Houston - A place in the sun!

A sunny Saturday in late September means it must be the George Cummings Road Relay in Houston and the start of another Grand Prix season for Calderglen Harriers. Despite a slow response to the request for entries, the names flooded in during the last week and once again Calderglen Harriers were amongst the best represented clubs at this long standing event. This year we also had many first timers from the Harriers joining the regulars who come back to this scenic 2.7 mile lap relay every year.
First of the newcomers was Mark Saez who led off our vets A team to finish in a strong 16:03. As this was probably the shortest race Mark has done for some years he certainly felt the stress on the lungs! Mark handed over to veteran of this course Jim Holmes who ran to his usual, consistent form, finishing in 17:11. Next of the first timers was Martin Howell who had performed well in recent club 5k time trials but would find this race a short, sharp shock to the system. Martin finished in an excellent 17:32. Finally, Stephen Phimister had quite a lonely last leg, making pace judgement difficult. However, being chased by a loose dog on the course provided the incentive for a brief injection of pace and with the pressure of the whole family along to support, he was only 15 or so seconds away from his fastest time, crossing the line in 16:32.

Julie Beveridge is going for the double this weekend, Houston on Saturday, Linlithgow 10k on Sunday, but did not hold back on the first leg for the ladies team, finishing in a new course best of 17:09. Surprisingly, regular racer Karen Allen had never done this one before but paced it well to finish in a fine 17:30. Frances Maxwell is piling in the miles in preparation for the Dublin Marathon but still managed to improve considerably on last year on what must have been tired legs to finish in 18:46, completing our ladies team. Alison Lessells was running a solo first leg and has special permission to take it easy but ignored that to run a very competitive 18:35 on her first time out on this course too.

Our second Vets team was lead off by a very much in form Stuart Waugh who ran strongly to the line in 17:39. Its always difficult to predict David Herbertson's form as he is away travelling so much but on the evidence of today he was worthy of a place in the first team, recording a strong time of 17:18 on the second leg for the second team. Geo Ferguson was another first timer on leg 3 and had the added incentive of chasing down fiancée Frances on the same leg. Geo finished in 19:09 and did not in fact catch Frances for which he should retain some brownie points. Finally, the ever cheerful (especially if he has a cup of tea) Hugh Simpson was on the last leg which was a pretty lonely place  to be. Hugh completed the course in 20:15 which is only about a minute down on 2 years ago. With people around him he would have gone faster.

Our third men's team comprised just three runners. Colin Banks was on the first leg and was down a bit on his usual form, finishing in 19:44. Richard Lawton is cautiously making his way back from injury, so was pleasantly surprised to run a new course best of 19:20 on leg 2. However, Russell Couper is coming back from a longer lay-off than anyone and should be pleased that he was slightly faster than last year, finishing in 24:20.

There are unfamiliar names at the head of the men's Grand Prix following this race. Geo Ferguson and Mark Saez are tied for the lead which is hopefully a sign that this will be another competitive season. For the ladies, Karen Allen takes an early lead via a strategic joker and a fine run. All the GP and Club Championship positions are available at the Grand Prix link in the menu to the left. Further pictures of Harriers are here.
Alan

A picture of pre-race contentment