National Trail Race Championships - Falkland

With only the slightest smear of drizzle, the 6 Harriers who traveled through to Falkland Estate in Fife for the second annual National Trail Race championships had almost perfect conditions to tackle the tough and scenic course. Calderglen's ladies were represented by Frances Maxwell in the 10k race. The ladies covered one full lap of the course, starting off with a couple of km of flat and gentle downhill on the estate roads and farm tracks before turning off into a forest trail. The underfoot conditions were still good, with only the odd tree root and muddy patch to contend with. The main challenge was moderating the pace when faced with a succession of gradually steeper climbs, the last of which led out onto a high level forest track. From here another km or two of climbing was followed by another few km's of very fast descent. However, inevitably this culminated in the steepest climb of the course back up through the forest to loop back onto the forest track. From there it was generally downhill back along the forest track and eventually onto a grassy track between two hedgerows which was a wonderful surface underfoot. Finally the track led to a downhill section of the estate road before doubling back on ourselves for a brutal final 100m uphill.

This was Frances first time over the course but is exactly the sort of terrain she likes and this was reflected in an excellent time of 48:51 in 32nd position and 4th F50, beating some of her regular rivals in the process. Not bad at all considering it was only a week after the Loch Leven Half Marathon.

The men covered a 15km course (actually 14.4km but that was far enough!) which started off with a small loop over the same initial road and forest section as the ladies before doubling back towards the start to repeat that loop and then finally continuing onto the high level forest track loop. Andy Buchanan is really getting into shape now and following on from a solid performance in the Helensburgh 10k on Thursday, Andy ran strongly again today. After a reasonably cautious start, he started to move through the field a few km in and was looking strong. After about 3km though, Andy had to stop to tie his shoe lace which allowed me a brief opportunity to pass him. However, a few km later, Andy cruised past and continued to work his way through the field to finish very quickly in 57:41 and 20th position. Meanwhile I was having a much better run than last year although the legs did feel powerless on every steep and long ascent. On the bright side, nobody was passing me on these sections and I was easing past a few people so maybe I was not so bad. After briefly closing up to Andy Buchanan's shoulder at the top of the steepest ascent, I gradually fell back from the pack ahead, losing a place with 300m to go. Encouragingly, I managed to take that place back in the final 100m uphill to finish in 58:10, exactly 4 minutes faster than last year and second M45. Andy Henderson had an injury niggle through the week but this did not cause any problems on the day and Andy had a great run to finish in 66:35, over a minute faster than last year and first M60. Kenny Leinster was a first timer at this race although is very familiar with the area. Also carrying a niggle (ankle), Kenny was nonetheless running very well and finished in 69:37. One place behind was the most injured (back) of all Billy Buchanan. However, once again, the magic Fife air seemed to miraculously cure Billy's back and he finished strongest of all in 69:50 and second M60! However, Billy's main achievement was providing us with the mystery of the weekend when his vest and race number disappeared from the boot of his car before the start of the race, causing a period of panic, before reappearing on top of my rucksack lying against the wall of Falkland House. That is not the first time Billy has been involved in a mysterious disappearance in the vicinity of Falkland. There are strange forces at work obviously!

Well done to all the Harriers who competed today. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed it. A big thanks to Russell for driving through to cheer us on. His support was much appreciated.
Alan