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Saturday 31 October 2015

Golden Colours in Baillieston

Davy Watt and Kevan Harvey lead the Calderglen charge.
Unseasonably mild weather and the full spectrum of Autumn colours turned Baillieston into an (almost) running paradise this afternoon as a small but quality contingent of clubs from the East and West and all the Scottish Universities congregated for the annual Allan Scally Road Relay. Run over 4 x 4.8 mile (3 laps for the ladies) of what seems like just about every residential street in Mount Vernon, this race is certainly a lot more complex and a lot more enjoyable than the old, "traditional" Edinburgh Road course.
Kevan Harvey flies to the line

Calderglen fielded 3 men's teams and a partially complete ladies' team. On first leg duty we had a very much in form Davy Watt for our vets team, Kevan Harvey making his club debut, Richard Lawton looking to challenge his pb and Frances Maxwell hoping to demonstrate continuing great form on the back of her marathon fitness. From the off, Davy settled into 4th place with Kevan only a few places behind; I can't remember the last time we had two teams up among the leaders, particularly when the field was loaded with young talent from the various Scottish University teams. Davy continued to worry the youngsters all the way around the lap, only really fading on the final climb to the finish, crossing the line in an incredible 8th place in a time of 27:08. This immediately put David Herbertson under severe pressure as he took over on leg 2, despite being given a "keep the heid" briefing before he started. Kevan had a slight niggle from Thursday and was not feeling too comfortable on his lap but still recorded a fine time of 28:39, especially since he had not raced for a few years and had not seen this course before. Kevan is definitely going to leave the rest of us behind soon if this is how he performs off only a limited amount of training. Richard had been trying to hang on to Frances but inevitably, the marathon endurance and strength decided the outcome as Frances opened the gap on the final 1km climb to the finish, crossing the line in 34:40. However, Richard was not disappointed as he smashed his previous course best by 35 seconds to finish in 35:29.
Frances Maxwell heads for the line

Meanwhile, Davy Herbertson was using his local support team (the family were stationed at an aunt and uncle's house about 1 mile into the course) to keep him motivated and only a handful of runners slipped by, Davy completing the lap blowing heavily in a time of 31:56 in around 12th or 13th position, about a minute faster than last year. Kevan had passed on to Charlie McDougall who was thankfully over a niggling injury which had kept him out of action last weekend at Cumbernauld. Charlie would certainly be the fastest M65 out there today, completing the lap in 32:40. John McBride had taken over from Richard and was hoping to continue in fine form. Unfortunately John wrongly identified a park about a mile from the finish as the park in which we were finishing and started his push for the line way too early. We have all done this and there is nothing more embarrassing than powering past someone (a Bellahouston Harrier in this case), only to fade 30 seconds later and be re-passed! However, John's time of 35:59 was only seconds outside his previous best from a few years ago, so nothing to be disappointed about there. Ruth Kelly was testing out a long-term hip injury today but unfortunately the hip only lasted a mile or so before the pain started to build. Ruth carried on to finish in 44:25, a time she can easily beat were it not for the pain I am sure.
Ruth Kelly starts off pain free

As the leg 3 runners came in, a familiar veteran harrier in an incoming Shettleston vest convinced me that the home club had taken the veteran team lead from us. Jim Holmes was therefore instructed to chase down the Shettleston vest in front to regain the veteran lead. Easy enough to say but in practice, the Shettleston runner ran out of sight of Jim within the first mile. Jim continued to chase and exchanged a few places up and down with other clubs, crossing the line in 32:35, several seconds faster than last year, so again, a fine performance. Stuart Waugh was on leg 3 for Team B and showed just how well he has recovered from his long, medical break this year by running an excellent 33:40. The impressive thing is that Stuart ran a low 20's park run this morning with his grandson so had every reason to be tired! In fact Stuart was 5 seconds faster than his previous appearance here in 2013. Hugh Simpson was also on leg 3 duty and his main ambition was not to be caught by our A team 4th leg runner (me). There was no danger of this as he had at least as 20 minute start but he was not to know that when he set off. Running scared resulted in a time of 38:09 for Hugh.
Charlie McDougall accelerates from the line

As the legs became ever more spread out, the 3 Calderglen 4th leg runners were facing a lonely time on their runs. As I took off for our veteran A team, it looked like I had about a 5 minute gap to make up on what we thought was the leading veteran team. In my head I knew this was not possible to make up but the heart never says give up until the line is crossed so I set off in full chase mode. Unfortunately it was a total solo effort with no runners (except one ladies' team who I passed very quickly) to be seen for the entire lap. With no-one to gauge my effort against and blowing out my ears, it felt like I was crawling although in fact I was probably going too fast in the early stages and certainly suffered in the final third of the course when the long climb to the finish began. Only in the final 400m did I eventually see another team in front of me but had no energy to catch them. I crossed the line in 28:36 which was faster than last year by about 20 seconds but slower than all my previous runs on this course, so a little disheartening. Meanwhile all the remaining 4th leg runners had been set off together about 5 minutes after I had started. This gave Jim Mearns and Russell Couper a bit more of a race than they might otherwise have expected. Jim was the fastest of that final group and pulled away from them all to finish in a fine 34:01. Russell had a strong run, improving on last year by abut a minute to finish in 44:04, rounding off not only a fine Calderglen performance but also a fine representation by the club at this local event. We were all impressed by the marshalling on the course; there are a lot of turns and junctions and every one was arrowed and marshalled clearly. We were particularly motivated by one young, bespectacled marshall who had unique words of encouragement for all of us as we passed his corner.
John McBride strides out.

The final icing on the cake was that the assumed veteran Shettleston team we had been chasing but failing to catch was not in fact a veteran team, so our A team of Davy Watt, David Herbertson, Jim Holmes and Alan Derrick were the veteran team winners, much to our delight (Davy, I may as well just give your prize of a tenner straight to Russell as no doubt by the next time I see you, you will owe Russell money for something!). This continues to be a great road relay on our door step and there is no obvious reason why we should not have double the number of Calderglen teams there next year. Thanks to all who participated for your enthusiasm and also to Frances' young nephew Michael for his patience watching all us adults running around all afternoon.
Three quarters of our winning vets team receiving their prize from the Shettleston Harriers president

The above times are subject to confirmation when the official results are published.
Alan

Postscript: the effect of aging. I have now run this course 4 times (2009, 2013, 14 and 15), all wearing a Garmin and heart rate monitor. The graph below shows my heart rate against the distance around the course. The 2009 run was my fastest and is the blue (highest) line in the graph below, sitting at about 165 to 170 beats per minute once I got beyond the first mile. For the last three years my heart rate has been around 5 beats per minute slower and I have also run slower, illustrating that to run fast, you need to burn enough energy in the muscles to provide the power which means getting enough oxygen to the muscles which means getting the heart to pump fast enough to deliver that oxygen to the muscles. Most people's maximum heart rate slows down with age (approximately 1 beat per minute per year for fit, active people) so this is one explanation why we get slower and is well illustrated in the graph. However, by focusing on hard effort training, we can slow down the rate at which we lose maximum heart rate. That is why we "burst our guts" doing hard interval sessions at the club! The old saying "if you don't use it, you lose it" is very true in this case.

Fingal Bay parkrun, New South Wales

I’ve still got a long way to go to catch Russell, but I finally made my parkrun debut in Fingal Bay, New South Wales. Hopefully it’s the furthest travelled parkrun by a Calderglen Harrier, so put that in your pipe & smoke it Russell. I suspect Malcolm or David Herbertson could maybe beat that though.

Several times I’ve been asked if I’d ever done a parkrun & I honestly thought it unlikely that I’d find the need to do one. There are so many good events on the calendar, that it’s usually a matter of which ones to leave out rather than looking for races to do. I’m usually trying to get the balance right between racing, training & recovery. It’s so easy to be tempted into doing one race too
many.

After competing in a couple of big events down under, I had the usual what's next feeling. You are still on a bit of a high after the races, which had been my goal for ages. Then there is the inevitable lull afterwards as, all of a sudden, it’s over with nothing new to aim for. The Oz tour to date has comprised of the World Duathlon champs in Adelaide followed by the Nepean triathlon in
Sydney, which, in it’s 34th year, is the oldest triathlon in Australia. The deal with Mandy was two weeks of events & city sightseeing followed by two weeks of chilling in the beautiful coastal town of Fingal Bay, 150 miles north of Sydney. Although Mandy does really enjoy the events, chilling out in her birthplace of Australia is every bit as appealing.

I had also been enjoying the chilling for a few days, but my mind started to wonder if a minor race might give me a gradual withdrawal from the thought of no more events for a while. Then a quick check on Google for events confirmed that the local parkrun started virtually on my doorstep. Perfect. I quickly registered with parkrun UK, then had a quick trip to the local library to print off my barcode & I was in.

The 5k itself fitted perfectly into the local park by going out along the coast, turning at the boathouse, which was at the end of the path, then passing the start/finish line before turning again at the other end of the path. A final turn again at the boathouse & then onto the finish. Myself & Mandy fitted in a recce run a couple of days before & the route felt fairly flat. It didn’t however, feel flat on race day. Mandy downloaded her Garmin from the recce run to reveal a significant amount of climbing. I’d hoped for a sub 18 min run, as my first 5k in the Duathlon had been 17.55. I felt I was moving well, so was slightly disappointed with a 18.46 debut parkrun. Maybe the elevation, three dead turns and coastal breezes played it’s part……..or maybe I’ve had one too
many holiday Castlemaine XXXX. While in Australia & all that. Overall I’ve got to be happy with a 2nd place & an over 80% age group score. I was beaten by another British glory hunter holiday maker.

You’ve got to be impressed with the parkrun set up. It’s so simple yet caters for accurately recording 1000’s of times every Saturday all over the World. I’m sure I read that it’s now the biggest running event in the World.  Now that I’ve got a time to try & beat I’m sure I’ll give another one a go.

This must also be the first Harriers' parkrun race report to be sent before the parkrun races back home have started.

Cheers
Martin & Mandy

Friday 30 October 2015

Allan Scally Teams

Update:- Jim Holmes is leaving the club at 12:30 for those needing a lift.
Another good response from the club this weekend with one ladies' team and 3 men's teams entered. The teams are listed here. As usual, if you are no longer available or are going to be late, then please let us know as soon as possible by leaving a comment on this post or by phone or e-mail to Russell or me. Could you please be at Bannerman High School (G69 7NS) for registration by 1pm. Remember that we need your money to enter the teams! The course is about a half mile from the school.

I was away on Thursday so am not sure what arrangements were made for lifts from the Sports Club but I do note that Kevan and a few others probably require a lift. Please leave a comment on this blog post if you can offer a lift and at what time. Remember the traffic could be chaotic on the M74/M73 junction, so do allow extra time to get to Baillieston.
Alan

The school for registration and refreshments is located here.

HAS ANYONE SEEN OUR TENT

With us now in winter its important we have our tent for shelter at the relay races. Unfortunately we cant find it and are trying to track it down. This is just a request to see if anyone knows of its whereabouts. Its a long shot I know as the most probable situation is its been moved to another cupboard in the Sports Club that we cant access. If anyone does know its whereabouts please let us know asap.

Tuesday 27 October 2015

BRAMPTON TO CARLISLE ROAD RACE

Our annual trip to Brampton for the 10 mile race will be on Sunday 15th November.
It will be the usual format of the coach leaving the Sports Club at 8am to give us plenty time for arrival and warm up before the 11.30 start. Due to the early start time we will not have time for a pre race stop so bring something to eat and drink onto the coach.
To those new to the Harriers this is a full day out with the coach taking us to the start and meeting us at the finish in Carlisle where we will have a couple of hours to spend in the nearby hostelry to partake in some fluid replenishment then up to Moffat for Dinner in the Star Hotel and back to East Kilbride Sports Club for about 8pm.
The cost for your place on the coach is £15 and your entry for the race will either be £14 or £16 depending on your SA status. Dinner will be £12 but will be paid on the day.
To reserve your seat on the coach please see me at the club with your £15 and bring your entry form and fee to me also and I will enter them as a block entry. Latest day for me to receive entry forms is Monday 2nd Nov. Non participants and friends are welcome too.

Entry forms are here http://borderharriers.co.uk/app/webroot/uploads/File/B2C-2015-entry-form.pdf

Seats on the coach will be reserved with the £15 payment.

Russell

Sunday 25 October 2015

THE ALLAN SCALLY ROAD RELAY

This years Allan Scally road relay will be held on Sat 31st Oct.
Registration at Bannerman High School in Baillieston
Race start time is 2pm and is run over a 4.8mile course.
3 legs per ladies team and 4  legs for men.
Cost is unknown but probably about £5 per head.
Names required by Thursday 29th Oct.
If you wish entered leave your name HERE.
Those registered are listed HERE.

RUBY'S 5K RACE

After some good racing yesterday myself and Stuart headed to the Ayrshire Athletics Arena for the Ruby's 5k. We were joined by Stuarts daughter and grandson. First up was a mile fun run on the track with young Lewis Moir taking part in his second race of the morning having previously ran the Victoria park junior parkrun in a new PB of 8.18 for the 2k. Now it was time to run his second race of 4 laps of the track which he ran with a consistent pace to complete in 7.57.Great to see one of our junior Harriers so keen on racing. Now it was time to run the 5k organised by Kilmarnock Harriers in memory of Ruby Young and raising money for charity with all proceeds from the day going to Ayrshire Cancer Support. Stuart, Lynsey and myself lined up on the track for a lap then a figure 8 course finishing with another lap on the track. For those that have done the cross country here in the past the first half of the figure 8 skirts round the route with the second half going towards the houses. It was almost perfect running conditions with just a little wind in places. We were off and Stuart started to move away round the track then Lynsey came past and moved about 5 metres in front of me which stabilised for a while. Off the track and over the bridge taking the path towards the overflow car park and through 1k onto the road turning right and running back towards the railway bridge and motorway. At the 1k I managed to pass Lynsey although im sure she stayed on my tail and when we moved through the trees onto the path at the motorway slip road the legs died on the uphill and Lynsey stormed passed me. Back round into the Arena area but this time straight over the bridge and back to the overflow car park this time turning left and towards the houses and then the main road back to the Arena. Stuart finished in a time of 20.52 with Lynsey coming in with a time of 25.12 then Me in 25.55. Happy with the time as its around what ive been running and with it being back to back racing days. A great wee event on a good course and well worth other Harriers considering and you can even take the kids along for the fun run

Saturday 24 October 2015

"Cawld" in Cumbernauld

Kay Conneff enjoying her first XC race
The Harriers fielded 5 teams at the National Cross Country Relays in Cumbernauld this afternoon, a great turn out and even more so as we had several first timers in a Harriers vest and also first timers in a cross country race. Making their debuts were Kay Conneff on the first legs for our ladies' A team, Andrew J Buchanan in the men's senior team first leg and Martin Howell (not the first time in a Harrier's vest but the first time in a cross country race after many years of road running). There is no better course to make your XC debut on either as it has a little bit of everything (hills, mud, twists and turns, great views of much of the course) but not so much of anything that it is off putting.
Karen Allen picks up the pace towards the finish

The weather through the night and in the morning was horrendous but fortunately the forecast for clearing skies and "only" blustery showers was correct so the lack of the club tent was not a serious problem and we rekindled old memories by setting up Calderglen base camp under a tree just like the old days! The ladies were off first and this year we were able to field two teams (almost). In the first team we had Kay Conneff, Joanne McEvoy and Alison Lessells whilst in the second team we had Karen Allen and Frances Maxwell.
Frances Maxwell climbs strongly

Kay and Karen both had very competitive runs, with Karen gradually extending her lead throughout the 4km lap to finish in 19:07, actually about 20 seconds faster than she ran on the considerably flatter Hamilton Racecourse 4km lap 2 weeks ago. Kay had a strong run for her first cross country race and maintained great form all the way to the line in 19:34. This meant that the plan to give Frances Maxwell a no pressure leg only 6 days after the Amsterdam marathon was out the window as Frances was the leading Calderglen lady on leg 2. Indeed, it seems that Frances did not need a rest as she was our fastest lady today, finishing in 18:24, amongst the fastest F50 ladies. Joanne McEvoy has had a bit of a runny nose all week and today was not the day to help that situation as the driving rain started during Joanne's leg. However, Joanne was very happy with her run as she was strong throughout, finishing in 18:51. Alison Lessells continues to make huge strides back to full fitness and rounded off a very well matched Calderglen ladies' performance with a great time of 18:44. Well done to the ladies and we hope to have even more teams out in future relays given the ever increasing number of new members.

Andrew Buchanan powers through the field
For the men we had one senior team (4 per team), one M40 team (4 per team) and one M50 team (3 per team). Our senior team was a mixed age group team and was led off by Andrew J Buchanan (we now have two Andy Buchanans in the club and both are young & fast, so the only way to differentiate them is with a middle initial) on his first race for Calderglen and his first XC race. Andrew was supported by his entire family and was very strong, particularly on the hills where he was making up places like nobody's business. Andrew crossed the line in a fantastic 15:47. The very much in form David Herbertson was leading out the M40 team and chased hard to finish in 16:45. John McBride was put under pressure, coming straight off night shift to run the first leg in the M50 team. John continued to demonstrate great form, finishing in 18:50. Richard Lawton took over from Andrew and had the unusual experience of being chased down by two Harriers' teams. Richard is another one who has really found great form this year and, despite being caught and passed by Martin Howell, kept it going to the line in 18:43, contributing to some very close finishes among the Harriers. Martin has run for years (decades even) albeit with a long "rest" period from his youth until quite recently and, surprisingly, had never run a cross country race, as he felt that he didn't have the strength for it. However, there was no sign of any weakness today and Martin finished in 17:20. Stuart Waugh was representing the M50 team on leg 2 and is coming back to great form, finishing in 18:39, near the top of our tight finish group.

Jim Holmes on leg 3 for the M40 team was now leading the Harriers' charge and hoped to run as well as he did at Hamilton Racecourse 2 weeks ago. Jim kept the M40 team in front with a storming 17:25. The other leg 3 runners were Hugh Simpson for the senior team and me for the M50 team, hoping to catch both Hugh and Jim. Hugh is really getting the miles up these days and this is showing in a gradual return to his previous form, finishing in 20:53 with a smile on his face as always. Meanwhile, I found myself setting off just before the leading team on the 4th leg, Central AC who had saved the best to last with British Champion Andrew Buchart. So I had the pleasure of watching a class runner fly past me 200m into the leg (and 3 or 4 other leading teams) and felt that I was running well too on the first half of the lap. However, 3 weeks of limited training due to injury were soon exposed by burning lungs in the cold air and I struggled with my breathing on the second half. Still, the time was a good enough 15:21, a minute faster than last year with more in the tank when the lungs are working again. This brought the M50 team home in 8th position in that category.

Our 4th leg runners were Jim Mearns for the M40 team and Russell Couper in the senior team. The field was very sparse by this point so it needed experience and mental strength to keep the pace going in isolation. Not a problem for Jim and Russell. Jim finished in 18:37, fastest of the "tight pack" whereas Russell felt and looked strong throughout, crossing the line in 22:11.

So another great day of cross country in Cumbernauld. There was encouraging evidence of many Harriers in good form today and very tight racing which will make the first head to head races of the season very interesting and unpredictable. Thanks to the many non-running Harriers and family members young and old who came along to support today. Every shout we get out on the course spurs us on.

The few photos taken today are in this album.
Alan

Friday 23 October 2015

NATIONAL XC RELAYS

An amendment to what was announced on Thursday.
Registration is now at the course and not at the school as announced although parking is still at the school (G67 2UF for Sat nav). Due to this I will now be at the course with the numbers.

If ladies could be there for 12.30 and the men at 13.30

Alan will post the team running order here later.
Russell

Teams for tomorrow are at this link. Due to injuries, we have one place available in a ladies' team. Let us know as early on Saturday morning as possible if you are able to fill a place (just about everyone in the club is entered as a reserve). Similarly, if you have to withdraw, let us know asap. Note that the ladies teams and the men V50 team are 3 per team whereas all other men's age groups are 4 per team.

For the men, a few are leaving the Sports Club at 12 if you need a lift. The women need to be there earlier.
Alan

Amsterdam (Amigo’s) Marathon 18th October 15

The build up to the Amsterdam marathon took on a completely new twist when Kenny informed Frances and I that the Hotel Amigo which he had just recently booked as our luxury residence (after Islay’s Friday night anything is luxury, bear this in mind) had a small-print addition he had not originally noticed.
The hotel reserves the right to refuse entry to anyone over the age of 40.
 Mmm !! Well Frances could very well get away with it, but let’s face it Kenny and I would need to visit the hair and makeup dept and offer them a challenge for this one.

Anyway nothing we could do about it at this late stage, so on Saturday morning very very early at 3.55 am, or five to four which according to Frances does not sound as bad, but which in my book is still the middle of the night, the ever reliable Eddie picked us all up and whisked us off to Glasgow airport. Eddie volunteered for this as he had an early start at his work that morning but a big thanks anyway to Eddie for a stress free start to the weekend.

There was no problem getting our Gels through customs this year and soon enough we were in Amsterdam heading for the Hotel Amigo .   Kenny had picked up an Amsterdam Transport map showing the Bus, Metro, Tram and rail routes. Now say what you like about Kenny with maps but he redeemed himself over the weekend with his map reading skills, we only got mis-routed once the whole time. It was not really his fault that the buses on Sunday afternoon following the marathon were being diverted from their normal routes requiring a quick hop off and hop on again scenario which worked out all right in the end.

We duly arrived at Hotel Amigo (read Hostel here!) and discovered that the age reason was more to do with scaling the steep, narrow, stairway up to reception, and then being able to cope with the rarefied atmosphere (remember this was Amsterdam home of waccy-baccy). We registered without any embarrassing questions regards age or otherwise and deposited our bags and headed of to the Olympic Stadium for further registration duties at which we got our bibs and marathon T - shirts.

We passed a quiet Saturday evening during which we met a fellow runner in the hostel, Ricardo Espada from Portugal, he was in a different league to us though saying he was hoping to finish in about 2hrs 30.

Sunday morning we had arranged a taxi to the stadium with Ricardo sharing with us (taking no chances here) and were whisked there in jig time. The morning was cloudy about 12C and light drizzle, absolutely fine if you were from Scotland, Ricardo said it was freezing!

When we initially entered the marathon we had put down our times and thought Frances was going to be in the same wave as Kenny and I for 3.30 but she had put 3.33 and was allocated to the following wave. On being funneled through into the stadium proper we tried to smuggle Frances into our wave but an eagle-eyed attendant spotted her and redirected her to the her wave starting pen, Bye bye to Frances who then spent the next 3.5 hrs in the unfamiliar position of running on her own with no one to talk to.

The gun went at 9.30 as scheduled and Kenny and I got over the start line approx 7 mins later, we were about to find out if warm weather training camps, and carb loading was going to work according to the theories.
We started off at a reasonable pace and settled down picking off most of the people in our starting pack and catching our pace maker who was sporting a blue balloon tied to his shoulder at about 9 mls, (shows you how big the wave was). Running alongside canals and windmills may have kept it scenic but some of the canal paths were a bit congested for the number of runners involved. Frances especially was having difficulty with this as she was running at a faster pace than most of the runners around her and had some trouble fighting her way through them. Eddie had mentioned to me previously about the canal route which was down one side and back up the other, needles to say it seemed quite a long never ending stretch , though there was entertainment on the canal people on “ jet boards” , Kenny’s next challenge, as well as music boats to keep us going.

The canal section finished at about 25k, but not before a fellow runner commented to Kenny and me that we were doing really well (for old guys!) Kenny says he is going to stop running with me for some reason.

Back into the city with more drums and music to run by we dropped the pace slightly too about 8 min /miles. At about 30k I felt a bit of niggle at the back of my right thigh and was worried this may be precursor the cramp problem I had the previous year in Dublin. Fortunately this did not prove to be the case and with Kenny’s encouragement I kept going and the niggle disappeared. Due to water stops etc we had being behind or in front of our pace maker for a while and at about 35k I decided I would just stick around that pace to get me in for 3.30 which I would be more than happy with. Kenny was still looking strong and I knew he was hoping for a sub 3.30 something so I said to him to just go for it and he did and the results speak for themselves.

With about 3k to go and following the motivational text I received the previous night from Andrew regards , keep the pace, run hard and have no regrets you did your best ,  I thought I had enough left to get below 3.30 and left the pace makers and went for it.

Happy days, got back into the Olympic Stadium and even managed a wee sprint round the track to the finish line in 3.27.51 , delighted with the time and the fact I was finished. I had just stopped when I heard  a familiar voice,  Kenny who was still in the finishing area had  spotted me though he had managed a terrific time of 3.25.07 he had waited to hopefully see me come in, so we collected our medals together and even got an official photographer to take our photograph to commemorate our run.

Now we had to try and work out where our other Amigo was, we knew she was well back in the wave at the start and had actually spotted us at about 8k when the route went into a loop and she had shouted over so we thought she was roughly about 5 – 10 mins behind us depending on how she was finishing. So we went to the entrance of the stadium to see if we could catch her running in onto the track , due to the fact that she was finishing really strongly we were in the wrong place, she had already ran in and finished in a superb 3.33.50.

Frances actually found us and we got changed and walked about 1 mile to the metro station to start our way back to the hostel. The wee walk helped loosen up our tight muscles but we did have a scenic journey back due to the aforementioned diversion in place.

When we got back we found that Ricardo had finished in 2hr 30.17 which he informed us included an enforced “Paula Radcliffe” stop which cost him about 2 mins, still a great time which he was pleased with.

That evening we went to a restaurant next door and had a lovely 3 course meal and a few beers to round off our weekend, despite Eddie saying we should visit the Red light district it was a bit away from us and we were quite happy eating and drinking in situ, in moderation of course as we are Harriers and athletes.

Monday saw a leisurely trip back to the airport, without any detours, Kenny was an ace with his map by this time, and the flight home.

All in all a fantastic weekend, great company, and a feeling of achievement for all of us with regards to the race itself.
What next? Well Fun in Frankfurt has been mentioned for next October and the more the merrier.
All the photos taken by Frances are in this album.
Billy


Wednesday 21 October 2015

Scottish Vets Champion 2015

Just a quick post to let you all see Frances with her 2015 Scottish Vets trophy, presented to her with due ceremony in the Sports Club on Monday night as she was otherwise engaged at the weekend, i.e. running a marathon pb in Amsterdam. What a year she is having.



Looks like Geo will be busy polishing that beauty for the next twelve months! I'm sure I speak for everyone involved with the club in giving huge congratulations to Frances on a fantastic achievement.

Sunday 18 October 2015

Amsterdam is Go!

Kenny finishes in 3:25:06! Brilliant pacing.
And Billy has finished in 3:27:50, a massive pb.
Frances must have sprinted the last 2km to make up several minutes, finishing in another huge pb of 3:33:49!

Huge congratulations to all three on sticking to their training plans and running with great form and pace judgement to pb's all round.
Alan

Well Frances, Billy and Kenny have made it to the start and are off and running. Frances was in a different start group to Billy and Kenny, starting 15 minutes after them. Here are the live splits (note that you will need to refresh/reload the blog page every so often to see the latest splits):


Alan

Monday 12 October 2015

NATIONAL SHORT COURSE XC

This years short course XC will again be in Bellahouston park on Sat 7th November.
Ladies start at 12.10 with the men at 12.35.
Cost is £6 per head and should be paid in advance.
Again Scottish Athletic numbers should be up to date.
I need names by Thursday 22nd Oct.
If you wish entered leave your name HERE.
Those registered are listed HERE.

Sunday 11 October 2015

A Day at the Races!

Frances Maxwell deep in the pack on the opening leg.
Official times now in and added in red text to the report below.
Conditions were good to firm underfoot at Hamilton Race Course for the West District Cross-Country Relays this afternoon; great for runners and spectators alike. As this was the venue for the first international cross-country race 150 years or so ago (Scotland v England), there could not be a more historic place to race and to have it right on our door step ensured that we had a fantastic Calderglen representation with a full ladies' team of 3 runners and 3 full men's teams (4 runners per team).

Any preconceptions that a horse racing course would be flat and boring were dispelled with one glance down the main straight which dipped down a good 50 feet over the first 4 furlongs meaning a downhill start but an uphill finish. The organisers had devised a tricky little waste ground trail loop in the middle of the 220 degree double back bend on the race track, turning this into a true mixed terrain test and ensuring that the course was a full twenty furlongs (just over 4km) long. There was even an uphill ramp to the changeover in the paddock, taxing the runners right to the end.
Joanne finishes strongly

Karen with a wave start!
After some very close Harriers' times at the previous relay in Houston, the scene was set for some close racing and everyone was truly gee'ed up for it. Frances Maxwell is one week away from the Amsterdam Marathon and this would be her final hard effort on the first leg. As always, Frances ran a well paced race to finish in 18:00, handing over to Joanne McEvoy making her season debut. Joanne was not feeling too well beforehand but after a steady start, looked strong all the way to the finish in a  perfectly judged time of 17:58. With the twins and family there to support, Karen Allen was really enjoying herself on leg 3, finding time to wave and smile to the children inside the first 500m. Karen was pushed all the way round by a well supported Ada Stewart from Kirkintilloch and did well to stay in front to finish in 19:32.
Jim Mearns in the initial cavalry charge

Then it was the turn of the men. On first leg duty we had David Herbertson, the in-form man, Jim Mearns, trying to get numerous long races out of his legs and defending Calderglen Grand Prix Champion Hugh Simpson. David did not disappoint and was fastest Harrier of the day with a time of 16:45. Jim thought the venue and course were fantastic, running with a smile to the line in 18:13, no doubt with the sound of cannon fire spurring him on. Hugh was absolutely certain he had run sub 20 minutes but when the watch on his wrist was eventually persuaded to reveal his time, he was slightly dismayed to see 20:12. However, the main thing is that Hugh felt great during the run.
Hugh Simpson on the rails.

Jim Holmes was at a wedding reception until late last night. Consequently his confidence was not high. However, a good 4km blast soon cleared him out and a much healthier looking Jim crossed the line on leg 2 in 17:19. The timeless John McBride (no watch) was really pulling in the places on the home straight although we shall have to wait to see if his time was as good as he looked (it was, an excellent 18:31). Colin Banks was a late substitute for the injured me and was glad he got a run. Colin crossed the line in 20:17.
Charlie McDougall

David Searil; a safe bet
Charlie McDougall had a hamstring strain through the week and was uncertain until yesterday if he would manage to race. However, thankfully he did feel much better on a Saturday test run and declared himself ready for leg 3. You would never know that Charlie had a slight niggle as he covered the ground smoothly to finish in 17:32. When he was not protein loading (another Amsterdam Marathon bound Harrier), Kenny Leinster found the time to run leg 3 for team B. Kenny is in great form after a solid block of training in Portugal. Despite a fall (we still cannot work out how it was possible to fall on this course as there were no jumps), Kenny re-mounted and looked every inch (or hand) the warm weather trained athlete, finishing in 18:07. David Searil could not resist the lure of this historic race course and dropped down in distance by a factor of about 50 to run leg 3. David was delighted that only one person passed him on the whole lap until he got to the finish to hand over to Russell and realised that we were in fact the last team! More accurately, we were the last COMPLETE team, so there were many other partial teams who we were technically ahead of. David also forgot his watch so we shall have to wait for the time which was 20:45 (minutes and seconds rather than the usual hours and minutes for Davie's races!).

Finally, on to the last legs. Stuart Waugh is coming back well from his recent period off and looked powerful on the home straight, crossing the line in 18:02.
Stuart Waugh at a canter 

Billy Buchanan is the third of our Amsterdam bound trio and has also benefited from a recent Algarve training camp. Billy is feeling great just now and this showed with his fine run of 17:31, perhaps spurred on by the familiar sound of a Royal Navy search and rescue helicopter which passed overhead right on cue as Billy started to run. Finally, bookie's favourite (he puts a lot of money their way allegedly), Russell Couper was off and running. Russell was delighted to be able to run after another two weeks out with an injury and looked totally pain free as he galloped round on his own to finish in 22:07.
Billy and Kenny's airborne support




I was also happy to use the beautifully prepared grass for a gentle jog to warm-up my strained calf and hamstring and this did seem to do the trick as they felt much better after the jog than before it. All in all a successful day for all the Harriers. Clearly there are some tight and some missing times above so, as usual, we need to wait for the official times to decide the Grand Prix scoring. Great to see so many taking part in this championship event and so many friends and family there to support us.

Great to see that Charlie was fastest M65, Stuart was 3rd fastest M65, Billy was 6th fastest M60 and Frances was 3rd fastest F50.

The rest of my photos from the day are here.
Alan
Calderglen Pin-up (or should that be pin-on) boys prepare their vests


Saturday 10 October 2015

West XC Relay Arrangements

Teams for Sunday are here. Full teams all round! Brilliant! However, if anyone does have to pull out, please leave a comment on this post or get in touch with me or Russell as early as possible.

For those needing a lift to Hamilton Race Course, please be at the Sports Club at 11am on Sunday. We need everyone at the course for 11:30 to issue numbers and to allow time for a proper warm up for this short, sharp blast. Teams will be added to this post later today. Probably one spare place available due to injury so leave a comment if you are on the reserve list and would like to run (4k legs).
Alan

Wednesday 7 October 2015

When Jim met Paula!

Jim Holmes made yet another famous runner's day during the Great Scottish Run festivities when he met Paula Radcliffe. Paula was apparently delighted by Jim's complementary remarks on her long and illustrious career.

A star struck Jim was suitably impressed at how approachable Paula was but, as I thought too, noticed that she is not as tall as she looks on TV! Another in-depth celebrity interview by Calderglen Harriers.

Well done Jim for joining the long queue to meet a running idol for many of us.
Alan

Tuesday 6 October 2015

Performance Awards 2015

It is time to work out who has qualified for performance awards over the past year. There are performance awards for setting specific performance standards and also for improving pb's. The full details are in the "Performance Award Scheme" link in the menu to the left.

Could I ask you all to check the list of performance standards achieved on this spreadsheet here and let me know if I have missed any qualifying performances. I need

  • the official time, 
  • the event name
  • the date of the race and 
  • your date of birth 

to work out the award. Races run in the period 1st October 2014 to 30 September 2015 qualify. The awards will be presented at Brampton so we need to know by this Saturday to give us time to order the medals and engraving.

Similarly for personal best awards, if you have achieved personal bests at 3 different qualifying distances (5k, 10k, 10 mile, half marathon or marathon) in the period 01/10/14 to 30/09/15 and have not already advised me, then please let me know:

  • your new pb,
  • the name of the event, 
  • the date of the event, 
  • your previous pb, 
  • the name and date of that event and 
  • your date of birth. 


Ask if you have any questions.
Alan

Monday 5 October 2015

Great Scottish Run Half Marathon Race Report

The Circus of running arrived in town this weekend with all of the usual razzamatazz of singing, dancing, guys warming up masses of runners from a scissor lift – oh and a bit of running involved too!

The Harriers were well represented this year both in the 10k and the half marathon with some our new runners throwing their hats in to the ring and giving it a go. That said, a recent spike in injuries at the club unfortunately resulted in some of our regulars at this event not being able to take part – get better soon guys, we’re missing you!
Samantha, Jim and Joe after the finish.

Arriving in town in plenty of time – I walked down to George Square with my family who were on hand to wish us well at the start. I was encouraged with the prospect of the recent high pressure lasting at least one more day and providing us with ideal running conditions. So with a light wind and a low teens temperature, millions of runners, Bryan Burnett on the mike, miles of queues for Portaloo’s (will they never learn?), swirling helicopters – it was time to get in to the White Zone and find the other Harriers.

Graham Ramage, feeling confident his recently injured knee would hold out was starting alongside his Sunday morning regulars Gary and Ivan. I searched the White zone until I found Jim Holmes and Stephen Phimister, feeling a sense of belonging in the Black and Amber! The Elites were first under the starters orders followed quickly by us.

So off we went up St. Vincent St. to all the cheering and whoop whooping and thunder clapping of the Bank of Scotland “Thunder Sticks” that thankfully made it to the bin in my house after bedtime last night! Being quite wide the initial climb does not become congested until it narrows going towards Charing Cross, that’s where the jostling and zig zagging begins. Running with Stephen and Jim H we passed the intrepid Davie Searil and John McBride whom were both looking good going up the hill.

From there down through Finnieston and towards the Clydeside expressway it was still me and Stephen keeping each other at a steady pace – the game plan being to run at just under 7 m/m’s. Up and on to the Kingston Bridge we passed Jim Mearns at exactly the same spot as last year and the 2 mile marker bang on pace and came down the other side in to Tradeston and the first of the water stations.

Along the road and into the leafy suburbs of Pollokshields and through 4 miles, along Haggs Road and into the first of the parks (Pollok), we were greeted with a fair gathering of spectators. The BBC was in the Park and captured me (giving a cheery thumbs up) (he lied!) with Stephen closely following.  Personally I find the parks a bit monotonous and especially with a climb coming out of Pollok Park and onto Dumbreck Road, like many of the other runners, I was feeling the exploits of the first 10k (42 minutes) take it’s toll.

Into Mosspark Blvd. and the second of the park stretches (Bellahouston) it was definitely becoming a toil with my pace dropping slightly and the sight of runners far off in the distance serving as no encouragement. However endeavor and determination kept me going. Out of the park and onto Paisley Road West I managed to pick the pace up again knowing that once over the Squinty Bridge it was a (long) straight run in.

Going through 11 miles and towards the wall of (no) encouragement, quick mental calculations made me aware that sub 90 was going to have to involve some tough graft. When the brain asked the lungs to provide more oxygen to the muscles unfortunately my physical state was in no mood for compliance meaning that I headed in to Glasgow Green at a fair pace but seeing the clock go through 1.29.59.

So I finished in 1.30.21, all in all quite pleased to shave another three minutes off last year’s time and with recent injury woes and lack of pace.

Stephen Phimister ran well given his recent foot injury and resultant lack of miles, finishing in 1.32 .25 with Jim Holmes coming close behind in a very respectable 1.34.47 with which he was very pleased. Next up was Joe Shields managing to keep his early pace in check and coming home in a brilliant 1.38.41 with Jim Mearns close on his heels with 1.39.26. Graham Ramage was next up and despite his knee issues managed to bag a first class 1.41.18 then it was ever-present John McBride yet again running a really good and well paced 1.45.05. Colin Banks was through the funnel next. He was delighted to run a very satisfying 1.47.46 and then it was our runner extraordinaire having barely warmed up over the distance David Searil, running his 23rd GSR and finishing in 1.55.30 with which he was delighted having taken a sizeable slice out of last years time.
Samantha at the wall of congratulations!

There were many supporters along the way, not least all the families including my own and Frances, Emma and Mark Phimister. I spotted Mark Saez just at mile 12 and Sandra was a bit further along the road – thanks for coming out and cheering us on.

I’m sure there will be some snaps – please feel free to add any you may have to the report.

Martin.

Thanks to Martin for the runner's perspective on the half and well done on (almost) hitting your target 90 minutes. Please see Russell's report below and the many comments for a full list of all the Harriers who took part in the half and 10k. Thanks to Sandra for the photos.
Alan

WEST DISTRICT & NATIONAL XC RELAY ENTRIES

Below is a list of those entered to run the XC relays.

WEST    11th   OCT
A DERRICK,   R COUPER,  J HOLMES,   D SEARIL,   C McDOUGALL,   B BUCHANAN,    K LEINSTER,   H SIMPSON,   D HERBERTSON,    S WAUGH,    J MEARNS,     J McBRIDE.

F MAXWELL,     J McEVOY,     K ALLEN.

NATIONAL   24th  OCT
A DERRICK,     R LAWTON,     H SIMPSON,    R COUPER,   D HERBERTSON,     J HOLMES,   M HOWELL,    J McBRIDE,     S WAUGH,   A J BUCHANAN,    C McDOUGALL,   J MEARNS.

J McEVOY,    F MAXWELL,   A LESSELLS,    K CONNEFF,    M GOLDSMITH,    K ALLEN.

The places are all taken but we have most listed as reserves so if anyone cant make either event then let us know so we can free up a place for any potential reserves.
Teams and running order will be selected by Alan on the Friday before each event.

Sunday 4 October 2015

NEIL MCCOVER MEMORIAL HALF MARATHON 2015

Here are the results from today's other Half Marathon runners. There was 145 runners in the Neil MCover Memorial Half Marathon and Kenny, Frances and Kay all acquitted themselves well.

59th, Kenny Leinster, 1.39.42, 4th Vet in M55-59 cat
63rd, Frances Maxwell, 1.39.40, 3rd Vet in F50-54 cat
77th, Kay Conneff, 1.44.37, 2nd Senior in F35-39 cat

Great times for all and performances for Kenny & Frances bode well for their Amsterdam Marathon.

Link to results: http://www.kirkintillocholympians.co.uk/

Thanks
Richard

Great Scottish Run Results

Here are results from todays Great Scottish Run.
Martin Howell 1.30.21,   Stephen Phimister 1.32.25, Jim Holmes  1.34.47, Katie MacKinnon  1.37.31,   Joe Shields 1.38.41,  Jim Mearns 1.39.26,    Graham Ramage 1.41.18,   John McBride  1.45.05,  Colin Banks   1.47.46,   Justine Black 1.51.31,    David Searil   1.55.30,  Samantha Jamieson   2.14.41.

In the 10k Andrew J Buchanan  39.49,   Garren Haddow  48.11,   Gordon McInally  50.39  and  Lorraine Buchanan 60.02

We also had Frances Maxwell, Kay Conneff and Kenny Leinster doing the Kirkintilloch Half today but still awaiting results.

If ive missed anyone please leave a comment.
Missed athletes now added

Perhaps one of the runners can do us a race report.