible even when you are as old as him.

Martin

Well done to all the marathoners and thanks to Martin for a great report.

Tom Scott 10 Mile Road Race - A Different Perspective!

Two words, hills and wind, characterised this race. Last years race was run in the flat of Strathclyde Park but due to some sporting event taking place in the summer the venue was changed to the wilds of Lanarkshire.  Andrew, John, Richard and Kenny were representing the club at the Scottish 10 mile championships. It was a cold and windy morning and  we were all keen to get moving at the start. Andrew had warned us that the 1st mile was a bit hilly and  we all decided to take that one easy and pick up a bit of speed thereafter. Unfortunately he didnt tell us about the 2nd, 3rd and 4th miles which were not exactly flat.
Setting off into the backroads of Carluke as we climbed at least the wind was behind us. Reaching  5 miles we turned round and  braced ourselves. If we thought the route out was hilly it was equally undulating on the return  except we were now running into a wind tunnel interspersed with squally showers.  This was the time to savour the views of the Lanarkshire hillside and watch the next rainshower race towards us.
After 8 miles we descended into the streets of Carluke and climaxed  with a punishing climb up to the running track and finish.
Despite the wind, rain and hills we all clocked reasonable times with Andrew 1st harrier home in 1.05 00, Kenny next in 1.15.22 followed shortly by John ( who gets faster with each race ) in 1.17.02 . Despite the poor conditions Richard continued his excellent form and rcorded a PB of 1.19.16.
The venue for this race is itinerant and if the route remains the same for next year at least we will be more prepared for the route.
Kenny

Well done Kenny. Good time and nice report.

Tom Scott 10 Mile Road Race - 3 PB's in 7 Days

Today was my 3rd race in 7 days and an opportunity to beat my last 10 mile pb set in April 2010 doing the Tom Scott Memorial 10 miler at Strathclyde Park.

Even though it was the same race today, Tom Scott Memorial 10 miler, it was a different route.  Due to preparation work at Strathclyde Park for the Commonwealth Games the race orgainsers moved it to the back roads of Carluke with the start & finish at The John Cummings Stadium.

150 runners lined up for the 52nd Tom Scott Memorial Road Race and the other Harriers in the field were Andy Buchanan, Kenny Leinster & John McBride.  The race started off without any hitches with a lap of the track to lead us out of the stadium onto the Carluke back roads.  The weather was cold and windy however I took a leaf out of Jim Mearns book and made sure I was dressed for anything with my trusty vest, girlie gloves and 1 step further with a beanie hat (it was cold!).

Within no time we were facing our first hill and that point we didn’t realise this would be the first of many hills. At this point in the race Andy was the lead Harrier followed closely by Kenny, John and myself. It wasn’t till I was running between the 4 & 5 mile marker that I realised it was out & back course as I saw the race car coming down the other side of the road with Robert Gilroy (Cambuslang Harriers), Twelde Mengisteab (Shettleson Harriers) & Stuart Gibson (Cambuslang Harriers) charging downhill.  At this point I could still see Kenny in sight with John chasing him down and thought the turning point must be near but it seemed to get further away.  Eventually the turning point was in sight near Springfield Fishery in Carluke and Kenny, John and I were all within about 1 minute of each other and said our hellos to each other as we passed one another.  Up to that point the weather was not too bad and once we ran round the marshall acting as the turning point we were hit with gale force winds.

The wind was that strong I was getting blown about and thinking I need to put on weight here to stay steady. So for the next 2 miles I could still see Kenny & John and continued to do my best to make up ground through the horrendous wind. There were some limited sheltered sections to help stride out to pick up the pace but not enough. By the time I got 7 miles John was a good couple of minutes ahead of me at the top of a hill with Kenny out of sight.  At this point it was trying to re-focus with positive thoughts, run my own race and think I have only 3 miles to go which is basically a 5k and I can do this. From the 8 mile marker we were running back into Carluke with a mixture of downhill and flat with less wind.  The last runner I was chasing in was Pauline Wright from Bellahouston Roadrunners who I was slowly catching and hanging in there.  When we got the stadium entrance I was seconds behind and felt really tired but I was thinking about the Al Pacino film “Any Given Sunday” and the speech his character made towards the end of the file with the line “You’ll find out life is just a game of inches” or it my case seconds.  I thought if I am going to get a pb I need to do something now and tried pick up my pace the best I could to just get in touching distance of the Bellahouston Roadrunner and was beaten by a few seconds.  The big question did I get a pb...yes I did by 19 seconds.  My time was 1:19:16.

For the other Harriers out today Andy Buchanan was 1st Harrier home in 1:05:03 followed by Kenny Leinster in 1:15:22 & John McBride in 1:17:02.

So maybe now quite as epic as Seb Coe’s 1979 3 world records in 41 days but for me 3 Pbs in 7 days I am happy.
Richard

Thanks to Richard for a great report and well done on 3 PB's.

A Weather Report from Fort William

The forecast said rain. I checked another couple of websites. They all said  rain, except those which suggested heavy rain. A gentle breeze, 8-10 mph south to south easterly was predicted. Force 3 on the Beaufort scale. Thought I better check that......small twigs blowing gently on the ground, flags extending. That sounded ok. Anyway, I was dressed for anything the weather could throw at me....I wore my vest (I 'm a Calderglen man now). Oh ...and my girlie gloves!
As you know my preparation hadn't gone too well in the build up to the Lochaber Marathon. Got a wee injury leading up to the race and I was sadly short of miles in my legs and up until race day hadn't ruled out withdrawing. All I had in the locker was that my taper had gone extremely well!
I have to say that the thing about your training not going well, is that the pressure's off a bit. So I stood on the start line feeling very relaxed. Aside from the training thing, I left nothing behind in my quest for the perfectly timed run, apart from my Garmin this is. So my tentative plan for running 8 minute miles was already looking in trouble. For those of you who have yet to run Lochaber, it starts on a muddy shinty pitch in Fort William and heads north towards Spean Bridge,before you turn on to the Mallaig Road, the road to the isles. After passing over the Caledonian Canal at Corpach, you are running alongside Loch Eil. The scenery is amazing, even in the rain. A quick 3 2 1 and go from the starter and we were off. It's a hand timed run so you don't want to start too far back at the start. A supportive local encouraged us as we left the stadium with the inspiring words 'only 26.1 miles to go' Thankfully spectators were thin on the ground and I'm sure the deteriorating weather conditions affected even his cheery disposition as the afternoon wore on. There's a bit of a canal path at the start with a steep downslope and you can just make out where someone has written in chalk ' keep going, almost there' Presumably to give you a wee boost on the way back. Without the watch I was pretty much guessing the pace, but with the help of one or 2 fellow runners I was able to confirm I was on schedule. It's got a nice friendly feel to it and I found myself chatting to fellow runners over the first few miles. Ran for a mile with a guy called Mark who recognised the vest. Turns out he did the yoga session at the TTC. He was aiming for 330, so I seemed to be on course. The nice girl in the picture ran with me for a little while and I'd like to tell you she was laughing at one of my jokes, but actually, after a mile of dodging big puddles a big lorry drove past and soaked us. After 6 miles I began to feel something I hadn't felt for a while......no pain! Actually I realised I was actually moving pretty well.....and found myself passing runner after runner. The heavy rain forecast was indeed just that, but not slowing me down. It's an out and back course and the first half which appears on the course profile as undulating, has a downhill feel to it. It's a marathon of 2 halves (any more would seem cruel). The turning point at 13.1 miles gives a welcome psychological boost although you find yourself kinda fearing an uphill slog on the way back. It's an odd thing, it doesn't feel uphill, and when you look back smugly at those poor souls yet to complete the first half it looks like they are running uphill. (honest). That's a recurring theme for several miles. Speaking of miles, not sure what happened to mile markers at 14 and 16 miles, but its a cruel trick to play on a man without his Garmin.
For those of you asking for a weather update, it was still raining but noticeably the wind was getting up. A cross wind from the right. I knew this because I could see twigs rolling on the ground and I had a suspicion that if I had a flag, it would be unfurling in the breeze. Still feeling pretty good and this was confirmed by a very relaxed looking Ruth heading in the opposite direction giving me a time update. I was at 1 hour 52 at 14 and a half miles. Under 8 minute miles!  The miles to mile 18 continued and I started to grow in confidence. Sub 3 30 in the bag! I was passing all manner of runners in all sorts of terrible states some walking, some hobbling, others slowing badly. It's a human instinct to feel for my fellow runners, but as I said before I'm a Calderglen man now.....I strode past them and never looked back! At mile 18, I met an old friend. I don't know his name but he lives in my head, and he started whispering in my ear. He reminded me about my injury (was that a little tweak I felt?), he told me that I didn't have the miles in my legs, that a sub 4 hour run was respectable, and to ease off a little! It took me a while to silence him. I gave him some jelly babies to keep him quiet , and I strode on. A wonderful, amazing, drenched woman in a sowester told me I looked strong (we both knew it wasn't true but its not the first time I've been lied to, and as she made me happy I chose to believe her). Another grand old lady in the shape of Ben Nevis loomed large in my view now and I knew I was almost there. At 24 and a half miles, the course turns sharply to the right for the last couple of miles. I'm assuming the Met Office changed their website at this point as we turned into a gale force wind and driving rain. For a mile I found myself struggling to move forward at all, and all thoughts of a sub 330 were fading fast. The last half a mile along the canal path and up the steep slope in the rain was reminiscent of a wintry night in East Kilbride, and try as I might really couldn't enjoy the chalky 'almost there' on the pavement. The final 100 metres is played out alongside the grandstand on the muddy shinty pitch and I was lucky enough to get there in time to get a nice welcome and name check from the locals. A medal and a hug from one of the organisers (nice man) and I kept running, over to the warmth of the sports centre for my complimentary coffee and cheese roll.
I finished in 3 hours 31 min 22 seconds, and I 'm going to have to take their word for that. 90th place out of 328 finishers.
John Mullen also ran and finished in 3 hours 50 min 39seconds, and Ruth in her fifth marathon ran yet another PB finishing in 4 hours 31 min 5 seconds. Start polishing the performance award!
All in all a fantastically well organised marathon, in a wonderful setting, and a cracking run.
Jim Mearns

A big thanks to Jim for an excellent report and well done to all three Harriers. Good luck to all the Harriers taking on Mo tomorrow in London!
Alan

CALDERGLEN LADIES DO US PROUD

3 of our Ladies went along to the Deafblind Scotland 10k today.
Joanne McEvoy, Alison Lessells and Frances Maxwell.
It was a very blustery day with the last 4.5k being into the wind.
Different course from the norm due to the trail round the golf course being unsuitable due to the winter weather so the start was a bit nearer the sports centre than normal but following the same route to Cadder bridge then a right turn onto the canal path. From this point the course was 100% flat all being on the canal path. Heading East to the turning point just past the stables then the long run home into the wind. Joanne was second lady home winning the 1st vet prize 43.07. Alison was 3rd lady home 44.20 with Frances 5th lady home 45.20. There was no team prize but if there had been it would have been sewn up with those places. Good strong performances from our 3 ladies, WELL DONE.

parkrun report

Strathclyde Parkrun – Saturday 12^th April 2014

Maybe not an ideal race preparation doing a 5k the day before the Tom Scott 10 mile race, however a football free weekend Emma & I made our short journey to Strathclyde Park to the weekly Parkrun.  For both of us it is not our usual choice of Parkrun as Emma last ran there in December 2012.   We stuck to our usual plan of attack which is we both do our own race and meet at the end, and more often than not Emma is waiting for me and today was no different.  We did our warm up and stretches’ together before we headed over to the start to join the field of 167 runners.

We both started near the front to ensure good starts and needless to say Emma was quite quickly ahead of me however I was trying to keep in touching distance and felt I did not a bad effort.  Despite the weather being slight windy we both ran personal bests.  Emma was first home in a time of 21:11 (Pb by 41 seconds) and I followed in 22:16 (Pb by 8 seconds).

Emma’s official Parkrun result was she finished in 18th place and was the 2nd female out of a field of 167 parkrunners and came 1st in her age category JW11-14.

My official Parkrun result was I finished in 32nd place and was the 27th male out of a field of 167 parkrunners and came 3rd in my age category VM35-39.

For all you Parkrun fans there is a new Parkrun starting in Springburn on Saturday 10^th May at usual time of 9.30am. The location is Springburn Park, Springburn Rd, Balgrayhill, Glasgow, G21 3UB. http://www.parkrun.org.uk/springburn/

BREAKING NEWS!!!

The Palace takes pleasure in announcing the engagement of (EL PRESIDENTE) Frances Maxwell to George Ferguson.

George took Frances away to Venice for a romantic weekend to celebrate her birthday (Im no telling the years) and decided the time was right to pop the question. Frances responded with a yes.

Im sure I speak for everyone that knows them in wishing them every happiness in the future.

Grangemouth 10K

10 Harriers turned up for the 10K race on Sunday at Grangemouth.

The weather for a change was more Spring like compared to recent races, around 13 C and dry, however there was a strong gusty wind blowing from a Southerly direction which made the last Km tougher.

The order of the harriers finishing the race was :                                Chip Time              Category

                                                                      Andy Buchanan         38:00
                                                                      Stephen Phimster       40:15
                                                                      Andy Henderson        41:00                  2nd MV60
                                                                      Stuart Waugh             42:14                  1st MV65
                                                                      Karen Allen                42:51
                                                                      Jim Holmes                 43:23
                                                                      Alison Lessells            44:10
                                                                      John McBride             44:17
                                                                      Richard Lawton          45: 53
                                                                      Hugh Simpson            48:09


From the times and comments after the race the runners should be pleased with their performance's.

Well done to all the runners.

    








 

CONGRATULATIONS ALAN BOW (100 parkruns)

For those that don't know Alan is our newest member just a week now although hes been running with us a few weeks now. Alan completed his 100th parkrun on Saturday at Pollock park with a time of 21.25. Hes ran 92 of these at Pollock with his best time being 20.46 done on 8th June 2013 with his first run on 27 June 2009. Hes also done 5 runs at Victoria park with a best time of 21.46.
2 runs at Tollcross with a best time of 21.48 and 1 run at Strathclyde park with a best time of 21.48.
Well done Alan and hope you continue to improve your running through Calderglen Harriers.

TOM SCOTT MEMORIAL 10M

The 2014 Tom Scott 10M Road Race will take place on Sunday 13th April at 10am.
The race this year has moved to the John Cummings stadium in Carluke for start and finish.
entry details @ www.tomscottroadraces.co.uk .
entry on www.q-buster.co.uk .