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Friday 30 December 2016

Pub Run Record


A record number of Harriers (35) made our final club event of 2016 another resounding success on Thursday evening. The unseasonably mild and dry weather was a bonus too. The usual route was followed around 6 pubs over a distance of about 11km, the most distant one being the Auldhouse Arms. Biggest challenge of the evening was placing the drinks order in each pub ahead of the arrival of the runners. This was managed expertly by Mandy and Sandra who drove on ahead, so a huge thanks to them for keeping us topped up.

Thanks to Karen for taking some great photos in Auldhouse which are in this album.
Alan

Wednesday 28 December 2016

Pub Run

Our annual run around some pubs takes place on Thursday 29th December. As always, there is a bit of behind the scenes action to make even events like this happen, so thanks to Eddie for making sure that we have a full set of pubs to run around this year. Please be at the Sports Club ready to run at 17:45 with your money and an idea of what drinks you will be having so that a list can be sent ahead. Please wear bright, reflective clothes and a head torch or two as some of the route will be on unlit back roads around Auldhouse.
Alan

Monday 26 December 2016

AYR TURKEY TROT

Having done this race for most of the last 20 years this was a new experience. Never have I experienced a side wind like it along the seafront. 4 Harriers made their way to Ayr today for the Annual Boxing Day 10k. Having arrived I took a walk down to the front to see how bad the wind was and I was nearly taken off my feet as I passed the flats leading to the front. Having retreated to the Citadel centre I was wondering if this was a foolish move today. Eventually we lined up at the start and we were off. the first 3k and last 3k being along the seafront was going to be hard with the wind coming off the sea. After the 1st k was done everyone had to run with a hand covering their faces as the sand was being blown off the beach giving us all a good facial. We reached the point where your running behind the dunes and a relief to get the hands down as although still very windy we where no longer getting sandblasted. This was a short respite as we where soon open to the elements again until 3k when we turn inland along the riverside with a little tail wind to help. Up onto the main road with wind blowing us everywhere again and round the houses through halfway. Tried picking the pace up a little but was only showing a slight improvement to 7k at which point were back on the seafront. With 3k to go time for a final effort which was successful taking about 30 secs a k off my previous kilometre times. Straight back to the car for warm dry clothes and the heater on full blast. First Harrier home today was Graham Ramage with a chip time of 45.22 followed by Kay Conneff 46.23. Next in John McBride running 52.02 and finally Russell Couper 57.31. I didn't hang about today for tea and cakes and went straight home to shower all the sand off. A great event again this year despite the stormy weather and well worth putting in your diary for next year.

Thursday 22 December 2016

On the Road to London

The draw for the club place in the London Marathon took place at the Sports Club tonight in front of a large contingent of Harriers. Three names were written on beer mats (Jim Holmes, Russell Couper and Richard Lawton) and official, independent adjudicator, Alison Searil, made the draw. The winner was Richard Lawton! Congratulations to Richard. Now the really hard work begins.
Alan

Wednesday 21 December 2016

A BIG WELL DONE TO YOU ALL!


Dear Club Secretary

This has been a fantastic year for athletics in Scotland across all aspects of the sport. Not only have Scottish athletes delivered on the international stage but the sport continues to grow and modernise every year. Ultimately, this is down to the hard work of club leaders, coaches, officials , volunteers and the athletes themselves.

On behalf of everyone in Scottish Athletics I just wanted to thank you all for the role that you, your club and your club members have played.

I hope you have a great Christmas and New Year and look forward to seeing you in 2017

All the best

Mark Munro
Chief Executive Officer
Scottish Athletics Ltd
07557433856
Twitter: @SALMarkMunro
Scottish Athletics | Caledonia House | South Gyle | Edinburgh | EH12 9DQ

                 


 

 

 

           
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Monday 19 December 2016

STRATHAVEN HALF MARATHON 19TH FEB.


Hi

I'd be grateful if you could bring the attached flyer giving details of the Strathaven Striders Half Marathon on Sunday 19th February 2017 to the attention of your club members.

This is a good circular run on quiet country roads ideal for those training for a Marathon later in the year or simply for an early challenge in 2017.

Entries via entrycentral   https://www.entrycentral.com

Kind regards

Dorothy On behalf of Strathaven Striders Half Marathon Committee

I WILL POST FLYER ON NOTICE BOARD TONIGHT


 
 
 
 

BEITH HARRIERS NEW YEAR ROAD RACE 4.8MILES


Dear running friends

This email is just to let you know that Rons Runners are once again organising the Beith Harriers New Year Road race this year, I have attached a flyer for your information and would be grateful if you would forward this on to your members.

Please not that we there will be a medal for all finishers this year for the first time - we know how much you like a bit of bling!

Hope to see you all there - please feel free to spread the word.

Kind Regards
Melanie Sinclair

Rons Runners

I WILL POST FLYER ON NOTICE BOARD TONIGHT.

Friday 16 December 2016

Ayrodynamic 10km Turkey Trot and 5km fun run

The above races were mentioned at the club last night and someone speculated that entries may be closed already. I've checked and you have another three days, until midnight on the 19th, to enter either race, remembering that they are both pre-entry only this year (Entry Central).  If anyone wants to burn off a little of their Christmas day excesses I can highly recommend these races down by the seaside and they would also be an incentive to get out and get your run done early if you're doing the Marcothon this year - lets see if we can turn the current club entry of six into a dozen!

Tuesday 13 December 2016

Club Place for 2017 Virgin London Marathon

As usual, the Harriers have been awarded one place for the London Marathon. As usual we will carry out a draw to choose the Harrier who gets the place. To be eligible for the draw, you must have applied for the 2017 London Marathon and received a rejection. If you satisfy this requirement, please contact me or Russell and show us your rejection e-mail or letter and we will enter you in the draw. The draw will take place at the club after training on Thursday 22nd December.
Alan

Christmas Handicap 2016

An extremely colourful squad of Harriers brightened up a very dull Sunday morning at the weekend for the annual Calderglen Harriers Christmas Handicap. 26 Harriers and friends dressed up for the 4 mile race; a record turnout. Each runner is set off individually in reverse order of their predicted finishing time, meaning that the fastest runner starts last. If the handicapper has done the sums right, then everyone should cross the line together. However, as that would be complete chaos, a little bit of flexibility is built in. The winner of the handicap is the first to cross the line. This year we had the usual mix of elves, super-heroes, cartoon characters and just plain quirky. Some outfits were easy to run in whereas others were definitely not. If that was not enough of a handicap, it was also the Harriers' annual dance the night before.
Handicap winner Sandy Hayden

This years' first time winner was Alexandra "Sandy" Hayden who despite claiming a severe hangover from the word go, ran consistently on each of the 5 laps to pass those in front and not be caught by anyone. Sandy crossed the line in 32:01, a great time in the circumstances. A minute behind, Alison Johnstone sprinted to the line in second place, closely followed by Lorraine Buchanan in third place.
Fastest time of the day to Martin Duthie

Fastest time of the day went to a jet lagged Martin Duthie, just back from Thailand competing in a half Ironman triathlon (see report below), who galloped across the line (minus horse) in 24:22. Second fastest was pint of lager Neil Green in an excellent 24:43. Stephen Phimister made a late decision to run and dusted off his old red man costume for a controlled 26:30 effort.
Julie Beveridge, fastest lady and fastest elf

Fastest lady was Julie Beveridge in 26:50, first of the elves. Cave woman Marion O'Connor was not far behind in 28:44 despite carrying a club all the way around. Kay Conneff was a super-hero and crossed the line in 29:01 without using any of her super powers (as far as we know).

Fastest of our juniors was Chris McCarron in 28:49 and our youngest competitor was Aiden Howell who finished in 32:43.
Davie Searil, not the best choice of footwear!

Several runners vied for the title of most handicapped by their costume. Honourable mentions go to David Searil dressed as a Subuteo player, complete with hemispherical feet (now injured), Jim Holmes dressed as club mascot "The Oyster Catcher" who was blinded by his beak and collided with a low hanging branch and Alan McLelland who went with a suffocating, all enveloping skeleton outfit. However, winner of this category (and not for the first time) was Eddie Reid, who dressed as Santa's sack, which would have been fine but for the fact he went one step too far with his costume by wearing a couple of Christmas paper wrapped boxes over his head with tiny holes for vision (allegedly).
Visionless Eddie Reid

All in all another great Harriers event. All the finishing times are listed here (please ignore the individual lap times as the lap counter was being used only to count completed laps and was not being triggered precisely when competitors crossed the start/finish line).

Finally, our roving photographer Billy Buchanan captured pretty much everyone on camera in this album. Thanks to Billy for taking the photos and to Russell for identifying the runners at the end of each lap.
Alan

Sunday 11 December 2016

Foremost 70.3 Ironman, Phuket, Thailand

My mum and dad were looking forward to a holiday chilling out in Phuket, Thailand. Personally for me and Mandy once you have seen one lovely beach you have seen them all, so we needed something more challenging to make it a holiday to remember. Fortunately the Foremost 70.3 Thailand Ironman was on while we were there. It's not really my distance, far too long and tough. I thought I would give it a try though, and Mandy was delighted to assume the role of chief organiser. It actually turned out to be very eventful. The short version is that the race went well but it was much, much harder than I expected. For the 12” mega mix War and Peace version read on.

Training had gone well and probably naively I was going there full of confidence. I knew the 1.2 mile swim would be no problem and possibly also the 56 mile cycle, but the big unknown was finishing it all off by running a half marathon. I tried to replicate this in training by doing a hard 2.5 hour cycle followed immediately by 3 - 4 miles of hard running. That had gone well, which was the reason for my high confidence.

You have to give credit to Ironman for producing very professional events. The organisation was first class. Even the normally dull race briefing was slick and highly motivating. My confidence was now going sky high as the event MC convinced me that I would be the man, a 70.3 Ironman. A few days before the race I did a swim recce. I noticed "beware of the jellyfish" signs, which were a bit disconcerting. Mr MC Motivator asked if anyone in the room was worried about the jellyfish. I had to be honest, I was concerned about jellyfish, sharks and basically just about anything in the sea. So, along with quite a few others I put my hand up. Mr Motivator shook his head and said, well you are all obviously not tough enough for an Ironman, just stay on the beach and drink coffee all day. That was me told, but it did the trick, nothing was going to scare me off now. The only downside to the briefing was when the ultra miserable draft busters came on and told us they would come down hard on any course infringements. They said keep 12 metres behind any other cyclist and if you want to pass then you've got 25 seconds to do so, or else you are getting 5 minutes of big trouble in the penalty tent. It was also a bit worrying when we were told the weather forecast for race day. A hot and humid 30 degrees, which would feel more like 40 degrees.

After doing the swim recce I got talking to a Chinese guy. He asked me what age group I was in. I said 50-54 and he said, no luck for you then, you are in with Jurgen Zack. No I've never heard of him either. The Chinese guy said, you've never heard of Jurgen the "Zack Attack"……he's a legend. I thought I've got to google this guy. Turns out that he was a bit of a triathlon superstar in the 90's, with multiple professional Ironman wins and a 2nd place pro at Kona Hawaii in the Ironman world champs, the Holly Graille of triathlon. That was 20 years ago, maybe he is rubbish now. I did also notice that he had also served a 2 year doping ban back in his day, so maybe he might not be as good
without getting a boost to his red blood cells. Even if he was still good my confidence was sky high and I wanted to test myself against the best.

The day before the race I dropped my bike off in transition in perfect conditions. However, during the night there was a post monsoon season deluge of torrential rain. On race morning race conditions were perfect again, but my bike had been given a soaking and was ringing wet. I thought it best to re-oil the chain in case oil had been washed away. This wasn't easy at 5am, an hour before daybreak. There was minimal light in transition, so putting oil on in the dark was a bit tricky. I'm not convinced I got much on. I never thought I would need to add a torch to my triathlon checklist.

There were 1200 triathletes lined up to start the race. I was dreading the carnage as we all ran into the sea. However, Ironman have introduced a much safer rolling start. They started four people every 3 seconds, which was much less scary. It must've taken about 15 minutes to get everyone into the water. I was about 300th to start. Swim seemed to be going well as I was constantly passing people. Well apart from when my swim cap came off. I pulled it back on and just succeeded in loosening my goggles. Then I had to stop again, take off cap and goggles, then replace them. Not easy to stop and find a space amongst 1200 swimmers.

Then it was a short run up a sandy beach and into T1. I knew it was going to be my slowest transition ever, as I had to wipe sand off my feet, put on socks, then slap on the factor 50 sun cream. My biggest fear of the race was my fair skin frying. Although I’d put on waterproof sun cream before the swim, I wasn't taking any chances and topped it up before the bike. I wasn't used to being in such a busy transition area, probably because I'd started quite far down the field. This meant I was surrounded by other competitors running out of transition. We ran along a narrow path before getting on the bike, so pace was dictated by the person in front, if they walked then you walked.

Once I avoided the crowds my bike ride was going well. The first 12 miles were on minor twisting roads. After about 3 miles I came off the tribars to go round a bend. Suddenly I was aware of something flying off my bike, I wasn't sure what it was, but when I went to go back on tribars I noticed one off the arm cushions had disappeared. The soaking during the night must've loosened the adhesive. I thought it was now going to be an uncomfortable ride. It turned out to be not quite as bad as I feared, but every time I hit a bump in the road it certainly was painful.

After 12 miles we had to dismount the bike and run across a narrow bridge crossing over the main highway through Phuket. We were told in the race briefing that we were privileged to be the first race to ever get permission to close section of the main highway for a race. The only way this was going to be possible was by dismounting and crossing the footbridge to join the right hand carriageway going north to the Sarasin bridge. Then crossing over this bridge into mainland Thailand for 3 miles before the halfway turn point. From a pre race recce on the bike course I thought 22mph was a realistic pace. This was exactly my pace until the dismount, by the time I remounted the bike
 my average had dropped to 21mph. Just before crossing into mainland Thailand we went through a border checkpoint which had several small bumpy sleeping policemen. Going over them at speed caused my chain to jump off. I tried to play with the gears to get it to jump back on, but had to admit defeat. It only resulted  in me gradually slowing down and every cyclist who passed would say "your chain’s jumped off mate". So frustratingly I just had to stop and put it back on.

Approaching the halfway point my lower back was starting to ache. This was disappointing as it had been OK in training. I suspect that when rebuilding the bike after transit, I had put the seat post a fraction too high. This was just enough to overstretch my back. I tried going on and off the tribars, but with half the bike course still to be completed I had to give up on the tribars and sit upright, which caused my speed to drop. By the time we returned to the narrow bridge over the highway my average speed was still a respectable 21.5mph, but after dismounting again to run back over the bridge my average had dropped to 21mph.

The bike to this point had been a lot more eventful than I imagined, but it was about to get worse. About 10 miles from the end I was in the process of overtaking someone. Then one of the misery gut draft busters appeared by my side. He mumbled something about a penalty and held up 5 fingers. At first I thought he was saying I had 5 seconds to complete my pass or I would get a penalty. So I turned into Mark Cavendish and sped by the cyclist. Then it started to play on my mind that maybe the marshal had said I was getting a 5 minute penalty. I'd convinced myself that this was the case and my motivation started to drop. When I got back to transition I thought it best to check
with the penalty box if I had been penalised. I asked the first official looking person, where is the penalty box? I didn't realise I was talking to the race commentator complete with his microphone. He then proceeded to tell me where it was over the air. I felt that I had just announced to the whole race that I was a cheating drafter heading to the penalty box.

The draft busters had been busy. In the penalty tent there were quite a few offenders waiting. I'd the feeling this would be the case as I had seen quite a few drafting myself and felt like the marshals had passed me by dozens of times on the course. I asked the official if I'd been given a penalty. She checked through pages of numbers, but thankfully my number wasn't there and I was OK to go. So the very nice helpful draft buster had just been warning me to pass more quickly. However, all that waiting and checking had resulted in my second slowest transition ever.

So it was onto the run. Up until this point I felt I had been pacing myself well and still felt fairly fresh, but what a shock I got when I started to run. I've never felt so little running power in my legs. I felt as if my dad had sneaked into transition and swapped his legs for mine. I felt I was barely moving. This was a huge disappointment as I'd felt more tired coming off the bike in training but could still run OK. The strange thing was that I was still passing quite a lot of people. It was like the race was suddenly in slow motion and everyone was going at snail pace. I thought that gradually my power would return, but if anything it just got worse. Strangely one of the leading ladies, a lap ahead, was right on my heels. I kept waiting for her to pass, but she was quite happy to stay behind. She
stayed there for a good few minutes before passing. When she did pass I thought she looked like she was striding out and moving well, but she was barely going faster than me. How could I feel like I was hardly moving compared to her, but we were going at almost the same speed? This race was turning into a weird dream. It actually turned out that she was the first pro lady, so maybe I wasn't running quite as badly as it felt.

The run route consisted of 2 x 6.5 mile laps. Each lap was an out and back. There were 5 feeding stations on the way out. This meant that if you also stopped on the way back, that there were 20 feeding stations on the run course. I stopped at 19 of them. I had to convince myself to keep running and not walk. My legs felt like they were constantly going up the Chatelherault log jam, but just without the heavy breathing. The deal I made with myself was that if I kept running between feed stations then I could walk through the feed stations. There was also a big barrel in each feed station filled with iced water. In the water was a big ladle, so you scooped up the water and poured it over yourself. That felt pretty amazing. I found myself doing this at least once in every feed station,
sometimes queuing up to get my turn with the big ladle.

The run felt like it was taking forever except for the last kilometre, which flew in. My legs finally started to feel better. It’s amazing the tricks your mind plays on you. As soon as the finish line was within sight my brain freed up my legs and gave me some power back. Where was the power earlier when I needed it?

Crossing the line in an Ironman event is something special and has to be milked. It definitely puts a smile on your face after the ordeal you have just endured. I completed the course in 5 hours 15 minutes. Slower than my target of sub 5 hours, but I’ve still got to be happy with my 1st attempt. After the swim and bike I was bang on schedule, but a 1 hour 53 minutes half marathon was nearly 20 minutes slower than I’d hoped. At least that guarantees me a great handicap for this Sunday’s Christmas run. Coachess Mandy softened the dent in my running confidence by explaining the effects of heat and humidity on the body. Saying my system was having to work so much harder to
cool itself, resulting in slower running times.

It turned out that the “Zack Attack” did win my age group and I was 7th. He is still a bit of a triathlon star and was recently 3rd in his age group at the Hawaii Ironman world champs. There was not much difference on our times in the swim and run, but he is still a great cyclist and, although I did have my problems on the bike, he took 20 minutes off me. In the 90’s he was the first of many German “uber bikers”, who could destroy the field on the bike.

First pro male in the race was current world champion Tim Reed, with two time world champion Michael Raelert in 2nd place. I was surprised at the quality in the field. Richie Nicholls, one of Scotland’s best triathletes, and GB Olympian Stuart Hayes also made the trip to Thailand but both failed to complete the course. I was ahead of Stuart after the bike. I’m assuming he had some problems, but I’m claiming a Russell type victory over him.

Many thanks to Mandy plus my mum and dad for all their help and support to get me through this gruelling event.

I’m now in no rush to give this distance another try……..and as for a full Ironman, you are having a laugh. I’ve got so much respect for anyone who has completed one.

Martin





Wednesday 7 December 2016

WEST DISTRICT XC

Finally got round to doing the report for Sundays race. We had 4 ladies and 8 men running on a bitter cold day. Tent up and a nice spot in the sun to watch the races passing by. First up was the Ladies and the race went to form over the 2.5 laps with Julie the first Harrier home in 29.55 and 24th place followed by Joanne in 32.06 and 43rd place. Kay was next home running with a constant smile on her face even though everyone else looks in pain. Kays time was 33.44 in 60th place. Finally Sandy I believe making her debut over this distance in a time of 40.15 in 110th place. Great performances from our ladies with an 8th place team.
Next up was the men running 4 laps with a now very low sun in the eyes. Great to see the two Davids making a comeback at XC after several years absence, that's Searil and Watt. After starting steady I found about half way round the first lap I was isolated with 2 runners behind me so just had to do my usual time trialling format. Did notice some frost on the ground half way round and was glad I kept the hat and gloves on. With it being a 4 lap race I knew in advance that I would get caught earlier and sure enough I was caught by the leaders on lap 2 and had the pleasure of watching many good runner lap me until I got onto lap 4. The course was getting really heavy in lots of places and could see everyone going wide looking for firmer ground but by lap 3 there was none to be found. I also noticed as each lap passed and the sun was gone the frost was increasing on many parts of the course. I was now really glad of the hat and gloves, First of the men home was D Watt 41.58 and 73rd place and also 1st M55. Next in and getting some great form back was Andy Henderson 49.40 and 192nd place followed closely by Jim 50.14 and 196th place. After some recent close results between Kenny and Richard this turned out to be a quite conclusive victory for Kenny with Kenny finishing in 50.39 and 201st place with Richard running 53.45 in 222nd place. Just 3 Harriers still on the course with next in Gordon again I think making his debut over this distance in 56.09 and 234th place. Next in D Searil in 58.56 and 242nd place. Finally Russell in a time of 66.27 and 249th place.
The men took 19th team and 14th master team. Thanks to Martin and his family for coming down to wish us all luck.

Saturday 3 December 2016

Christmas Handicap Fun Run 2016

**Just re-post from October as a reminder**

Date for your diary.......
 
I have organised this years Christmas Fun Run at the Sports Club for Sunday 11th December (10 weeks and who's counting!).
 
As usual the better the fancy dress the more consideration Alan will give to you handicap. The hall will be open from 10am and our first event will be the Juniors followed by the Senior run.
 
Likely timing will be the juniors start about 1030am with seniors at 1130am.  However will confirm nearer the time.
 
As usual for the junior and senior races its bring a prize and receive a prize.
 
Richard

Friday 2 December 2016

WEST DISTRICT XC

This Sunday we have the West District XC at Mosshill Ind Est Ayr KA6 6BE.
Follow the A77 south passing Ayr and take the turning for Ayr Hospital A713.
Pass the hospital and cars carrying club tents should take the next entrance into the estate all other veichles should take the entrance after that.
Ladies start at 1pm with the men at 2pm.
Please arrive in plenty of time as I will be there for noon with the numbers.
Some are leaving from the club and I would suggest you leave at 11am.
Those running are
                              J Beveridge, K Conneff, S Hayden and J McEvoy.
R Couper, A Derrick, G McInally, K Leinster, R Lawton, D Searil, D Watt, A Henderson and J Holmes.


2017 GREAT RUN BRITISH MARATHON SERIES


 

The Great Run Company is delighted to announce a fantastic new prize fund initiative for all UK affiliated club runners to accompany the inaugural Stirling Scottish Marathon 21 May 2017 and the Birmingham International Marathon on 15 October 2017
 
A prize fund of over £70,000 is available for club runners all over the UK, across both marathons, with an individual prize money structure reaching down to 10th place and additional prizes in 3 separate Vet categories in each event.
 
In addition to the individual structure, there is a separate prize pool for Scottish Athletics and England Athletics registered clubs, extending down to 5th place.
With £2,000 available to the winning club in each marathon, we hope the new series will prove a rewarding experience.

Both courses offer a new challenge for the serious club athlete, and the chance to be at the forefront of two marathons that are set to become leading events in the athletics calendar.
 
Whether it's Stirlingshire's spectacular backdrop, or Birmingham's new and exciting autumn city challenge, it's time to train towards a new UK-based
marathon in 2017.
 
We believe in rewarding the individual and club they run for and our goal is to build upon, and renew, the prestige of marathon running at club level in the UK.
 
Put your club at the forefront of this initiative by entering today and we'll see you on the start line in Stirling or Birmingham (or both!) next year.
 
 
 
* All individual prizes are for UK athletes only (those holding a UK passport).

Thursday 1 December 2016

Club Dance Arrangements

For those going to the dance on Saturday 10th December, a few requests:
  • Please bring something for the finger buffet.
  • Please bring a prize for the raffle.
For those who have not yet made their mind up about going, Eddie still has tickets for sale priced at £5.
Alan

Monday 28 November 2016

HARRIERS AGM 2016 (8th DEC)

Our AGM will be held on Thursday 8th of December at 8.15 pm.
Training on that evening will commence at 7pm.
Any motions should be made in writing to the club secretary before the 1st December.
We will try to get the agenda to you before the AGM
Nominations are requested for office bearers. If we could have nominations for office bearers in advance that would be helpful but we will also take them on the night if need be. If your going to nominate someone please have their permission before doing so. If anyone is unsure about whats involved please ask any of the current office bearers and im sure they will answer any questions you have.

Sunday 27 November 2016

Cyprus International Challenge Race 4 - Paphos 10km Road Race

Early morning start at Paphos harbour
The final race of the Cyprus Challenge started as the previous two days had done with sore legs and a bus ride to the race start. However this was an even earlier start as the Paphos 10km Road Race stated at 8am to get it over with whilst the streets were quiet. The buses dropped the 250 participants off on the town side of the harbour and we walked round the harbour to the sea facing side and the old castle where the race would start. The 400m walk around the harbour already told me all I needed to know about the state of my legs. Wrecked! Still, we were all in the same state and I knew from previous events like this that a good warm-up and a few fast wind sprints can soon lull you into a false sense of readiness. And so it turned out. A few running drills and some 50m accelerations convinced me that maybe my legs were alright for a fastish 10k. As for tactics, I had three options in order of increasing ambition:

  1. just trail the second placed M50, Fritz, and make sure not to finish more than 40 seconds behind him. 
  2. trail the younger German (M40) who had been one place ahead of me in the previous two races and was now only 10 seconds behind me in the overall competition and was no doubt keen to take my 9th overall position.
  3. just flipping go for it and make everyone suffer including myself.

I chose option 3). So once again I lined up beside the squadron of fast RAF guys and joined the rear of their formation for the first few hundred metres around the back of the harbour. By this point I had already realised that my legs were only good for 50m at this pace and so I had eased back a little. The German (see option 2) was 10m in front of me but even after slowing down, I was soon on his shoulder and breezed past at about 500m as we climbed through the main pedestrian street. He said something in German which I did not understand. Already the leading dozen runners were strung out in front of me and there were no packs as such. It was just going to be a painful effort for the remaining 9.5k. Although the course was flat compared to the previous few days, it was not actually flat and seemed always to be climbing along the dual carriageways between roundabouts (not quite Queensway steep, more like Strathaven Road) but it was enough to burn the quads at this 3:45/km pace on already shot legs. At this pace, the km markers seemed further apart than in the half marathon the day before but this was just an indication of the greater suffering today. I was passed by one RAF guy and passed another guy dressed in a black tri-suit (must have been sweating buckets in that). Thankfully, the course became gently downhill at about 8km as we headed back down to the harbour and I could relax a little without slowing down. The 9km mark was right at the start of the pedestrian harbour front area where we sped past cafes and restuarants preparing their "Full English" for the yet to awaken more traditional holidaymakers. That last km felt like a long one and was made even worse by being able to see the finish a long way away on the opposite harbour wall. I heard someone closing and feared the worst but was able to pick it up (or at least not slow down) with about 300m to go and was not caught. A very insignificant ramp up to the finish area did just about buckle my legs but apart from that wobble I was safe in 10th position in a satisfying 37:19 and secure as first M50 and 9th overall (the results web site turns this into a 21-29 year old equivalent time of 32:22, which was a real boost given the state of my legs). The race was won by one of the RAF guys in 32:15. They really were flying. Turns out I took over 2 minutes out of Fritz on this one and about a minute out of the German M40.
1st and 2nd M50's

Post-race complimentary beer in hand, I was soon as right as rain (as long as I didn't have to run) and posing for photographs with Fritz who had searched me out to congratulate me. Although I said "never again" when I did this event 6 years ago, I must be getting either more stupid or tougher in my old age as I could easily imagine doing this fantastically organised event again. There were people taking part from all over Europe from 19 years old to 82 years old, so any trained runner can do it and certainly any Calderglen Harrier. It is just a question of knowing your limits and judging the pace. Maybe I will change my mind when I try to walk tomorrow though!

Full results are here.
Alan


Cyprus International 4 Day Challenge Race 3 - Trail Half Marathon

Day 3 began with a 1 hour bus ride back up into the mountains to another village from where the trail half marathon would start. The route was modified this year, starting in the village rather than in a nature reserve which meant a severe uphill start from the village to the nature reserve! On stepping off the bus I was reminded that my legs were non-functional and also that it was approaching Christmas as a nativity scene was set up outside the church where the race would start. Of course the sun was already blazing down even now at 8:45 in the morning.

The race was to be started by the mayor who would give a signal upon which the church bell would be rung to start the race. A first for me! Although my M50 challenger, Fritz, had sat right behind me on the bus (a sign of things to come), I lost sight of him on the start line so had no option but to go in the front-line again with the RAF guys to prevent him slipping away un-noticed.

The bell tolled and the race started. Within 100m Fritz was on my shoulder and the gently uphill street turned into a very steep ascent out of the town. This was very much a tactical race, so the brakes went on and energy conservation mode was selected. We twisted and climbed for 4km, eventually emerging into the nature reserve and on to the rough trails similar to the day before. I was trying to run as slow as possible whilst still maintaining position in the field. We climbed 500 feet to the first water station at the 4km mark. I grabbed a drink as did Fritz, turned a sharp corner and was faced with the start of the 1000 foot, 5km descent. I leaned forward and let myself go. Fritz did not go with me. The hot and dusty trail twisted and turned through a series of hairpin bends and I passed a few other runners who were less comfortable on such a steep and rough descent. I grabbed another bottle of water at the 8k mark and started to sip away at the first of the 3 gels I was carrying. Although the pace was fast, the heart rate was low and the running was good on this descent. However, all good things come to an end and the bottom of the descent intercepted the coast trail and the start of a 12km slog to the finish. All was quiet behind and I soon caught and passed two runners who had over cooked it on the descent. The coast road climbed and fell in harmony with the very complex coastline. Furthermore the road was rocky and sandy. Finding an efficient running style was not easy. On the bright side, the race route was marked out in km's and psychologically it is always great to see them ticking by much more quickly than mile markers do, especially when you hit double figures. I could see a couple of runners occasionally in the distance but had no intention of catching them, preferring to conserve energy and just not to get passed by anyone else. This strategy worked and after the 20km marker, I could see the finish line arch on the beach in the distance. Unfortunately, 500m from the finish, the route turned off the coastal track onto the soft sand of the beach making that final 500m absolute torture. A couple of minutes later I was over the line and glad to stop. A half minute later a pack crossed the line including Fritz and they seemed to be working hard, chasing down those in front. Perhaps I had been too cautious on the coast road as this meant my lead in the M50 category had extended from 11 seconds to 41 seconds, still not comfortable with only the 10km road race to go. My time for the race was 1:26:20, which I was quite happy with given the fatigued state I started in, the terrain, heat and tactical nature of the event. I was holding on to 9th place overall but now by only 10 seconds. The stage was won by one of the RAF guys in a fabulous 74:29.

However, I soon forgot about that and stuck into an ice cream from the ice cream van that was following the event around. A very captive customer base there! International incident of the day was provided by a group of German runners who shamelessly stripped off completely naked and went for a swim in the sea only to emerge from the water in front of some very prim English ladies who were there to support their sons/daughters in the race and had walked down to the water's edge to take photographs of their offspring (so they claimed anyway). There were loud shreaks to be heard, none of which had any effect on the Germans who continued to parade around starkers. I went for a very respectable paddle up to my waist in the sea to cool my tired legs, shorts still in place!

I was pretty much unconscious for much of the afternoon and evening, hence the day late posting of this post.
Alan


Friday 25 November 2016

Cyprus International 4 Day Challenge Race 2 - 11km Uphill Trail Race

Stage 2 Starting Pen
Day 2 of the Cyprus Challenge was an absolute scorcher, despite the early race start time of 9:30. We were bussed about 10km along the coast to a nature reserve on the beach. Well not really a beach but a piece of wild coastal land. On the drive in I had glanced the white buildings of a village way up on top of the hills inland and guessed that must be the village we were running to. Visually 11km looks like a long way! The stage today started at sea level and climbed more or less continuously for 11km to the finish in the village square. There was one significant descent between 5 and 6 km but this was followed by an even steeper section to bring us back onto the original slope. We all squeezed into the start pen (all 250 of us) and the whistle blew to start us off. I had pushed up into the front line as we were straight onto a narrow twisting jeep trail climbing from the word go and did not want to waste energy zig zagging around people. To be fair, everyone did behave themselves and there was hardly anybody charging off only to collapse around the first corner. The RAF team led the charge and stretched away and I ran steadily at the back of their lead back. The surface under foot was very rough rocky sandstone with areas of tennis ball sized rubble and every step needed concentration. The slope was relentless (something like Liprivick in terms of steepness but 11km long). However, this sort of course is usually my strong point. I was carrying a 3 second lead in the M50 category overnight from the first race but had not managed to identify the second place runner, Fritz Leibundgut from Switzerland wearing number 70. I saw a foreign runner charging on ahead who looked like a vet and who had a Swiss sounding club name on the back of his vest so I presumed that was him. However, I did not feel like wasting energy early on trying to catch him and preferred to wait to see if he faded later on before catching him. However, I was wrong. After about 1km a runner latched onto my shoulder breathing heavily and seemed determined to stay behind me. The cardinal rule of racing is don't look back and I didn't. I wasn't breathing much and he was so I guessed he was hanging on whilst I was going as hard as I wanted to. At the first water station at 4km we both moved over to grab a drink and I didn't manage to catch a glimpse of his number as he was still directly behind me. So I carried on and his breathing became ever more painful. At the second drink station at 8km on the outside of a tight, steep hairpin bend, I moved out for water and he cut in without taking a drink, clearly trying to make a break. However, it only took 5 or 10 metres for me to catch and pass him and I glanced across as I did so confirming that this was indeed number 70. I took the lead again and continued to make him suffer. There was no way I was going to drop in behind him and let him slow the pace to one he was comfortable with. The steepest part of this course is the final km where we join the tarmac road into the village. As soon as we hit the tarmac, I increased my stride length and moved away and just kept it going without going over the limit (although I do note that my peak heart rate was during this final km). At the very top of the climb, the road levels and swings sharp left into the square with only a final 10m to the line. The official results showed that I had pulled out a further 8 seconds on stage 2 and now had an 11 second lead in the M50 category. There is still a lot of pressure over the next two days (trail half marathon and 10k road race) so everything is still to play for. My finishing time for the stage was 54:18 and overall 10th. In the overall classification, I had moved up from 16th position on day 1 to 9th position. However today was one of my strong days and I do expect to drop back a little in the half marathon. We shall see. I know who's shoulder I am going to be sitting on tomorrow though!
Alan



Thursday 24 November 2016

Cyprus International 4 Day Challenge - Race 1

After a day and a half of acclimatisation in the heat of the Cyprus sun, Thursday was the day when things started to get serious. A packed briefing at 1pm was attended by virtually all of the 250 participants and it was declared that this was a record year for the number of countries represented ranging from Scotland to Australia along with most European countries in between and the USA and Canada completing the mix. Usefully, the race numbers had a map showing all 4 race routes on it (what's a map for I hear certain members of the Harriers asking!). I was assigned number 4, not due to any ranking but purely on the basis of alphabetical order by first name.

The first race started at 3pm in the heat of the afternoon sun and was a 6km individual time trial point-to-point from the hotel along the coast road to the site of a shipwreck in a bay. Was this an omen for things to come. Runners were set off at 10 second intervals in race number order meaning that I would have only 3 to chase and a lot of runners chasing me down. I was however thankful that my name was not Zack as there would have been a lot of waiting around.
Race start in the bay in front of the hotel

Heart pumping, I lined up and awaited the countdown (unlike the similar format Auldhouse time trial, there were no midges to bother about). 30 seconds after the first runner, I was set off by former London Marathon winner and event organiser, Mike Gratton. A winding uphill km took us around the hotel and away from the coast initially. A cautious start was called for as there were also some long uphill drags at the end and this was only day 1 of 4 in a row. Within the first few hundred metres I had passed number 3. Due to the twisty course, 1 and 2 were initially out of sight. However by the time we were back on the main coast road, I could see them both ahead, first passing number 1 and after a few km easing past number 2. A short while later I heard a fast approaching runner and a young lad shot past me (number 6). Thereafter it was a lonely old run with no other runners to catch or passing me. The course zig zags to and away from the coast several times, descending between the banana plantations to the coast before climbing back up the other side. It certainly is not a flat course but not hilly enough to give you an easy ride on the downhills. By the 4th km I was bursting with the heat and slowing a bit. At the 5km mark the course turns away from the coast for the final time to do a loop around the finishing area which is in some rough ground on the edge of the cliffs. As this is a 4 day challenge, there is no point sprinting to the line so I just kept it steady and cruised through in 22:44 noting that this revised course (due to road works) was about 130m long.
At the finish - wrecked but not as badly as the ship

After a half litre of water and one of the plentiful local bananas, I jogged back to the 5.5km mark to cheer on former Harrier Jimmy Stewart who had started at number 83. After Jimmy passed, I jogged the 2.5km back to the hotel via the most direct route and did the usual stretching routine on the beach (don't think I am slacking out here!).
Stretching - its tough but it has to be done.

No results out yet but as this event is based on cumulative time over all 4 races, it is hard to draw any conclusions from this, the shortest of the 4 races. The M50 category is my only realistic target as I noted that there were some very fast guys from the local RAF base "flying" over the final km without the aid of an aircraft.

Tomorrow morning is the 11km uphill trail race starting on a beach and finishing in a mountain village. The mayor of the village has very kindly suggested an alternative trail this year (a safer route for the medical support vehicles) which is a few hundred meters shorter but has 70m more ascent. Nice of him.

STOP PRESS - results are now up. I'm holding a slender 3 second lead in the M50 category over a Swiss runner and am 16th overall. This is going to be a tight one! Full live results service is here: https://www.resultsbase.net/event/3794/results?round=8106

Alan

Busload to Brampton


A busload of around 40 Harriers (of which 35 were running) made the annual trip to Brampton for the Brampton to Carlisle 10 mile road race. This has been an annual fixture for the Harriers for over 30 years and it was extremely pleasing to see a near record turnout from the Harriers, especially given that a handful of the regulars were either not present or not running. Our numbers were boosted by a number of first timers from all of our training groups (Monday/Thursday and Tuesday) and also a few friends of the Harriers who regularly join us on the trip.

Kevan Harvey
The day started our very cold but positively as the bus turned up this year and by shortly after 8am we were on the road south in perfect, windless running conditions. On arrival at Brampton there was just over an hour before the start of the race; plenty time to get changed, warmed up and perform any other pre-race rituals, such as the team photo above. True to form, there are some Harriers missing from the photo. Rearrange these words into a popular phrase "cats - to - trying - herd"; answers on a postcard please!
The bus with the travelling support departed Brampton for Carlisle 15 minutes ahead of the start and we left the team of Harriers full of nervous energy. As the conditions were near perfect some fast times were expected this year and it seemed like no sooner were we in Carlisle (and after the obligatory cake and coffee in the Sports Centre), it was time to head out into the street to see the finishers streaming in. First of the Harriers across the line was the new young talent in the club Kevan Harvey on his first time at Brampton recording a fantastic 57:08. Second across the line in a stupendous 59:25 at the age of 55 was Davie Watt (2nd M55 overall).
Davie Watt
Andrew J Buchanan was making his first Brampton appearance and set a solid time of 62:58. Clan Mullen was here in force today with Brampton veteran Gerry (31 Brampton appearances) and his 3 sons all running. First of the Mullen's was Ross who despite not being a regular runner ran a pb of 63:42.
Julie Beveridge

Not far behind, Julie Beveridge had not only broken early chaser Stephen Phimister but had also broken her own club lady's record in a new pb of 65:24. Julie finished as 7th woman overall. Stephen Phimister was next in suffering from heavily interrupted training this past few months to cross the line in 67:44.
Stephen Phimister giving the hand signal for I don't know what!
Eddie Reid has finally overcome a succession of injuries and managed to string a few races together in recent months, rewarded with a competitive time and signs of getting back to his best form, crossing the line in 67:54. Eddie was chased hard by David Herbertson (and unfortunately probably for the last time due to David's impending emigration to Australia). David finished in 69:07. David led a close grouping of Harriers with Jim Holmes next to finish in 69:38, closely followed by Andy Henderson in 69:48. This was Andy's 27th Brampton and great to see Andy back after missing last year with a serious illness. Joanne McEvoy is getting back towards her best and massively improved on last year to finish as our second lady in 70:43. First F55 in the race, Marion O'Connor recorded a time of 71:35 in her first Brampton and contributed with Julie and Joanne to our ladies winning 2nd team and first veteran (F35 and above) team prizes. Graham Ramage has also missed a lot of training this year but improved on last year to finish in 73:13. Kay Conneff continues to improve with every race having been with the Harriers for just over a year. This was her second Brampton and amazingly took more than 5 minutes off last years time to finish in 73:18.
Richard Lawton leads Kenny Leinster at about a quarter mile from the finish

Kenny Leinster and Richard Lawton were applying the pre-race psychological warfare to each other and it was clear that they would be head to head all the way. 400m from the finish, Richard had a 3m gap on Kenny but wise (old) Kenny had his tactics planned to perfection and out sprinted Richard on the final downhill stretch to the finish, crossing the line in 74:31 with Richard just behind in 74:36. However Richard did have the pleasure of breaking his pb by over 3 minutes.
Gordon McInally - biggest improver

Frances Maxwell is really just getting back into regular training after a succession of injuries this year and was not surprised to be slightly down on last year in a time of 75:45. Gordon McInally was the biggest improver of the day taking almost 10 minutes off last year's time to finish in 76:54. I will be looking for a further 10 minute improvement next year. No pressure! John Boyd was another first timer here and set his benchmark at 78:06. Ian McKenzie has had a 7 year absence from Brampton but nonetheless came back with his second best time of 78:16. Alison Lessells was not feeling right from the off today and will surely take lumps out of her time of 79:11 on another day. David Searil may consider this as a sprint distance compared to the ultras he regularly does, however after another long absence from Brampton (10 years), David was back on the right track with an 81:26 timing. As previously noted, Gerry Mullen was running this race for the 31st time today despite having an extremely heavy cold. You can't keep a good man down and Gerry ran steadily to finish in 81:50.
31st Brampton for Gerry Mullen loaded with the cold.
David Mullen followed his dad in at a respectful distance finishing his first Brampton in 82:24. Only 30 to go David to match your dad. Phil Marshall was another one suffering due to an injury but carrying on regardless. Phil recorded a time of 84:10, a few minutes faster than last year. Next in we had two friends of the Harriers, Brian Graham and Alisdair Berry in times of 87:33 and 88:45 (no photos unfortunately as my eye is looking for Calderglen vests rather than faces). Sandy Hayden was making her first appearance at Brampton and had a good consistent run with only minor niggles from her ankle pains towards the end, crossing the line in 90:59. The much improved Russell Couper ran his fastest time for four years, crossing the line in 1:33:42. However, I suspect that but for recent injuries, Russell could have been much faster than this based on early season form.

Chas Steven joined Gerry Mullen in completing his 31st Brampton, an incredible achievement and sign of consistency and commitment. Chas finished in 94:04, a 4 minute improvement on last year.
Chas Steven - Brampton 31
Next we had a group of runners from our Tuesday night section, most of whom were here for the first time. Leading that group was Julie Thomson in 94:29. Running together we then had Lorraine Buchanan (96:58) who burst away from Michael Mullen (97:03) in the final yards. Then Alison Johnson was delighted to set a time of 1:40:15.
Julie Thomson

Lorraine Buchanan and Michael Mullen

Alison Johnson

It was really disappointing for the Harriers and Charlie himself that Charlie MacDougall had to drop out injured after a 3 or 4 miles. Charlie had started the race with an injury but thought he would try it. But it was not to be. Charlie would have been the leading M65 in this race without a doubt had he not been injured and remains the second fastest Harrier of all time on the Brampton course (50:41 set in 1988).

After an enjoyable few hours in "The Turf" pub opposite the finish, the bus took us up to Moffat for dinner in the Star Hotel where calories were replenished a plenty. We also were able to witness the first set of Andy Murray's eventual victory in the ATP tennis finals; something of a Harriers' tradition witnessing great Andy Murray victories on the way back from great Harriers' events.

All in all this was another fantastic day out and encouraging to see that there is plenty of new blood in the Harriers to keep these memorable events going in the future.

There are various photos from me here and from Billy here.

You can also review all the Brampton times (filterable and searchable) here or in the old, very wide spreadsheet here.
Alan