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Tuesday 29 September 2015

GEORGE CUMMINGS ROAD RELAY

Photos of the Harriers at the Houston relay are now available in this album. Thanks to Eddie for the photography.

Well here we are back to the relay season and the return of the Grand Prix. Todays race in Houston was held in perfect conditions for running (cool, dry and a slight breeze). We had 14 harriers running today consisting of 1 ladies team and 2.75 mens teams. I wont add any times in as we are awaiting the official results as a few didn't recoed their time and we have a couple of close ones. First off today for the Ladies was Frances Maxwell doing a slightly shorter run than normal but happy with her time and the fact shes still keeping some pace in the legs despite the long runs. Second off was Alison Lessells doing her first race since having baby Rebecca and again happy with her return to racing. The third leg fell to Karen Allen to bring the team home and again her first race since having babies Oliver & Lewis and again a great run. Well done to our Ladies team.
Onto the men and leading our A team was another returning Harrier, Blair Matthew who has been out for a long time and didn't want to race again till he was in good form. Blair did say before the race he was getting very nervous but having not raced for so long its understandable. Getting racing again will bring his form back to where it should be, Next off for the A team was Charlie McDougall and another one happy with his form which now seems to be getting to where it should be. The third leg went to David Herbertson who admitted to feeling the pressure of first team action but ran a very strong race for the team. Bringing home the A team was David Watt who always runs strong no matter the distance or his form but I do wonder if he just slept in a car with a bottle of wine last night (it worked before for him). The B team was led of by Jim Holmes and again it was a strong steady run from Jim. The next leg went to Stuart Waugh and once again another returning harrier with his first race for a while. Stuart did say after that its been a long time since hes ran that fast and im sure hes just going to go from strength to strength. The third leg went to Andy Henderson doing his last race for a while but just wanted to get a race in before he has to give it up for a while. We wish Andy a speedy return. Joining the B team for the fourth leg was Richard Lawton who has been running really well lately and this showed today with him running a very fast time. Onto our incomplete team and first off was Hugh Simpson who needed instruction on how to work his new Garmin before the start. Hugh has been a bit off form lately but ran a strong leg and is on his way back to good form. The second leg went to Colin Banks and he found himself with other runners around him. This gave him a good run with others to chase. The third leg went to Russell Couper who after some back trouble this week was swithering whether to run or not. After some morning stretches the back felt fine so decision made. Despite a couple of wee twinges from it during the latter hills on the race he still managed to run 1.33 faster than last year.
Another great day out with Calderglen Harriers at a great race and everyone happy with their running
You couldn't wish for anything else.

Times now in   Frances  18.55,   Alison    19.22,    Karen     19.44.
Blair    14.39,     Charlie    17.06,      David H     17.05,       Davie W   14.41,
Jim      17.07,      Stuart      18.25,     Andy           18.53,      Richard     18.37,
Hugh   20.17,      Colin       19.06,     Russell         22.47.

Ladies where 10th place and our A team where 2nd Vets team.

Monday 28 September 2015

PAIR OF ASICS LEFT AT TRAINING

Someone left a pair of Asics in the foyer after tonights training.
Eddie Reid has them and can be collected on Thursday night.
If needed before leave a comment.

Sunday 27 September 2015

NATIONAL XC RELAYS

This years event will be run over the usual course in Cumbernauld on Sat 24th Oct.
Ladies start at 1.35pm with the men at 2.40pm.
Cost is £5.50 per head and each leg is 4k.
As this is a pre entry event I need names by Thursday 1st Oct.
If you wish entered leave your name HERE.
Those registered are listed HERE.

Brancumhall Training

As part of our preparations for the cross country season and general winter strengthening, the fortnightly Brancumhall sessions start tomorrow, Monday 28th September. We will run from the club to Brancumhall so please bring your normal road shoes and any alternative footwear you may wish to use for the session on grass. Your alternative shoes (without you in them) will be transported by car from the club to Brancumhall.
Alan

Saturday 26 September 2015

TTC 2015 - Wet and Dry

Mid-September usually means an Indian summer and a gathering of Harriers and friends in the Trossachs for a weekend of running and almost certainly some hearty meals and drinks. All these things were present this year apart from the Indian summer as Friday evening warm sunshine turned into overnight torrential rain and persistent drizzle for much of Saturday before returning to fine conditions for Sunday. However, a wee bit of rain does not deter Calderglen Harriers (fortunately).

This year 21 Harriers and one Westie (Dawn) had signed up for the weekend. An unfortunate spate of last minute injuries but equally fortunate substitutions caused a few weeks of “will we/won’t we fill it to capacity” doubts but in the end 22 (plus Karen for Saturday only) was a nice number for the various packs and also the dormitories. The coaches leading the packs this year were Frances, Eddie, Russell and myself. Unfortunately, Eddie’s long term injury had not recovered sufficiently for him to run with his pack which meant that he was on a mountain bike for the weekend; something that his pack would view with trepidation as Eddie could afford to get very lost on the bike without over-exerting himself (not that Eddie has ever been lost on a run, he just likes to trailblaze)!

So on the Friday evening, most of the participants set off in beautiful, warm sunshine for the acclimatisation run through Coillhalan woods, a distance of 2.5 to 5.5 miles depending on the pack. Recent extensive tree felling had opened up expansive views of Loch Venachar from the highest point of the route, setting the scene perfectly for a weekend of loch-side and high altitude loch-view runs. Showered and beautified, everyone was now ready for the first dinner at the Lade Inn, some choosing to walk the mile and a half and others sharing cars. As always, Frank Park and family did themsleves proud, quickly and efficiently serving a tasty and filling selection of meals. The evening was rounded off with Three-Harriers-a-Heckling the folk singer performing in the bar. To be fair, he gave as good as he got and even with the help of song books, the Harriers present were better at heckling than they were at singing.

And so it was back to the Trossachs Tryst Hostel for the first night of sleep, or not. In a master stroke of pure guesswork, I had somehow managed to put all the male snorers in the same dorm; 6 of them all together in an 8 man dorm whilst the other dorms, including mine, were a picture of serene peace and quiet. This accumulation of snorers pushed some over the edge (Eddie) whilst others discovered skills they did not have (Martin) and became heroes overnight. At some point during the night, a certain Mr Reid was driven to stuffing wet toilet paper into his ears to cut out the sound of snoring. This proved to be acoustically very effective but a somewhat permanent solution as the toilet paper disappeared out of reach deep within his ears. Health Warning: please do not try any of the following at home; the following operations were performed by untrained professionals. After some toing and froing between the bathroom mirror and the dorm, during which the innards of a biro proved to be a useless toilet paper extractor but a very effective ram rod, Martin Howell was sufficiently curious to ask Eddie what the ***** he was doing. The aggravated Martin then became the hero with the help of Harriers newcomer and TTC first timer Gordon who had a pair of tweezers in his bag. One can only imagine what then went on in the bathroom as we only have snippets of the commentary but there were apparently strained instructions from both parties, which I shall leave to the imagination, as Martin went to work deep within Eddie’s ears. In the end the operation was a success and only a small quantity of blood was drawn along with a large quantity of toilet roll. Martin has to be considered a hero despite his exploits later on in the weekend and Eddie has to be considered a poor toilet paper dispenser but internally very clean.

Saturday morning at the breakfast table was a scene of contrasts; those who had slept, those who had not and Neil Green in his bedtime onesy, having been driven from the snore-dorm to the lounge in the middle of the night where he spent many hours reading a book about polar bears apparently! Kenny Leinster is to be congratulated for taking charge of the breakfast kitchen, setting the tables and preparing a large pot of porridge for all to enjoy.
After breakfast, this year’s event t-shirt was revealed, a fetching purple colour, before I gradually coaxed everyone out into the rain for the team photo. The Saturday morning run started at 9am. This year we returned to the foothills of Ben Ledi via Bochastle, climbing in steady rain all the way to the top of the Stank Glen. Fortunately the rain clouds were high and we still had great views along Loch Lubnaig towards Strathyre and down the Leny Gorge towards Callander. This year we skipped all possible short cuts and turned the run into a full 10-miler, dropping down via the new Callander Community Hydro Power Plant to the Forest Holidays log cabins beside Loch Lubnaig, giving us an easy, slightly downhill run back to the hostel on the route of the old Callander to Oban railway line. Russell’s pack, consisting of Liz Simpson, took an equally nice, low level route into Callander via the railway line and the River Teith footpath, returning via Invertrossachs to give a run of around 5 miles.
Everyone was delighted that the pre-lunch presentation was indoors this year as the rain continued to fall. As many at the club now use GPS watches and heart rate monitors, I had prepared a talk on how to get the most from these devices and the associated training log software. The presentation can be downloaded here. Lunch was then provided by the acclaimed Gargunnock Inn/Café Albert and was well received by all.

The post lunch sessions were supposed to be split into two groups, one doing running drills, the other doing core work. However, the weather was too bad to do the sessions outside so we dropped the running drills and squeezed everyone into the hall for the core session taken by Eddie. The session subjected everyone to various versions of plank, squat and sit-up for the best part of 45 minutes, a challenging work out for those who had not done this before. We then had an hour or so of relaxation before the afternoon run. This session was switched from the railway, which was flooded, to Invertrossachs road alongside Loch Venachar, a nice, smooth, flat tarmac surface. A moderate session of threshold effort intervals was easily managed by all before returning to the hostel to prepare for Lade Inn dinner number 2.

The Lade Inn dinner was outwardly routine but there was some over indulgence in the water of life going on in the background which ultimately bit back on the Sunday run. It was noted that some individuals (myself included) successfully accomplished the Lade Inn Grand Slam (3 courses on both nights) whilst others easily coped with the half slam (Alison would have succeeded with the Grand Slam had she been able to attend the Lade Inn on Friday night, I am sure).
Saturday night was a much more peaceful night in the snore-dorm as Sandra had kindly nipped into Callander during the day to buy a large quantity of ear plugs which seemed to do the trick. However, Neil did manage to finish the polar bear book!
For Sunday’s long run, we made use of the “Loop O’ the Loch” 12.5/14 mile circuit (one small short-cut possible to give the 12.5 mile option), taking in a full clockwise lap of Loch Venachar via Glen Finglas Reservoir “Dam” road or Brig O’ Turk for the slightly shorter option. This is a challenging circuit involving 500m of ascent but was managed more comfortably by all this year than last year. The fast pack led by me had a few issues on the way round (except for David Herbertson who was in fine form). The first sign of trouble came at about 6 miles as we neared the Achray Farm turn-off and had just passed a team of school children on an adventure weekend. From behind me I heard Martin Howell making the sound of an unwell person and turned to see him rushing to the ditch at the side of the road where these sounds continued. Apparently the “Running Dynamics” accelerometer in Martin’s Garmin chest strap recorded a peak (or should that be “pewk”) acceleration at this point together with a maximum vertical oscillation. Further proof that whisky and water can mix but whisky and anything else (e.g. running) do not mix.

Having survived this moment, we continued onwards. However the brief pause had caused Neil Green’s Achilles tendon pain to flare up and he was now running with a limp. As we were effectively at half way, there was no option but to continue though. The next interesting part of the route was the “Dam Road”, a series of switch back hairpin bends climbing about 150m over the space of 2 miles, initially on tarmac before diverting to a narrow gravel path. Neil could manage this but preferred not to stop as his Achilles would flare up. The pack ran together to the end of the tarmac climb and then let Neil continue on alone as we took a breather. It was a great effort by the whole pack to run this entire tarmac stage without stopping, demonstrating that the strength and fitness are there. Finally we were at the top with great views into Achray Forest and the Trossachs. After a slight descent, we caught up with Neil who was waiting at the only junction on this route.

Thereafter the run in was a rollercoaster of ups and downs but overall gradually descending towards Callander. The run (including a few stops) took 2 hours 13 minutes and was thankfully completed in fine sunshine throughout. Not long after, Billy Buchanan and Kenny Leinster came flying in, having been pulling the first pack in on the descent. Both are in great form for their mid-October marathon in Amsterdam for which there could not be a more inappropriate training run than this Loop O’ the Loch! After another short while, the remainder of Eddie’s pack arrived with no signs or news of any problems. Frances had taken her pack on the 12.5  mile option. The distance was not a problem for anyone but the climbing, reduced pace and hence increased time on the feet made this a very long run for many in Frances’ pack. But they all did it and can now work towards this duration of run as a regular part of their training. Russell had accompanied Liz on a mountain bike tour of the south side of the loch which proved to be the ideal gentle end to Liz’s training weekend as a relative newcomer to running. Finally, the Sunday lunch was enjoyed by all with many eager to return next year.

All in all the TTC was a success and achieved its objectives of giving the participants the experience and confidence to push their limits, whether that was their longest run, their first threshold session, their first core stability workout or, indeed, their first ear nose and throat operation. None of this would be possible without the assistance and time given by your coaches, Frances, Russell and Eddie preparing for the event, arranging t-shirts and supplies and of course looking after you all on the day. We could not do this for such great value without the financial help of our sponsor, EKGTA Ltd. There may be some changes next year as the venue is in the process of being sold and may not be operating on the same basis. However, fear not, an alternative venue only a few miles away (and even closer to the Lade Inn) has been identified ensuring that the 2016 TTC (the 10th edition) should go ahead. Please let us know if you are likely to be interested so we can get a rough feel for numbers before booking the new (or old) venue.

All the photos from me, Frances and Sandy are in the album here.
Alan


Friday 25 September 2015

Houston Teams 2015

There has been a fine response to our first relay of the season. The teams and running order are listed here.

Please arrive as early as possible ( I suggest no later than 1:30 for a 2:30 start), not only to allow Russell to enter and pay for the teams (£5/£7 SA/non-SA members per head) but also to allow you to warm up properly and maximise your performance. Remember, this is shorter than the Auldhouse 5k time trial and you all have performed well on that course with a good warm-up before hand so do a very gentle lap of the course finishing a half hour before your leg and some strides just before the start to get the blood pumping.
Alan

Thursday 17 September 2015

WEST DISTRICT XC RELAY

This years West District Cross Country relays will be held at Hamilton Park race course on the 11th October.
Ladies start at 12.40pm with the men at 1.40pm.
Cost is £5 per head and it is 4k per leg.
I need names by Tuesday 22nd Sept as this is a pre entry race
If you wish entered leave your name HERE.
Those registered are listed HERE.

GEORGE CUMMINGS ROAD RELAY

The George Cummings Road Relay will take place on Saturday 26th Sept with a start time of 2.30pm
Teams of 4 for the men and 3 for the Ladies.
Cost is £5 per head and should be paid in advance.
An additional £2 if your SA number is not up to date
Names are required by Thursday 24th Sept at training or beforehand on here.
If you wish entered please leave your name HERE.
Those registered are listed HERE.

Tuesday 15 September 2015

Glasgow Athletics Association’s Endurance Group

Every year Glasgow Athletics Association's Endurance Group organise a series of winter XC training sessions geared to build towards the National XC in Falkirk in February.  There is 5 dates all starting at 10.30am.  This is an open training event for all athletes of all ages.

Saturday 31st October, Bellahouston (grass)
Saturday 14th November,  Bellahouston (grass)
Tuesday 29th December, Nethercraigs
Saturday 16th January, Tollcross Park (grass)
Saturday 13th February, Tollcross Park (grass)

So if you fancy a boost to your cross country training this year then here is an additional option.

See link to related article from Scottish Athletics website which has a further link to the training timetable.
http://www.scottishathletics.org.uk/noticeboard-haile-glasgow-xc-sds-champs-stornoway/

Richard

Sunday 13 September 2015

TTC 2015 - Picture Perfect


The Trossachs Training Camp is over for another year and this had to be one of the most fun ever. The full story will take some writing up and that will come later in the week. However, for now, to all those who took part, please join me in thanking your coaches Frances, Eddie and Russell, who took all the organisational stress off me; and to each and every one of your club mates who made this weekend absolutely hilarious.

For those who were there, the following album will remind you of some of the weekend and for those who were not, you are going to have to wait for the story later in the week for the full hilarity.
Click here for the Photo Album. Thanks to Sandy for the Saturday and Sunday run photos.
Alan

McANDREW ROAD RELAYS ( CANCELLED )

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELLED
The McAndrew Road Relay will take place on Saturday 19th Sept with a start time of 1pm
Cost will be £5 per head with an additional £2 if your SA number is out of date.
Fee should be paid in advance.
Teams are 4 for men and 3 for Ladies.
Names are required by training on Thursday 17th Sept or beforehand on here.
If you wish entered please leave your name HERE.
Those already entered are listed HERE.

Tuesday 8 September 2015

Harriers Racquet Report - 06/09/15


The long awaited and eagerly anticipated (by some) Harriers tennis tournament was blessed by an absolutely glorious morning of blue skies and sunshine; would the assorted Harriers' tennis skills be equally as dazzling!

The answer to this was never in doubt and with Samantha and Liz there to do their official sports photographer roles the proof as they say is in the “pictures”. I think they thought they were on a bonus per picture taken as there are a delightful number of photos to browse through, just make sure you have some time to spare before clicking on the links supplied below. Normally I would put some captions to appropriate photos but in this case words fail me and we could have a caption contest with no problem, quite honestly the mind boggles. On the whole these were definitely not posed but more your actual “action” man /woman scenarios.

Anyway the format was simple, we had 16 professional tennis players, and 4 courts, result – Doubles matches to keep everybody amused at all times, as all were Harriers, (Frank ,Jean and Shirley made associate members of the club for the day) there would be no problems with fitness for the number of matches to be played. It may be the fact that most, if any, rallies were short that there was not too much running in evidence at any one time.

Rules; each player to serve for one service game and at the end of 4 games points awarded for the number of games won. The doubles partnerships were rearranged after each 4 game match and after 7 matches the 8 players with the most points moved into a semi final and final play off.

The initial partnerships were drawn out of the “hat” and after that Eddie did a great job of new pairings, ensuring nobody played with the same partner twice.

Eddie also kept a note of the scores and the running point’s total, so while we were all enjoying ourselves he was left with pressure of keeping things moving according to schedule and mental arithmetic to cope with. As usual Eddie did not disappoint and deserves sincere thanks for his efforts on the day, especially as we know he was desperate to play but had been ruled out by injury.

The initial 16 were whittled down to the 8 for the semi- finals and there were a few surprised and pleased faces when the names were announced.

The crowd of Ruth and Emma swelled by the late arrival of Geo were just delirious with excitement by this time!! Even Sandra was out from her catering duties to be amazed by what was on offer and Samantha and Liz could hardly stop their fingers from clicking in anticipation of what was to come. The cream of the crop was on display, what would be the outcome of this clash of giants from the tennis world.

Well the semis were played in a tense atmosphere, a cauldron of pressure to equal Andy Murray playing for Wimbledon and the finalist turned out to be The Pocket Rockets  - Hugh and Billy against the Boy Band Jim and Phil.

Well the answer would have been in the final photo but one of the Winners was shy of publicity and had to leave sharply, so the answer is that the Boy Band of Jim and Phil were on song and are the worthy Champions of the Harriers Tennis tourney 2015.

A final thanks to Sandra and Eddie for their sterling support on the day. Without you both, things would not have went nearly so smoothly. Also to Samantha and Liz your photos speak volumes to your dedication to your profession. And the final "finally", a huge thanks to Alan McLellan, without whom this tournament would not have taken place. Alan arranged for us to have access to the tennis courts and loaned us rackets and balls, even coaching some of the players (who did not win). Were it not for a cycling injury (see Harriers trying other sports!), he would have been there umpiring too. So a big thanks to Alan.
Billy

Samantha's photos here.
Liz's photos here.
Results:



Monday 7 September 2015

National Mid-Trail Race - Falkland Estate

Race Elevation Profile added to end of post.
A team of 10 Harriers made what is now a regular journey through to Falkland on Saturday for the National Mid-Trail Race Championships. Summer made a belated appearance with glorious, warm sunshine present for the whole day. With all the Harriers present and registered we headed off for a recce of the start of the course. For the previous two years, this course had been flat or slightly downhill for the first 1 or 2km but this year the race started with 1.5km up a very steep hill on the first loop and then back up that same hill a second time on the second long loop. It would have been a nasty shock if we had not checked out that hill during the warm-up. Unfortunately during that warm-up George Stewart's dodgy calf packed in only 200m into a very gentle jog and his race was over before it had even started. This was a real pity as George is very much a local celebrity on the running scene in Fife as he does so many races over there. Frances Maxwell was our only lady running today and was facing the "15km" course for the first time, the ladies having previously covered a 10km course in this championship. Stephen Phimister, Geo Ferguson and Jim Holmes were also making their first appearances on this course whereas Joe Shiels was making his first appearance in a Harriers' vest; a tough race to make your debut on. Alan Derrick, Russell Couper, Billy Buchanan and Kenny Leinster were back on the course for their second or third times so knew pretty well what was facing them.

At 2pm we were ready for the off but unusually this race did not start behind a line. Instead the start was "neutralised" as the organisers were not allowed to start the race out on the estate road. The starter walked the entire field en-masse from a field through a gate onto the estate road at which point we were allowed to start running as we each passed through the gate. Very unusual! I was aware of 3 or 4 other M50's in the field who were also selected for Scotland so knew this would not be an easy race in my age  group. I therefore decided to start more quickly than I have in recent races to try to get to the narrow path on the first ascent first and not to get blocked in. This strategy seemed to work and I soon found myself in a group of 4 on the ascent with the first two ladies and a younger Cambuslang runner. After the first 1.5km of climbing, the route dived steeply back down a forest path which was reasonable underfoot but still risky at the speed we were descending at. After a long descent, we found ourselves back on the muddy, twisty ascent that had been used in previous years going all the way back up to the same elevation we had just descended.

By this time my group had reduced to three, me and the two ladies. We emerged onto a forest road and immediately turned left and downhill to join the famous beech hedge lined path which took us back to the steep road we had first run up. Then we were back up that first hill again, this time carrying on up beyond the steep downhill path and onto the main forest road climb with which we are very familiar. At this stage one of my main M50 rivals, Jim Buchanan from Dumfries Running Club, breezed onto my shoulder and I knew already that I had overcooked the first loop in my eagerness to get to the first hill first. The pack soon became four as the second lady dropped off but the Cambuslang runner was back with us too. We stuck together all the way along the forest road and on the long descent at the far end but I was only just hanging on on the downhills. We then came to the bit that we all dread, the steep, sandy path (with a fallen tree to jump over this time too) that climbed back to the forest road. We were all power walking on the steepest bit but my quads were done in and I dropped back 10 or 20 seconds behind. As I emerged onto the forest road, I had no problem getting back into my running but the damage was done and I could not close that gap. At 11km, just before the final descent, I was surprised to see Robert Gilroy running towards me with some other leaders and I cursed myself for not checking the course map beforehand. Surely there was not another loop back up this hill again. With less than 4km to go, I could not see how they could fit another loop in so just thought that Robert was so far ahead that he was on a cool down! Wrong. Robert and 3 or 4 others from the leading packs had gone off course somewhere. Oh well, nothing I could do about that.

The final 3km (it turned out the course was 14km rather than 15km) absolutely flew by as it was downhill all the way and the pace hit 5 minute miling. Unfortunately I was only gradually closing the gap to the pack in front who were also flying and my chance of winning the M50 title was gone. Running at that speed over quite a long distance was a real thrill though and soon I was at the sharp 90 degree bend through the farm gate and a further 50m through the field to the finish line. A quick conflab with Jim Buchanan confirmed that he was first M50 and I was second and that a handful of leaders had gone off course so I was also 8th overall, much to my surprise in a time of 56:15.

Behind me Stephen Phimister was having a fine run, despite niggling foot pain and completed the course in 65:09 (the official times from after the first 10 or so are really messed up; this is the time from Stephen's own watch), cheered on by his son and daughter. Jim Holmes demonstrated his returning form, finishing in 65:26 (tbc) and must surely have had Stephen in his sights. Kenny Leinster and Billy Buchanan had a race long tussle with Kenny just about throwing away the win by stopping at the gate rather than running into the field as Billy closed up behind him. Startled into action by our shouts, Kenny somehow got going again and crossed the line just ahead of Billy in 67 minutes (from his own watch) with Billy only seconds behind.

Geo Ferguson really relished the challenge this course posed and, as he has done so often recently, finished powerfully in (time tbc) with Joe Shiels only 5 or 6 seconds behind. Frances Maxwell is also piling in the marathon training miles just now and this was another chance to get some tough miles in the pocket. Frances crossed the line in 73:43. Finally, Russell Couper was having an enjoyable run and certainly looked comfortable enough when I passed him on my way down to the finish. Russell finished in 92:49 (own time), rounding out a great Harriers team performance.

The team of Harriers then made a very impressive sight by conducting our stretching routine on the lawn by the duck pond, a ritual that we all definitely felt the benefit of. From there we walked the short distance back to Falkland Village Hall for the other ritual; a cup of soup and a roll prior to the prize giving. I was then very pleased to receive the Scottish Athletics silver medal in the M50 age group; my first national individual medal, despite having picked up a handful of team medals over the years in the 6-stage and national cross country short course with the Harriers. A big thanks to the Harriers who supported this championship event which so suits the sort of training that we do in Calderglen and Chatelherault; lets see some more out next year. A special mention to Stuart Waugh and the Phimisters for their shouts of support on the course and to George Stewart for his support despite the disappointment of not being able to run himself.
Alan
Race Elevation Profile!


Sunday 6 September 2015

Grand Prix 2015-16

Where does time go? Well this year the Grand Prix is starting a week early due to a re-shuffle of the McAndrew Road Relay to avoid a clash with the Great Scottish Run. Victoria Park Glasgow have worked hard to keep this race going for the best part of 50 years so let us support them again by kicking off our Grand Prix in style with many teams. There is a separate post on the blog to leave your details. So the initial few races in the GP are:
Saturday 19th September McAndrew Road Relay (Jordanhill)
Saturday 26 September George Cummings (Houston) Road Relay
Sunday 11 October West District Cross Country Relays (Hamilton)
Saturday 24 October National Cross Country Relays (Cumbernauld)

All the races are reasonably local, so lets have a strong representation from the men and women of Calderglen Harriers.
Alan

TTC 2015 - Final Instructions

Here are some final instructions (for those who have been before, they are remarkably similar to previous years!). I will put a weather update on this post on Thursday but be prepared for anything.

You can arrive at the Trossachs Backpackers Hostel from 3.30pm onwards (however you won't know what room you are in until I arrive with the sheet at about 4pm). See the separate blog post for directions to the venue. First run will be at 5.30pm prompt. Please be here and ready to run otherwise it is dinner and no run! Let me know if you are not going to make the run (or dinner) on 07867863741. If you are not going to be there at all, then please let me know; I can then re-shuffle the room allocations to make things a bit more spacious.

You will need to bring the following with you;
• 4 run outfits - please check weather and dress appropriately
• Waterproof/water resistant jacket - just in case.
• Running shoes (we strongly recommend you bring a spare pair!)
• Running socks - lots (at least 4 pairs)
• Casual outfit for dinner
• Bedding will be provided but you'll need to bring a towel or two.
• Water bottle and something to put in it e.g. energy drink for Sunday long run
• Your own toiletries
• Any medication you require
• PYJAMAS (the rooms are dorms!!)
• A yoga/gym mat or large towel to lie on when doing the conditioning sessions.

Dinner on the first night is at 7.30pm ....if you're running late.
Allow enough time for travelling, the road can be very busy if you are travelling at rush hour.

There will be a welcome notice at the main reception on this you will find:
1. room information
2. pack information
3. and a reminder of what you've ordered for dinner!

Otherwise, just ask Frances, Eddie, Russell or me when we arrive (at about 4pm). Note that the hostel owners, do not know who is in which rooms, so no point in asking, just wait till I arrive.

Alan

Thursday 3 September 2015

5k at Dusk

Clear skies and mild conditions greeted a large field of Harriers for the final Auldhouse 5k of the season. Fastest time of the night was Martin Howell, with his recent back injury now behind him (where it always was!).

Many were treating this as a pre-race run with the National Trail Race on Saturday and it was interesting to note that a deliberate, easy start led to some of the fastest times of the season by those taking it easy. Pace judgement is the key in distance running. First timers Justine Black and Shona Findlater both had excellent runs on this far from easy course and have now set a benchmark for next year. Full results are here.
Alan

Final Auldhouse 5k TT Tonight!

Unfortunately it's the final one this year but conditions look favourable. This one starts , finishes at and ends up inside The Auldhouse Arms, so please bring some money for a quick drink (soft or otherwise) and bright clothing for the dark run back. Report to the Sports Club well before 7:30pm so I can set up the start list. See you there!
Alan