Brampton to Carlisle 2014

26/11/14 The link to the extra photos at the 7 mile point has been fixed.
The long standing annual tradition of the Harriers' trip to the Brampton to Carlisle 10 Mile Road Race took place on Sunday in what could only be described as perfect running conditions; cool, sunny and windless. Numbers on the bus were back up to their usual level this year with around 30 Harriers and friends present. It still seems strange by-passing Gretna on the way down for the early race start (11:30) however that is soon forgotten when the bus draws into the William Howard school car park in Brampton and pre-race nerves kick in. Warm-ups, queuing for the loos and the team photo soon eat into the time and before we knew it we were being ushered down the street to the start line. Somehow I ended up nearer the back than the front of the field of 600 but was not too bothered as I knew I was not in form to go for it from the start. Of course when the gun went, I "went for it from the start" and soon found myself slaloming through the field in the first mile way too fast; in my defence, I had to go that fast to catch and pass Russell.

Andy Buchanan was visible in the distance having a strong run as we stretched along the main road and up hill between miles 2 and 3 before turning left onto the back roads. Its a few years since Andy was last at Brampton and he has moved on some since then. He began to feel the strain at about 7 miles (but so you should!) nevertheless keeping the pace going for a new pb of 57:34, knocking a good 1:50 off his previous best from 2008 and finishing in the top 25. As always seems to be the case with hills nowadays, I struggled from that hill at 2 to 3 miles onwards, steadily going backwards to finish in 60:56, my first time slower than the hour and 1:50 slower than last year, a PW. However I was relieved to see that this scraped into an M45 Gold standard. Not only his first Brampton but the first race for four years for Neil Green so this was a shock to his system. A slightly cautious start was followed by a painful middle stage but ended with a strong finish to cross the line in 63:37, a safe Bronze M45 standard. Mark Saez was another first timer and continued his fine Grand Prix season with a time of 64:49, also a Bronze (M40) performance standard. A close, race long contest as illustrated in the photo above ended with Julie Beveridge finishing 6th lady overall in 65:45, smashing her pb and beating the Calderglen Ladies' Brampton record of 67:05 which has stood since 1990! Well done Julie (this was also an FS Bronze standard). Stephen Phimister was pushed on to a PB of 65:46 (M45 Bronze standard), dragging first timer Martin Howell with him in 65:49 (M45 Bronze standard). We could then relax for a minute as Eddie Reid demonstrated his return to form with a time of 66:35 (M50 Bronze). Andy Henderson and Stuart Waugh shared the pace through the race with Andy easing ahead in the final stages to claim 3rd M60 in a time of 67:52 (Gold M60 standard) with Stuart going two places better to win the M65 category in 68:07, a Gold M65 standard. Jim Holmes surprised himself with a great time of 68:23, improving on the last two years. Graham Ramage has had a few encouraging races recently and this was another one, finishing in 70:33. Billy Buchanan outsprinted Frances Maxwell to cross the line in 70:47 (M60 Silver standard), however Frances was the big winner, crossing the line as first F50 in a time of 70:51, a very comfortable F50 Gold standard. I have no idea how Jim Mearns can string so many races together, but "fresh" from his very recent 33 mile ultra, Jim finished in 72:45. Kenny Leinster has missed so much training with injuries recently that he was just happy to be running, finishing in 74:26. In this his 29th consecutive Brampton, Gerry Mullen started to bring the times down again after a terrible year of injuries last year. Gerry finished in 74:31. Now a firmly established regular at this race, John McBride ran a very solid 74:50, only 1 minute outside his PB. Colin Banks worked hard for a time of 79:16. Hugh Simpson has perfect attendance in the Grand Prix this year and helped stretch his lead with a time of 80:56. Mary Goldsmith's initial disappointment with her run soon lifted when she found out her time of 81:15 was only 1 second away from her predicted time, winning the sweep and a Silver F55 standard. Phil Marshall brought wife Liz along this year but did his own thing during the race to finish in 84:04. Also completing Brampton for the 29th time, Chas Steven had a comfortable run of 90:34, very closely followed by newly established ultra runner Ruth Kelly in 90:35. Russell Couper started to reverse his trend of declining performance with a five and a half minute improvement on last year to finish in 98:56, pushed into a fast finish by Liz Marshall in 99:18. Joining us for the race, we also had friends and family in the shape of Ross Mullen (66:29), James Davidson (95:51) and Brian Graham (85:06).

Hopefully I have captured the many Harriers and friends who raced but we must not forget our travelling support in the shape of Maud Waugh and Sandie Hayden. Sandie also got photos of most of the Harriers approaching the line which you can find here along with photos from the prize giving in Moffat, Finally there are some great pictures taken by a spectator at the 7 mile mark here.

Full race results are here and you can also access all previous Harriers' Brampton times here.