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