TRAIL RACES 2014

With the weather dry and bright it promised to be a fine night for racing and it didn't disappoint.
The 1k started off at 6pm with the winner Evan Hughes U/A in a time of 4:03 and 1st female Emma O'Neil of Shettleston Harriers 4:10 Winning teams were Male Calderglen Harriers and Female EKAC.

The 3k kicked off at 6:30pm with 2 races being held together the U/15 and U/13 and was won in a time of 11:01 Gavin Smith U/15 Ronhill Cambuslang followed shortly by the U/13 winner Drew Pollock Ronhill Cambuslang 11:24. Heather Addison EKAC was 1st U/15 female in a time of 11:43 and 1st U/13 female winner was Nuala McCheyne Inverclyde 12:07.
The U/13 Male team was Larkhall YMCA and U/13 female team Law & District.
The U/15 Female team was Calderglen Harriers and there was no club with 3 U/15 males.

The 5k was up next at 7pm with the winner being Aidan Gilbride EKAC 16:28 and 1st lady Marion O'Conner U/A 21:20.  1st MV was Benjamin Hands Motherwell AC and 1st FV was Marie Therese Rodgers Airdrie Harriers. Junior male was Jack Kirwan EKAC and no winner of the Junior Lady prize.
Male team winners were EKAC and no complete Lady Teams.

The 10k started on time at 7:30pm and proved to be the competitive race we expected with Robert Gilroy and Stuart Gibson both previous winners and both Ronhill Cambuslang stretching away from the field from the go. On this occasion Robert managed to open a gap after the half way point and keep it to the finish for the win 34:00. 1st Lady in the race was Hannah Waugh Edinburgh AC 43:10.
1st MV was Alexander Robertson Motherwell AC and 1st FV was Sheila Lewis Giffnock North AAC. 1st Junior Male was Vincent Hastings EKAC and there was no Junior Female.
1st Male team was Ronhill Cambuslang and 1st Female team was Giffnock North AAC.

There are lots more Veteran and team prizes which are not listed above and all will be posted out on Monday.

Many thanks to everyone that came along on Friday night to take part and to support. Calderglen Harriers really appreciate your company on the night and look forward to seeing you all again next year.

I also have to thank our corporate support without them we couldn't put the events on to the level we do. Calderglen Park Management for allowing us to hold the events in the park, Run4it for providing prize vouchers, numbers and spot prizes in the goody bags. EKGTA and EKES for financial support. Lidl for the Bananas, Costco for the water and Tunnocks for the Caramel logs.

Finally the people that make it all happen on the night those that do the registration the results service, manage the finish area, give out goody bags and those that point you in the right direction the marshalls. Special thanks to Eddie for doing probably the most stressfull job of the night organising the marshalls and moving them about to the right place for the different races.

Lets do it all again on 26th June 2015

Russell Couper
Race Director

Trail Race Results 2014

The provisional results from a fantastic evening of racing are now on-line here.

TRAIL RACE ROAD CLOSURES

FOR THOSE COMING TO TONIGHTS TRAIL RACES SOME ROAD CLOSURES TO WATCH OUT FOR.

THE EAST KILBRIDE ROAD COMING FROM HIGH BURNSIDE IS CLOSED BETWEEN THE ROUNDABOUT AND GREENLEES ROAD, THERE IS A DIVERSION IN PLACE BUT WILL ADD TIME ONTO YOUR JOURNEY SO PLEASE TAKE ALTERNATE ROUTE OR LEAVE EARLIER.

THE ROAD FROM STRATHAVEN BETWEEN THE ROUNDABOUT AT THE END OF THE DISTRIBUTER ROAD AND THE ENTRANCE TO THE NEW FARM WILL BE CLOSE FROM 7PM. THERE IS A SMALL DIVERSION IN PLACE THAT WILL ADD 5 MINS TO YOUR JOURNEY.

PLEASE CAR SHARE WHERE POSSIBLE.

QUEENS BATON RELAY

Many thanks to everyone that came along on Sunday for the Queens Baton Relay. If sure you would all agree it was a wonderful day with many hundreds of kids leaving with smiling faces. Ive attached a few photos that ive been sent through. Although the picture with the Baton was a bit rushed at the end I think everyone is in somewhere. Weve even got a picture of Eddie training the next Jessica Ennis Hill.

Runner Required!

An opportunity has arisen for a lucky Harrier to take part in the forthcoming A day in the Lakes tri relay on sunday 29th June at Pooley Bridge Ullswater (approx 1.5 hrs drive), due to injury problem Kenny has had to pull out of the run section. The run is a half marathon over a hill course , it is a testing wee route but one which is well within a Harrier capability. (This is how Alan would describe it)
The logistics at present are to drive down on saturday afternoon to register between 3 and 5pm and camp overnight as race starts at 8am on sunday, however as the swim and bike take place first then if it suits better you can drive down sunday to be in time for the bike / run changeover at about 11am, actually this would probably give you about an hour to prepare  for the run as I am doing the bike and it will be about between 12 and 1 pm i hope to finish.
The first person to contact me and shows willing is a hero and will be signed up on the spot. My mobile is 07780678182 or see me on thursday night.
Billy

Trying a Tri - Ayr Tri

A few months ago Andrew stated he had entered the Ayr Sprint Distance triathlon on Sunday 22/6/14 and was I doing anything particular that day. You know when you are being sucked into something which is far enough away to say OK I can do it. I heard myself say something along the lines of, I can swim 750 metres open water,  I can surely bike 20K  and a 5k run for a Harrier!

Today the chickens came home to roost, at 6.30am Andrew arrived to pick me up (race started at 8.30am , ridiculous I know) and we duly arrived at the river Doone where it meets the sea in lovely sunshine with no wind, but  midgies in force. Registration completed with numbers 16 Andrew and 17 me inked onto our left hands and right calfs making it official we had to do it now , one of us was ready for anything, the other was wondering who said yes those few months ago.

A wee brief before the race at 8.15 basically said don't run with I-pods and apart from that "enjoy yourselves", then it was into the river for a wee warm up splash. The swim course was 2 loops of upriver /downriver with a dividing line in the middle, with competitors wearing white, red or blue swim caps according to their estimated swim times, with white being fast, red intermediate and blue the back markers. Andrew and I know our places, he was white and I was blue.

At the off it was all a bit off a fight for your place scenario, legs and arms seemed to be everywhere and I did not really settle down until the end of the first loop, after which things went swimmingly. Andrew settled down at the end of the first 50yards and needless to say I only saw him in the passing after that, him passing me on the way back on the bike, though he did wave and then again on the run, me on the out leg him on the return.

Transition - is when you try to change out of a wetsuit into cycle shoes and gear, this is supposed to be fast and seamless and to some people it may be. I obviously need to work on it a lot more. I was informed after the race by a seasoned tri expert that "baby oil" rubbed on your foreams and from knee to ankle facilitates getting your wetsuit off in a jiffy, now you know what baby oil is for.

Anyway eventually on the bike and the route was out to the A719 and up to the Heads of Ayr then down into Dunure, up out of Dunure and back to complete the bike section. The write up said "undulating",  right enough it was, but undulating upwards for a good bit, to the turn into Dunure and then a nice wee downhill followed by a couple of kilometres uphill back onto the A719 , then the last few kilometers was a good downhil run to the bike finish. I must admit I quite enjoyed the bike there was no wind and apart from one section out of Dunure the road surface was okay, also though it was not a closed road cycle there was little traffic. In fact I even managed to pass tractor at one point.

Finally into the run, I thought I am Harrier I can do this, - forgot to tell my legs to come out of bike mode first and spent about 5 mins re-educating them into a proper running style. 5k after swimming and biking, it seemed longer than Victoria Park and was also hillier, it was out for 2.5k then round a marshall and back the same way, I did not realise 2.5k could seem so long to the turn but got there and back to finish still in perfect weather and happy not to be last.

Overall it was a good experiance (will I do another - never say never) and the Ayr Tri club deserve congratulations for setting it all up and organising it so well. We were treated to tea, sandwiches and lots of edibles after the race and it was very relaxing in the sunshine to wind down after our efforts.
Now we have done it and have the T-shirts to prove it.
Finally the nitty - gritty , the stats.
 Andrew -  6th place overall -time 1hr 06mins 25 secs. Swim- 11mins 51 secs - 5th place.  Bike - 37mins 23secs - 11th place. Run 17mins 11 secs - 1st place
 Billy     - 53rd place overall -time 1hr 24mins 10 secs.  Swim- 16mins 29 secs - 49th place Bike- 45mins 59secs -  58th place. Run 21mins 42 secs - 29th place.
Was a total of 89 finishers.
Billy

Grand Prix - One race to go!

Monday 23rd  June is the final race in the Grand Prix series - The Vertical Mile. Please report to the club in advance for a gentle warm-up run to the start. If anyone is injured/unable to run, Russell would appreciate your help with the timing.

Check the latest Grand Prix positions using the usual menu on the left. Some fantastic performances and pb's in the Victoria Park parkruns mean that there are still prize winning positions available in both the Grand Prix and Scratch Championships.
Alan

QUEENS BATON RELAY

As most of you already know the Queens Baton will be in Calderglen Park this coming Sunday.
As part of the celebrations the Harriers will be putting on some events from 11am.
There will also be a photo oportunity during its visit to the park so please have your vest and black shorts with you if your coming to help. We need as many Harriers there to help with the small events were putting on and to get as many into the photo. Parking will be in Colonsay field otherwise you wont get out the park till late afternoon. What we need is as many Harriers to turn up as early as possible but before 11am. I have the following names already but if anyone else is coming please leave a comment on this Blog.
Those already volunteered are:-
R Couper, R Lawton, A Derrick, E Reid, N Green, A Henderson, S Phimister, S Waugh, J McGregor, A Lessells, M Saez, G Ramage, J Holmes, S Reid,  J Beveridge.

As well as adding names if any of the above can no longer make it please let me know.

Russell

TRAIL RACE VOLUNTEERS

With the Trail Race fast approaching I need everyone to confirm their availability to help on the day. Various roles need to be done like registration, marshalling, kitchen, timekeeping etc. Of course everything needs set up on the afternoon so I will be there from 1.30 and need anyone who can come and help to do so. Please put your name on the spreadsheet below with your expected arrival time and any preference of role you would like. I cant guarantee your role but will try to allocate it if possible. Of course if we get enough helping we will allow any extra to run so please also add if you would like to run.
Please submit your request HERE. Names received so far are here.

Every member should have there name down by the end of this week, please don't disappoint me.
May I remind everyone that we like to feed the runners after the race so if everyone can bring some finger food on the night ie a plate of sandwiches, sausage rolls, cakes, biscuits etc (no trifles)

Russell

Rouken Glen 10k

A smaller than normal group of Harriers turned up for the 10k. The familiar course was changed last year for a “faster, flatter course” which was so fast and flat (!) that they decided to make further changes this year to make it even more … faster and flatter. The course map was a brightly coloured affair that made us think a compass and orienteering experience might have been the order of the day. Given the Harriers almost legendary lack of directional sense (Eddie, Kenny, Billy et al) we could only hope the course was well marshalled.

There was a healthy (as in numbers) field of 366 with a mix of good club runners through to fun runners.
An inner loop of the park, followed by a wider loop and then round the pond with a short sharp climb out onto the road. Then a long downhill (ish) before another climb up to the golf course. Then the off road section at the side of the golf course and a long tough climb back out, this year thankfully only once (even faster and flatter, remember). Back onto the section outside the park and a final loop inside the park with a good last k and the “undulating” finish that most will be familiar with.

Its one of those courses that you work hard on the uphills and even harder on the downhill ! All the Harriers found it a tough run but then not everything can be fast and flat. We all agreed it was a good test. Chip times as follows : Stephen Phimister 40:28, Stuart Waugh 43:02, Martin Howell 45:45, Richard Lawton 46:48, Colin Banks 48:38.
It was won in an impressive 30:43.

Thanks to Stephen for the report and well done to the guys on fine times on a still tough course.
Alan

West Highland Way Post Script

The Young Ones Party in FW

Very approximate times for all the stages are here. A few more photos below and all the photos I have here.

The Energetic Ones ascend Glen Coe Ski Lift on foot

The Winter Sports Fanatic

The Winter Sports Beginner

Me too!

West Highland Way 2014 - The Final Push

Immovable Objects.  Eddie prepares for the Devil's Staircase

Mary arrived to hand over to Eddie at the foot of the Devil's Staircase. This was considered a safe leg as there is no obvious way of diverting to Oban from this path, the steep climb being followed by a long, fast descent in Kinlochleven. This time last year such a descent would have been impossible for Eddie due to knee problems but with a rigorous regime of strengthening exercises, there were no such problems this year.With Eddie's strengthened knees, After a scenic drive round to Kinlochleven, the remainder of the Harriers proceeded to stretch the capabilities of the under-staffed ice wall cafe in Kinlochleven in search of refreshments.

Eddie sweeps into Kinlochleven to hand over to Frances

Shortly after, Eddie appeared flying down the rocky track into Kinlochleven to hand over to Frances who had made the mistake a week previously of mentioning that she quite liked this very tough 8 mile leg out of Kinlochleven over to Lundavra. Karen decided that she would accompany Frances on this one and so they both set off on the initially flat stretch through Kinlockleven before starting the very steep climb up to the Mamore Lodge and onto the old military trail through to Lundavra. Frances gradually pulled away on the top trail and only a momentary loss of concentration resulting in a trip and a skint knee slowed her down with Karen only a short distance behind.

I take over from Frances who has given 100% and some blood

At Lundavra I had arranged to meet former Harrier Jimmy Stewart who has lived in Roy Bridge for many years. Jimmy was looking for a 10 minute start over me but as Frances arrived ahead of schedule, he was lucky if he got 5 minutes. The first part of this leg is quite tough with some steep climbs but the bonus is that the last 3 miles is a sweeping descent on a forest road. I also had a trip on the ascent but no skint knees and I had the benefit of many runners on the ultra challenge to pass (and Jimmy who I caught on the ascent through the forest). On hitting the forest road, I needed a few minutes to get the legs working again after the climb and then started to fly. On the way I ran through a checkpoint for the ultra runners where the marshalls tried to get my number but soon realised I was travelling way too fast to be in their race! Just before the end, the track climbs a little which is a bit of a nuisance, destroying the pace a little but not for long and the final 400m is downhill to the Braveheart Car Park where the massed Harriers were waiting for the final three quarter mile into Fort William. The advance party of Maud and Sandra had set off before my arrival to clear the way!

No sign of fatigue there!

I carried on to the finish with Stephen at a fair pace but not fast enough to out sprint Russell. The camera never lies but the photo below is the exception to that rule!

Not for public circulation!

 And finally we were in Fort William on a day of unexpectedly good weather and a few new twists to the West Highland Way history book. Thanks to all who participated, filling the available places in double quick time and for incredible enthusiasm. A huge thanks to Frances for efficiently organising the bus and hotel and signing up all the participants and to Eddie and Jim for sharing the driving.

There may be a postscript to this story with the post run events further documented in pictures! Be very afraid (some of you).
Alan

Spot the difference!

Victoria Park parkrun - Grand Prix Special!

Further to the announcement below regarding the introduction of the Victoria Park parkrun as the penultimate Grand Prix race, a few people have indicated that 14th June is too short notice or too close to Rouken Glen 10k. Therefore, I have decided to add an interesting variation as follows:

You can do the Victoria Park parkrun on either the 14th June or 21st June but only the first one you do will count towards the Grand Prix. After the 21st June parkrun, the results of the 14th and 21st June parkruns will be combined, the GP positions worked out and jokers applied. Before you do either parkrun, declare your jokers by leaving a comment on this blog or, if Russell or I are there, declaring your joker before the start of the race.

So for example, if you do the 14th June and 21st June parkrun, only the 14th June time will count towards the Grand Prix, even if the 21st June is a faster time. If you only do the 21st June parkrun, then that is the time that will count. This adds an element of luck as you could be available to do both but decide to delay your participation until 21st June only to find out that the weather is horrendous or that the field does not have anyone of your standard so you have to run solo.

Good Luck!
Alan

Trossachs Training Camp 2014

Finally we are ready to open the doors for names for TTC 2014, to be held from the evening of Friday 12th to lunchtime on Sunday 14th September. With a good list of "expressions of interest" already in hand this is sure to be popular. There are 23 places available in total. The format is as usual but with some new running routes and a mixture of conditioning and technique sessions in between.

Entries will be on a first come first served basis on payment of the deposit. Eddie will look after collecting money and forms at the club on training nights. Please make an on-line entry using this form or download the brochure for further details and print out the form from the web site here.  Hand the completed form to Eddie. Please ask if you have any questions about the weekend.

Alan

Final GP Races

There are two more races to go in the 2014 Grand Prix and the plan is to get them both in June before the school holidays start to maximise participation.

The races are Victoria Park parkrun on Saturday 14th June; a nice fast one which will also give the possibility of performance award standards.
The Vertical Mile on Monday 23rd June as part of normal club training.
Alan

COMMONWEALTH GAMES TICKETS DRAW RESULTS

THE LUCKY WINNERS ARE:-
TUESDAY 29th JULY PM HAMPDEN
D HERBERTSON
I RAE
D SEARIL
J HOLMES
A McCAFFERY
R KELLY

SATURDAY 2nd AUGUST PM HAMPDEN
G LINDSAY     M GOLDSMITH
K ALLAN         A LESSELLS
G FERGUSON
J MULLEN
A BOW
A HENDERSON
G MULLEN
H SIMPSON         D WARDROPE 
F MAXWELL
E REID

Could everyone selected please confirm your availability to attend asap remembering the terms in the previous post so if anyone cannot attend we can draw further names.

Russell

West Highland Way 2014 - Oban here we come.

Russell Rolls in to Inveroran

With the day now at its hottest, Alison and Karen were grateful of the shade in the forest on the initial route out of Crianlarich. There were quite a few walkers on this short stretch and their unanimous opinion seemed to be that Karen and Alison were crazy running in that heat! A short time later they emerged at the A84 crossing at Ewich where Karen returned to the bus mindful of the 8 miler still to come. As the next section to Tyndrum had a few easy to miss junctions, I ran with Alison to act as navigator and gate opener. The pace was quite swift as this part of the course is all very runnable and with me running ahead to open the many farm gates, there was no rest for Alison! Very soon we arrived in Tyndrum and the uphill finish to the A84. As this is a busy road, the changeover is a shout across the road rather than a tag to set Stephen Phimister on his way on his first solo leg on the WHW. After what seemed like 5 minutes of trying to cross the road, eventually the most official looking Harrier (Geo) stepped out to stop the traffic and let us across to the bus and nutrition in the form of ice cream and coffee from Brodie's Shop. Back on the road we found ourselves in the midst of the cycle stage of the ongoing ultra challenge which looked like quite a risky business cycling on such a busy road with so much scenery to distract drivers.Talking of scenery, we soon spotted Stephen high on the hill to the right on one of the most spectacular stages where the runner feels so tiny in this vast landscape.

On arrival at Bridge of Orchy, the bus emptied and the team split into those in need of refreshment in the B of O Hotel and Ruth's support team who assembled for a second time and with some new recruits, many of whom set off in advance, presumably to make sure there were no closed gates, stones on the path, etc. Meanwhile Stephen had a moment of concern when he arrived at Bridge of Orchy Station, thinking this was the changeover but finding no Harriers. Fortunately he carried on down the hill to the main road where Ruth was waiting to start the up and over stage to Inveroran. Still full of energy, Stephen immediately struck up a friendship with a German tourist, rivalling George for the amount of personal information he managed to extract from this guy in only a matter of a minute (former marathon runner, from Hamburg, dodgy knees so now just runs 10k's, etc, etc) despite only limited English. However, the friendship came to an abrupt end with Stephen trying to bundle the guy over the bridge wall when the tourist mentioned the wrong Glasgow football club. Welcome to Scotland! We did however redeem ourselves by pointing the group of German tourists on the correct path to Inveroran; they were heading on yet another wrong road to Oban (there are a few).

Advance party Mary & Alison reach Inveroran.

Ruth and Geo approach the changeover

At Inveroran, Stuart Waugh was primed and ready to go on the infamous Road to the Isles leg, aka Rannoch Moor, which I assured him was no more than 70 minutes of running. Ruth arrived sandwiched by her support team and Stuart was off. The risk assessment required that we sent the minibus on ahead of Stuart to block off the road to Oban before leaving him to enjoy the isolation of Rannoch Moor.

Eddie marks the point of no return as Stuart approaches the gate to Rannoch Moor

Always capable of running to the limit when injury free, Stuart arrived at Black Rock Cottage bang on the predicted 70 minutes despite declaring this to be the roughest surface he had ever run on, requiring 100% concentration for most of the route and a whole load of strength to handle the three quarters up hill, last quarter downhill trail. Russell had claimed the short leg to Kingshouse and this was a sensible choice given recent surgery (and goodness knows how many bacon rolls). With several earlier stages as warm ups, Mary was now on her own leg to the foot of the Devil's Staircase. Although this leg looks as though it should be flat, it is in fact overall uphill. Given that Mary ran the Edinburgh Marathon 6 days earlier, it was almost unbelievable the quantity and pace of Mary's running on the West Highland Way and this 4 mile leg seemed no problem at all.

As I have now run out of photos, I shall finish the tale and provide the stage times when I receive the pictures of the last few stages.
Alan

COMMONWEALTH GAMES TICKETS

For those that don't already know Calderglen Harriers has purchased a number of tickets for the Athletics at Hampden Park during the Commonwealth Games. These tickets will be awarded through a ballot. There are a few terms and conditions that have to be adhered to. The person drawn through the ballot must go or hand the tickets back for further draws so tickets cannot be sold, given away or swapped with anyone else. These tickets are in blocks so all will be seated together and we should receive the tickets by the middle of July to distribute to the lucky members. The draw for Junior tickets has already taken place and been contacted. The lucky members are Blair Brown and Cara McAneny and will receive 2 tickets each one for themselves and one for an accompanying adult as we cant ask Juniors to travel alone. Seniors will receive a single ticket and the draw for these will take place after Thursdays training and lucky members will be notified asap. This is a fantastic opportunity for our membership to see top athletes perform and your committee are delighted that we as a club are in a fortunate position to pay for these tickets for our members. Good luck to our Seniors in Thursdays draw.

P.S. remember Thursdays training is the Auldhouse time trial.

West Highland Way 2014 - Onwards and Upwards

Davy Watt flying into Rowardennan

With the minibus still suspended in the air and Davy through Balmaha, it became clear that Karen and Jim (Mearns) would be denied their runs from Balmaha to Millarochy and Millarochy to Rowardennan respectively. We still held out hope that Jim Holmes would get to take over from Davy at Rowardennan for the 14 mile Loch Lomond leg though. Despite selflessly offering both of her two later stages, Alison's get-out plan failed and there was no option but to double Karen and Jim up on other Harriers' legs. Karen quickly snapped up a place accompanying Alison and a later 8 mile stage with Frances. This left Jim with few options for a longer leg; he could either run with Eddie, Phimi, Stuart Waugh, me or Jim Holmes. None seemed like a good option to Jim so we decided for him; the loch-side with Jim Holmes. The reasons were simple enough: a) this was only the second hardest leg (now that Davy had discovered the new, hardest leg), b) Jim had recent Lochaber marathon form so 14 miles wouldn't be a problem, c) two Jim's running together would make it easier for us to remember who was supposed to be in the bus and who was running. What we forgot was that Jim was not that experienced at running on really rough terrain and that he had run a tough half marathon and a 10k in the previous week. Anyway, it was a done deal.

A short while later the AA man returned, the wheel was fitted and we were off to Rowardennan. In what seemed like perfect planning, we took the final big space in the car park at Rowardennan and awaited Davy's arrival. 5 minutes later he flew around the corner to find not one, not two but no Jim's waiting to take over (both in the toilet). Only 30 seconds were lost before both Jim's were off and running and we had time to congratulate Davy on a fantastic 16 mile, 2:17 effort with no support, no fluids, no nutrition and on one of the hottest days of the year so far. Only Davy Watt from among us could have managed this. Naturally, Davy was excused from any further running duties for the rest of the trip!

We now faced the tortuous journey around Loch Lomond to the newly named Beer Glass Farm (easier to spell) to await the Jim's. Russell was now in convoy, having called him to join us earlier than planned so that he could experience our minibus woes first hand. Half way up the other side of the loch, a mystery phone call introduced with the words "Where are you?" caused a brief moment of panic, thinking "what's happened to the Jim's, surely they haven't beaten us to Beer Glass Farm?" before I realised it was the absent Gerry Mullen (excused with a note from the SNO's conductor so he could perform Mahler's 8th that night, quite an elaborate excuse but plenty of witnesses) suffering from WHWithdrawal symptoms. Suitably filled in with the progress report, we carried on to Inverarnan where we were surprised to find another absentee, Billy Buchanan. Billy (and both of the Kenny's) also had a novel excuse in the form of a blog post on a kayak trip (see the post below) but if he had been really keen he could have run any of the second half legs. We wandered around to the changeover point at the farm and had only a short wait for Jim Holmes, Jim Mearns being nowhere to be seen.

Jim Holmes arrives alone to hand over to Joanne

Joanne was raring to go and set off towards Crianlarich with Eddie for company. Meanwhile Stephen headed 10 minutes or so back-up the trail to look for Jim having been advised that he was OK but had told Jim H (on second thoughts, it may have been better to have had people with different names on this leg) to forge ahead prior to Inversnaid. Jim Holmes had completed a fantastic run and looked in very good shape at the finish, so all credit to Jim for handling this tough course on his first attempt and preparing so well for it. As we had a tight handover at Crianlarich, we had to leave Russell to bring Stephen and hopefully Jim whilst we headed off. This could have been a major disaster as there was a strong chance that Russell would miss his bacon rolls at Crianlarich.

At Crianlarich, Alison and Karen had a one mile climb just to get to their starting point and this was quite a task in the heat. However they made it and had some time to spare, even giving/making up tourist advice to some Czech women on the trail before a very powerful Joanne appeared on the horizon, and yes, she was alone too!

Joanne at the end of a fine run

Turns out Eddie had been dropped at the main road crossing and had told Joanne to carry on without him. Seems like a road crossing phobia is developing here for Eddie. With another tight changeover, we had to descend back to the bus but thankfully both Jim Mearns and Eddie were there, Eddie having run along the main road to save his legs for his tough stage later on. It seems likely that Russell also made his bacon rolls stop too.

To be continued......
Alan

West Highland Way 2014 - Three Wheels on our Wagon!

Ruth leads a colourful pack into Dumgoyne early on Saturday morning.

The 2014 WHW Relay was not a tale of navigational trials thankfully but one of fantastic weather, stupendous running feats, endless enthusiasm and escaping air! We had a full bus this year (plus Russell in his car), including three first timers (Alison, Karen and Stephen) plus a travelling support (Maud and Sandra). Pick-ups started at 4am and put us on an already warm start line in Milngavie at 5:30am with the usual contingent of early rising midges to keep us company. Colin Banks was first up and despite claiming not to know where he was going (subsequently confirmed 100m later) immediately dropped his two guides (Stephen and myself). Milngavie shopping precinct was remarkably quiet to the extent that we thought we had better run the full length of it to find out where all the late night party goers had gone before doubling back to join the WHW proper (sounds plausible).

Colin Banks and Stephen Phimister on the way to Carbeth

A relaxed 37 minutes later we arrived at Carbeth, not having seen a soul, and handed over to Ruth who had rallied a massive support team to run with her (must be nice to be popular, nobody ran with Eddie, Davy, Stuart or me!) for the run to Dumgoyne. The weather could not have been better and spirits (!) were high as Ruth handed over to Geo for a wee double Dumgoyne to Drymen stage with Eddie in tow. Having dropped Eddie at the half way road crossing (a theme that would continue), Geo ran on and we drove round to Drymen and parked up at the usual spot.

Geo moving well.

We had some time to kill and as Eddie was just about to remind everyone of how lost the first leg runners had been, we were silenced by a loud gushing noise. As George wasn't present we all momentarily wondered who could be making such a noise before our eyes were drawn to the front tyre of the minibus where the air was escaping from the valve which had spontaneously split open, no doubt in reaction to the preposterous tale that Eddie was spinning. Immediately all the men gathered around the tyre but to no great effect, the air somehow managing to find its way past us all. A finger on the valve seemed to work but as nobody was willing to be strapped to the bonnet, that was never going to be a long-term solution. It soon became obvious why the hire company had passed the bus on to us without bothering with an inspection report as it was a bus of many dents but few wheels, there being a nice big space underneath where the spare wheel should have been. Fortunately we are a club of many engineers (all graduates I will have you know) but it is somewhat worrying that the best solution that our aircraft engine engineer could come up with was a stone jammed between the rim and the valve! Just check what make of engines are on the next jet you fly on, I'm just saying......

Never wanting to deny anyone the chance of a run and to give us some thinking time, we prepared Davy Watt for his run over Conic Hill to Balmaha with the semi-serious instruction that if we were not at Balmaha to meet him, just keep running! Given the heat, we probably should have said something about water and nutrition but that slipped our minds. Soon after Geo arrived and Davy was off for his run of indeterminate ending point, fully equipped with a mobile phone and nothing else. A call to the hire company got no reply (7:15 on a Saturday morning). Fortunately I had an ace up my sleeve in the form of an AA membership and gave them a call. Surprisingly they said they could be there in a half hour and true to their word they were. Meanwhile we tried to arrange a local taxi to pick up Jim Holmes to banish him to Rowardennan (for his Fred Flintstone engineering) to take over from Davy (oh and to bring Davy back), should he get that far. Unfortunately, the taxi firm did not seem to understand our predicament and did a no show. As Alison was kitted out in shades and club hoodie we thought about car-jacking a passing motorist or, if the worst came to the worst, a cyclist but we didn't have it in us. So Jim had to wait and Davy had to run.  The AA man removed the wheel and took it to a tyre fitter in Alexandria to replace the valve. Meanwhile Davy phoned to say he was approaching Balmaha and, after explaining to us how he was able to run down Conic Hill and talk to us on the phone, we broke the news to him that he was just going to have to keep going. He took it well (I think).

At this moment, I shall leave the story precariously perched on a jack....... to be continued....
Alan

Check the dents on the door and the rust on that sill. That's its good side.

West Highland Paddle, Arisaig - Knoydart - Skye. 26th - 30th May

Alan,
I put the following wee trip report on the kayak club blog, and thought it may provide some interest for the Harrier paddle fratenity, (they know who they are).perhaps you could add it the harrier blog, if only to show the club there are two Kenny's.

Billy

Following Len and Stuart's report I thought I should add on the rest of the week from the Monday through to Friday as undertaken by myself and Kenny and John. Monday about lunch time after having visited the seamans mission we left Jean to get the ferry to Armadale and her trip to St Kilda which was scheduled for the Wednesday and launched into flat calm for our afternoon paddle to Sandaig Bay. It started off dry and bright but developed into cooler and heavy showers, which persisted into the evening. The campsite was a bit disappointing due to wet ground and lots of midgies and we were forced into an early night . The next day was brighter and we paddled across to the Point of Sleat  and then up the coast to Dalivil (I think Kenny has the map) a bay just short of Taskavaig Bay. Again flat calm no winds, could this continue. This site was much better though again we had midgies and again some heavy rain in the evening. This rain turned out to be a blessing in disguise as we were a bit short of water and had collected some pretty brown looking stuff, however the rain poured off the tarp at its low point and we easily collected approx 5 litres  no problem at all . It was a bit sad to see the amount of plastic debris scattered about much more than you would expect though this was probably due a lot to the bay's position windwise. Next morning off again flat calm no wind, to Camasoonary Bothy at Loch Scavaig via it has to be said a tea and cake stop at the excellent wee shop at Elgol. On reaching the bothy we could see it in the distance ! the tide was well out and we had a bit of a carry with the gear to keep us amused. However the sun was out and Kenny and John soon found a place in the bothy for their wee beds, I just used my tent as even with a therma - rest did not fancy concrete floors as a bed. It was a this point Kenny and John were forced to admit maybe they had overdone the weekly shop for the trip, enough to feed the whole Arisaig team seemed to be spread over the table. We collected drift "twigs" as all the big stuff was all long gone and the ensuing fire was pretty good considering. Next morning it was back down to Point of Sleat , again via the Elgol tea room, John Gaffney would have loved it, we did. The camp site a Point of Sleat was pretty good though the water was a bit of a walk away but hey we were not doing anything else. Final friday loaded the boats and paddled over to Mallaig in flat calm and heat haze in about 2 hours including a wee picture stop. We met Jean at Mallaig and she had the best day of the week on the Wednesday to visit St Kilda absolutely flat calm , no wind and loads of sunshine, a winner all the way. I can't believe we mamaged all week with such easy paddling conditions, in fact the most wind and waves was at Arisaig when we came back through the channel. A great trip it is just a pity more people could not manage the time off.
Pictures here.

Billy