Anglo Celtic Plate 50k

Last Sunday morning found me at North Inch Park in Perth, a place I recall running a cross country race in a Calderglen vest many moons ago. This day, however, I was there for a slightly longer effort, namely the Anglo Celtic Plate, Scottish and British 50k and 100k Championship races. The beauty of this event is that while it is an international race between three (normally four) of the home nations it is also open to anyone, even old plodders like me. Three years ago, when a relative novice ultra runner, I read about this race the last time it was held in Scotland and resolved then to give it a go should the opportunity arise.

A strange start to my day, on arriving, was to see the 100k runners already running around the park, their race having started at 07:00. The 50k, by contrast, started at the much more civilised time of 10:00, allowing me to have a leisurely breakfast before heading to the Bells Sports Centre to register with plenty of time to spare. I planned to run the first hour or so without food or (much) drink before Alison, having had an even more leisurely breakfast, would arrive at the start/finish area with my ultra ‘hamper’ (rice pudding, mandarin oranges, salted potatoes, hula hoops, baby bells, electrolyte drink, flat pepsi, etc,etc).

Our race was to consist of twenty one laps of 2.381k around the almost pan-flat tarmac paths of the park, quite appropriate given that this would be my twenty first ultra. The race briefing had indicated a clockwise circumnavigation of the park which unfortunately meant we would be running into a strong southerly headwind alongside the River Tay while being relatively sheltered on the city side of the loop thereby gaining no benefit from said wind.

The 100k start

Rather dauntingly there were only 75 starters who were ushered onto the race route during a convenient gap in the 100k field and sent on our way. I had been suffering from a head cold for the previous three days and indeed had been unsure whether to run at all so decided to set out at a very conservative pace to test the waters, as it were. As it turned out my splits were very consistent for the first fifteen laps or so, steadily around the fifteen minute mark, and without any discomfort at all. Sadly the endurance ebbed from my legs from about that point and running into the wind on the riverside became more and more like running in treacle. Given that durability is usually a strength of mine and that I tend to pick up the pace the longer a race goes on I feel sure the illness had drained some of my stamina.

At my lowest ebb the cavalry arrived, not to the call of a bugle but with the sound of cow bells, in the form of Emma Mearns with Jim in tow who turned up just at the right time. Many thanks must go to them for braving the flying dimpled balls by frequently criss-crossing the golf course in order to give me some encouragement twice every lap. The sound of Emma's cow bells perked me up every time I heard them but even with their cheering the last five laps or so were a real grind and I was reduced to run/walking over the nineteenth and twentieth laps (200/100 if you’re interested). As often happens my competitive instincts kicked in once I heard the (metaphorical) bell and churned out a faster lap than I had managed for the previous two and a half hours! No, I don’t understand the human mind or body either! 

The closest I came to winning!

At last!

Finally coming across the finish line in 5.37.33 I was dragged (willingly!) to the food tent where I was handed a most welcome cup of home-made soup. Further refuelling and rehydrating soon took place (Alison putting her WHWR supporting skills to good use again, to my benefit) and it was soon off for a hot recovery shower and more food. I finished 58^th from 69 finishers with times ranging from 2.56.37 to 7.31.10. As you may have worked out there were only 6 DNFs, quite a low number given the strength of the wind on the day. I was mildly pleased to find later I came home as second M60, one place better than in the Devil O’The Highlands race last August.   

The 50k race winner was Ross Houston of Central AC in 2.56.37 in a new Scottish 50k record, beating Don Ritchie’s 31 year-old record by two seconds. Ross is clearly enjoying his conversion to ultra running having set a new course record at the D33 and took the ACP 100k title last year. To give an idea of just how fast he was travelling he lapped me four times during my first five laps and his consistency was also remarkable with his fastest lap, not surprisingly, being his first in 8:02 and his slowest, the penultimate, in 8:57 – a variance of only 55 seconds over his twenty one laps of the park. Keep an eye out for him at Livingston this coming weekend as I believe he intends competing in the National 6/4 Stage Road Relays.

Race organiser Adrian Stott can't contain his delight as Ross Houston breaks the Scottish 50k record which had stood since 1985.

Mark Pollard of Inverclyde AC was second in 3.07.17 and Ross Milne of Corstorphine AC completed a Scottish clean sweep of the 50k male podium in 3.18.13. The female race winner was Hannah Oldroyd of England in 3.36.33, coming home in eigth place overall.

England’s Paul Navesey won the 100k in a time of 6.58.52 while the female title also headed south with Melissa Venables in 8.15.54.  

All in all I had a grand day, having had the chance of a wee chat with eventual race winner Ross (we’re on first name terms you know!) before the race, had a brief couple of chats (as I overtook him – he was running the 100k) with a legend of Scottish ultra-running, William Sichel (google his name if you don’t him) from the Orkney Isles who probably holds more endurance records than I’ve had hot dinners (and that’s a fair number!) 

William Sichel

My verdict on lap races? Well, lets just say I’ve scrathed that itch and probably won’t be doing this sort of thing again. Being constantly lapped by most of the field doesn’t do much for your self-esteem, unsurprisingly, so going ‘round and round and round’ as Damon Albarn sang in ‘Parklife’ just doesn’t appeal anymore.

50k memento

WEST HIGHLAND WAY RELAY

This year we will be running the West Highland Way on Sat 21st May.
The weekend will follow the usual format with an early morning pick up so that we start running at approx. 5am from Milngavie. Each runner will have a leg that they will be on the clock although your welcome to run as many legs with others as you wish as long as you don't interfere with the leg runner or the departure of the bus for the next changeover. Saturday night will be spent in the Ben Nevis hotel to replenish and rehydrate our bodies.
Sunday will be leisurely with possibly a light activity before heading home to EK for approx. 6pm.
The cost of this weekend will be £69 of which Francis will be taking a deposit of £20 from Thursday.
This will include your place on the bus and your hotel room which will be twin rooms along with dinner and breakfast. The mini bus is for 17 places although we have hotel places for 20 if anyone wishes a long lie and a drive.

207/401 = Calderglen's Part in an Amazing Endeavour

Ben and his merry band approach 9 miles

On Friday 25th March we were not only blessed with beautiful (but cold) East Kilbride weather but were privileged to be able to assist the remarkable Ben Smith on his way towards running 401 marathons on 401 consecutive days. "Our" marathon would be Ben's 207th since starting at the beginning of September 2015. We welcomed Ben to the Sports Club the evening before having arranged access to the club showers, overnight parking and electrical power for his camper van in the car park.

After an enjoyable evening of conversation (and a few ciders for Ben) we already knew that this was a very humble and charismatic guy raising money for charities close to his heart. Despite the fact he must have answered the same questions hundreds of times by now, he was only too keen to satisfy our curiosity too. We also found out that the current world record for consecutive marathons is 52 and therefore his target of 401 consecutive marathons is stupendous. There are 36 rules and regulations he has to adhere to in order to satisfy the Guinness World Record criteria and he is being constantly monitored and verified by Guinness via his Garmin Connect, Strava and Facebook accounts. The Challenge was several years in the planning and is being carried out solo on the road but with a remote support team. His dad, Pete, is logistics coordinator and it was Pete who contacted club secretary Hugh Simpson a month or two ago to see if Calderglen Harriers would be willing to arrange for marathon number 207 in East Kilbride. This sort of thing is right up Calderglen's street and we were only too happy to help (amazingly, many club's have knocked back the request for assistance. Pete now tends to look at club web sites and blogs before contacting them to see the sort of things they get up to and hence now focuses on clubs who have a wide and varied competition and social calendar; sounds just like Calderglen!). We were also told that if we had 8 or 9 people running with him on the day, we would have a Scottish participation record so far.

Lined up and ready to go.

So on Friday morning we were glad to see 15 to 20 runners from the Harriers and various other clubs and Facebook Friends arrive in time for the 9:30 (ish) start. Ben advised that he was going to be running about 11 - 12 minute per mile pace and would probably have two long stops to eat. He needs 6500 calories per day to sustain this effort and must eat solid, proper food (not gels). Our first 9 mile loop was the Kingsway, Kingsgate, Stewartfield, Queensway circuit ably navigated by Sandra Reid with Charlie McDougall, George Stewart, Graham Ramage, Anne McLelland and Paul Rooney providing the Harriers' team for the first stage but supplemented by 3 or 4 from Springburn Harriers and numerous other individual runners (and the Buchanan children for the first few hundred metres!). This first stage enjoyed a stop for a bacon roll or two at Stewartfield Morrisons, not something we usually do on that loop!

The pack heads out of town on Shields Road

Stage 2 took us out on a big Auldhouse loop, taking in most of our old 10 mile race route plus some extra detours to get the miles in. There was a partial change in Calderglen personnel with Eddie Reid taking over navigational duty from Sandra whilst Charlie McDougall and many of the others carried on. Heading towards Shields Road, Charlie had an argument with a kerb resulting in a skint lip. A few hundred metres later Ben had his first injury scare of the entire challenge when something felt like it tore in his right quad. Fortunately one of the runners (Karen Leslie I think) is a physio and was able to administer road side treatment which amazingly completely solved the problem. Crisis over. At this point Jim Holmes arrived in his car direct from work and quickly joined the pack. However, Jim has become a slave to his Garmin and soon discovered that he had forgotten to put his Garmin on, so dropped out the pack, sprinted back to his car to get his Garmin and then leap frogged the pack in his car to join in again. Oh how Jim has changed in the last month since getting that watch for his birthday! By now the pack also had a lead bike in a yellow (Calderglen) jersey as the Howell children and dad Martin were in the pack.

Lead bike in yellow jersey brings the pack to lunch

Lunch stop was planned for about mile 15 and Sandra had agreed to pick up coffee and plain sandwiches for Ben. With perfect (unplanned) timing, Sandra arrived at the Kennels/Milwell junction where I was waiting with even more sandwiches and Tunnocks wafers (courtesy of Graham Ramage) just minutes before the pack came into view. A very high energy lunch was quickly consumed by all and there were a few more photo opportunities and discussions with passers by who were in complete awe of what Ben was doing. Then they were off again on the steep Milwell climb. Meanwhile I abandoned my car in Auldhouse, decided to forget my hamstring injury temporarily and ran back to meet the pack on Leaburn Road. Andrew Buchanan had also run out from Auldhouse to join the pack before they reached Leaburn (and Charlie was still going strong).

Lunchtime photo opportunity

We wound our way back around to Langlands via Auldhouse and picked up the trail race route along the end of Langlands Moss before doubling back to join the top end of the Glen. Ben was delighted to be running on a trail and promptly took off at surprising speed stinging the Harriers into action! The pack of 10 or so fully regrouped when we entered the old Glen trail. We still had a couple of miles to go to hit the required 26.2 miles and we were about to enter a very busy bank holiday Calderglen Country Park with dugs and weans everywhere! Rather than doing two circuits of the busy and narrow Torr Trail to finish, Eddie suggested we do one lap and then run out the park and around Colonsay Field to get the final mile in relative peace, so this we did, with young Ben Buchanan setting the pace, completing the 26.2 miles just as we emerged from the Glen onto the main park entrance. However, as Ben wanted to add a Garmin safety factor, we kept going for another 0.2 miles, finishing at the back of his van in the club car park.

A large spread of more high carb grub, teas and coffees had been prepared by Sandra, ably assisted by Kay, Anne and Lorraine. So we all retired to the Sports Club for a well earned refuel. A huge thanks to bar manager Laura for opening up early on her day off to give us access to the hall.

Ben was out on the route for about 5:50 but actual running time was around 4:50; that would be a fantastic pace on this tough trail even if you had not run 206 marathons in the preceding 206 days! Our own Charlie McDougall also ran the complete distance as did 5 or 6 of the other runners. Ben was as much in awe of Charlie as Charlie was of Ben. There was lots of mutual respect going on there. A special mention for one girl (Jan I think) who had set out to run about 6 miles, had never run anything like marathon distance before and ended up running the full route!

It was a privilege and an inspiration to meet Ben and be involved in a small way with this challenge. I know many more Harriers would have liked to take part but could not due to work and other commitments. However, Ben will be back in Scotland in the Summer so we do hope to join him on another of his marathons somewhere else around the country. In the meantime, please check out Ben's progress on his web site (http://www.the401challenge.co.uk/), Facebook and Twitter and don't forget to make a donation to the charity (see the web site for details) if you can.

Finally, thanks to all the runners for the many comments praising Calderglen Harriers and their contribution to the day.
Many more photos taken by Jim Holmes and Eddie Reid are in this album together with the few I took.

Alan

Detailed Maps for 401 Challenge Marathon on Friday 25th March

For those helping out with Ben Smith's marathon run on Friday (the more the merrier), I have compiled a detailed map book. Just follow the numbers on the maps (note number 2 is at Kingsgate, just missing from the detailed map).

Download the map book here. For those at circuits on Wednesday or the club on Thursday, we can discuss which specific sections you are able to run. Everyone can run whichever section they want, as long as we have someone with Ben the whole way to keep him on the right track.

Please look at the maps and leave a comment on this post indicating which parts of the route (use the numbers from the maps to identify the parts of the route. e.g. between numbers 13 and 20) you think you will be available to run. We also recommend carrying your mobile phone and we will send group txts to all to update on progress along the route.
Alan

Alloa half marathon

A fantastic turnout of 2,327 runners started the 34^th Alloa half marathon on Sunday last no doubt encouraged by the best weather of the year so far.

Ian Rae and myself were certainly in a sunny mood driving to the Wee County that morning, sunglasses on and  car sunvisors pulled down. After a brief stop at McDonalds we were in the town itself where Ian, having got it into his head there would only be around 400 runners, was more than a little surprised to see the sheer volume of traffic for a Sunday morning. After a fruitless fifteen minutes trying to find a parking spot we eventually left my car in the Asda car park, meaning to buy something from the shop later. As things turned out we never did although Ian did leave a small deposit there prior to the race!  

We had some pre-race chit-chat with former clubmates Graham Lindsay and David Wardrope and then it was handshakes all round and we were off. I watched the others as they gradually pulled away then exchanged brief words with John McBride, Joey Shields and Julie Beveridge (not sure she heard my words of encouragement, so in the zone was she) as they in turn trotted into the distance. Never mind, someone has to make the rest of the club look good.

For my part I ran carefully for the first three miles or so, aware of both the 33 miles in my legs from last weekend and a 14 mile WHW recce with Ruth just 2 days before – probably not the best form of half marathon preparation. Mentally bracing myself I patiently did not respond to the steady stream of runners coming past me but by the village of Fishcross felt able to pick up the pace from the start of a series of downhill stretches leading to Tillicoultry.
   

Although quite a benign day weather-wise there was still a breeze which, as always, was in the runners faces as we negotiated the four-mile long straight through the hillfoot villages of Tillicoultry, Alva and Menstrie. I noticed a distinct drop of pace around me as we finally neared the turn off the A91 and realised my fellow runners were subconciously saving some energy for the assault up the infamous Menstrie Brae. Having run this race many times before I knew from personal experience that the following, more gradual, drag into Tullibody was the more taxing so started to overtake a few at this point.

Feeling stronger as the race went on I continued to pass runners all the way up both hills and all the way to the line only to be re-passed by a couple of twenty-somethings in the finishing straight. Remembering a day when I used to have that much energy I was more than happy to let them go but was pleasantly surprised to see the finishing line gantry show 1.53 something as I passed underneath. Having stated before the race that I would be more than happy to come home in under two hours this was an excellent result and perhaps points to a recent improvement in endurance, a timely boost with two short-ish ultras coming over the next three weeks and the Fling another three weeks later.
Big John must have given his all as he completely forgot to collect his finisher's medal, possibly distracted by wondering what colour the t-shirt would be after 2015's shocking pink effort. (a very conservative black on white, since you asked) 

Ian, Graham and I met up up beyond the line briefly where Ian offered us both some post-race sustenance of Midget Gems.

There were 2,298 finishers (only 29 DNFs, unfortunately Julie would appear to be one of them)

Results;

Joe Shields                          1.36.08

Julie Beveridge                    1.36.14
Ian Rae                               1.36.34

John McBride                     1.49.36

David Searil                        1.53.12

Julie Beveridge                    DNF (not confirmed but provisional results show this)

Stop Press - Julie has been in touch to say she did indeed finish, somewhere around 1.36.10, but her chip didn't work. It has been reported to the organisers and she is awaiting an update from them. Delighted to hear it Julie! A tense wait now to find out the identity of the leading harrier, Julie or Joe. Watch this space...

Thursday 24th March, a further update - Julie's chip time has now been confirmed as 1.36.14 some six seconds behind Joe. Their gun times are eleven seconds apart, also in Joe's favour.  The first three harriers were thus seperated by only 26 seconds on chip timing and by 35 seconds on the gun, an extremely close result over 13.1 miles. 

Some other results;

Louise Beveridge                 1.29.27

David Wardrope                  1.40.09

Graham Lindsay                   1.44.11

Laura do Nascimento           2.03.15


  

CHATELHERAULT EASTER TRAIL RUNNING FESTIVAL

On Saturday 26th March South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture are hosting a new event at Chatelherault Country Park in Hamilton.

The 10k starts at 10.30am and the 5k starts at 10.40am.  Entry fees are £12.00 for 10k and £8 for 5k.

You need to enter via Entry Central: http://www.entrycentral.com/festival/674

See links to junior blog reports to get further details:
http://calderglenjuniors.blogspot.co.uk/2016/02/chatelherault-easter-trail-running.html

Richard

NATIONAL 6 & 4 STAGE RELAYS

The National 6 & 4 stage relays will again be held in Livingston on Sunday 3rd April.
The race starts at Noon with declarations closing at 11.30.
This race will follow the usual format of alternate legs of 3.1 miles and 5.8 miles.
Cost is £4.50 and should be paid in advance.
I need names by Wednesday 16th March.
If you wish entered please leave your name HERE.
Those already entered are listed HERE.

Falésia 5k 2016

Once again, the event we all have a love/hate relationship with midway through the Algarve training camp took place this morning; the Falésia 5k Road Race. We were all specifically instructed not to ease back training in preparation and to treat it as a hard session, which we all duly did (in fact those preparing for the London Marathon did the race flat out, had a 10 minute break and then did the whole 5k again but at marathon pace!).

A large field consisting mainly of the hundred or so on our training camp plus a smattering of internationalists also out here training (mainly Latvians) lined up at the top of the hill at 10am. This was the first cloudy day since arriving making conditions perfect and virtually windless too. The downhill start of the 3 lap course was fast as usual and I found myself dropped, holding back a bit to protect a tight hamstring. I was still going at 3:10/km though which was plenty fast enough. All too soon the downhill was over and the long, relentless climb starts. By the climb I was picking people off and was up to about 13th. As the climb steepened, I passed a few more and the first lap was done.

Caution on the descent allowed one to re-pass me but by the top of the climb at the end of lap 2 I passed him again and was up to 7th place. The third lap finishes with the relentless "Stella" climb and I just could not close the gap on 5th and 6th in that final 500m uphill. However, I was very pleased with the time (17:35), some 29 seconds faster than last year and first M50. The race at the front was hotly contested by all accounts, a pair of young Latvians battling to the line to finish in an amazing 15:15 and 15:18. As always there was considerable vocal support around the course which adds to the atmosphere and helps keep the pace up.

Nutrition is key when piling in the volume and quality of training we do here, so I made a special effort to find an appropriate source of fuel, as shown in the photo!

Alan

Deeside Way Ultra Saturday 12th March

A brief report on the seventh running of the D33, as it's better known, where for the first time there were three Calderglen Harriers on the start line. On a perfect day for running, cool and slightly damp with a light breeze which was mostly from behind during the second half of the race Jim Mearns finished in an excellent 5.12.30, apparently dying on his feet in an effort to get in under the five hour mark. I was next harrier home, in the best time of my five finishes at this race, 5.34.25 followed by Ruth Kelly, looking very strong, as she finished in 6.22.50. Ruth and Jim were taking part in their first D33, injury having prevented both their debuts last year and were pleased to have finally made the journey from Aberdeen to Banchory and back.

Photos above before the start, leaving Duthie Park heading to Banchory and the unusual, hand-made finishers 'medal' (which reads D33 just in case you miss it, I hadn't noticed thirty-six hours later until someone pointed it out to me!)

VOLUNTEER MARSHALS REQUIRED

Hi

 

 

We’re looking for additional volunteer marshals for our checkpoints on the Glasgow-Edinburgh Ultramarathon on Saturday 2 April. More info on the race and the route can be found here http://www.resoluteevents.co.uk/G2E.html and here http://www.resoluteevents.co.uk/route.html 

 

All marshals will get free entry to next year’s race (or can nominate someone else to receive this) as a thank you. I’d greatly appreciate it if you could circulate this amongst your members particularly those active at ultra distance. 

 

I can be contacted at james@resoluteevents.co.uk or resoluteevents@yahoo.com for more info.

 

Many thanks for your help,

 

James McMeekin

 

Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon

On a near perfect day for running, five Harriers had an early rise and headed to Balloch, congregating on the start line at 9 am.

One of the attractions for the 464 entrants was this being a point to point race. There are not many on the calendar. The race was being run for the 17th time as a half-marathon, although there has been a Balloch to Clydebank race since 1927.

In a slight change from last year, a more scenic start lead us along the River Leven for three miles before joining the familiar long straight cycle paths towards Dumbarton. Dumbarton Rock was a good half way marker, then the Erskine Bridge came in to view giving the warm feeling of progress. However, at this point the Titan Crane in the distance which marks the finish line still looked a long way off. After an undulating few miles Clydebank shopping centre came into view marking the end of a good half marathon.

Harriers finishing order was Jim Holmes 1:37:29, Colin Banks 1:45:00, John McBride, time TBC, Phil Marshall 1:56:15 and Russell Couper 2:15:01.

The 401 Challenge - Calderglen Country Park Friday 25th March

On Friday 25th March, Calderglen Harriers will be assisting with a truly remarkable endeavour here in East Kilbride. Ben Smith is on his way to running 401 marathons in 401 consecutive days primarily to raise awareness and funding for anti-bullying charities but in the process setting a world record. You can read the full story and background on Ben's web site The401Challenge.co.uk where you will also find links to his Facebook and Twitter presence.

As he travels around the UK in his motor home, local clubs have set marathon routes for Ben to run. Our "Calderglen" marathon will be the 207th consecutive marathon and this will start at 9:30am outside East Kilbride Sports Club. You can see the full route in the marathons menu on Ben's web site (note that Ben will stop when his Garmin says 26.2 miles; we may have to circulate the Tor Trail once or twice to complete the distance). We would appreciate if as many Harriers as possible could give up some time on the day to run at least a little of the route with Ben to keep him company and also to keep him on the right course. Please leave your name here if you can run a section. Names we have so far are here. Ben will be running at quite a slow pace (11 minute miles) and will stop often for snacks:

Ben really looks forward to company on the runs, so please if by adjusting the route you can encourage more to join that fine with us. So your not surprised, he usually stops on route for a quick snack at any convenient place.  He eats just about anything and is not into fussy diets etc.  If there is no where on the route you plan, just let us know so he can pack some food in his camelpak before he starts.

 Company on the Day. Ben does not have a support team that travel with him.  He is doing this as a one-man band, just him and his motorhome.  If anyone from the club wants to join Ben on the day, he would be very grateful for the company - even if it’s just for part of the distance - not least to help him with the navigation!  He is running around an 11 min mile pace as the Challenge is about endurance rather than speed.  His planned start time will be 0930.

Alan

Down by the river 10K

Thirteen harriers and a bunch of supporters headed down to Cambuslang on a crisp, sunny Mothers’ Day morning for the Down by the river 10k.



Hosted by Cambuslang Harriers, the out and back route along the Clyde was flat, traffic free and perfect for fast times. So all excuses gone, we made our way down from Cambuslang Rugby Club and congregated on the start line.

Andy Buchanan (with a J) is having a great first season with the Harriers and stormed home with an excellent pb of 37:53. Martin Howell also took advantage of the conditions compared with last year, finishing in a fine 39:27. David Herbertson knew he was chasing down a good time and in his own inimitable, self-motivating style he yelled and grunted his way down the home straight, reaching the finish line in a pb of 40:47. Late entry Ian Hughes made a welcome return to racing with a time of 41:48. Jim Holmes was looking for something around seven minute mile pace. The Garmin never lies, and that is exactly what 43:04 is. Stuart Waugh was going well during the first half of the race but felt he faded on the way back. However, he was still 2nd M60 in a time of 44:25. Alison Lessells decided to run rather than put her feet up on Mothers’ day and, ably supported by her daughter Rebecca, she finished in 44:58. In the closest finish of the day, Richard Lawton, 46:01, pipped Kay Conneff, 46:04. Kay is delighted with her improvement since joining the harriers. In a masterclass of time management, John McBride jetted in from Arbroath just before the race, ran a solid 47:29 then shot off straight to his work! Gordon McInally is a graduate from the Tuesday night section and his enthusiasm for training and racing since stepping up is great to see. Gordon capitalised on this with a deserved pb performance of 48:08. Russell Couper put in a steady performance of 58:19. Another Tuesday night graduate, Lorraine Buchanan dug in to break the hour, coming home in 59:18. It was also good to see Sharon Gregg, 45:23 and Seonaid Morton, 54:58 from the Tuesday section competing. Time to get yourselves a vest!
Finally, who ate all the pies? The Harriers day out was completed with Cambuslang Harriers hospitality back at the rugby club, and I think we all deserved a pie, or two…
Thanks to Neil, Maude, Frances, John and our youngest supporter, Rebecca, for all your shouts of encouragement from the sides.

National Cross Country - Fine in Falkirk

All four Calderglen ladies power away at the start.

In complete contrast to the last few years (and the last few months), the weather was perfect in Falkirk for the National Cross Country Championships on Saturday 27th February. A large Calderglen team of men and women traveled through to Callendar Park for this prestigious culmination of the cross country season. Due to a change in IAAF policy, this would also be the last National XC where the men would compete over 12k and the women over 8k. As of 2017 the men and women will be harmonised to a common 10km distance. This fact no doubt tempted a few more of the Harriers' men out for their final go at the longest of cross country races. In fact, some detail modifications to the course this year meant that it would be an even longer than usual race for both the men and women, the distances being 12.6k and 8.4k for the three and two lap courses respectively.

A week without rain had allowed the course to dry out considerably and consequently their was plenty of good running on the course plus the usual mixture of punishing hills. After zig-zagging up the first hill and back down and around the pond, the route headed back up the dreaded hill through the trees (which was the only really muddy part of the course as usual) before descending into the golf course. We headed further out through the golf course this year before doubling back, then in and out of the Antonine Wall ditch and back to the main arena in front of Callendar House. This year the course did not head out past the high rise flats but instead ascended and immediately descended the hill in the tented village and then went back up the edge of it again, dropping once more in and out of the Antonine Wall ditch and then a sharp turn onto the gravel drive heading towards the House. The women completed two laps of this course and the men three.

Despite a few last minute call-offs, we still had a great turn out for the ladies with Joanne McEvoy, Frances Maxwell, Alison Lessells and Karen Allen forming the familiar team. Joanne has not been racing much recently but has been training hard and this showed as she gradually pulled away from her team mates to finish in an excellent 39:14 and 128th position. Frances had picked up a quad strain in the preceding week and struggled on the downhills. Fortunately there were plenty of uphill and flat stretches though which Frances managed fine, finishing in 41:38 and 16th F50. Both Alison and Karen are on the way back to fitness this year. On this occasion is was Alison who was the faster, finishing in 42:04 with Karen in 43:49 and vowing that next year, she would be back to full training and fitness.

The men also experienced a few last minute call offs with injuries and work commitments but with 9 running, that was still our best turn out for a few years and included Andrew J Buchanan making his National XC debut. A record entry of over 800 resulted in about 630 finishers on the day, a very impressive sight. After racing poorly for the past 3 or 4 months, I was looking forward to a better run here and indeed the warm, dry and relatively calm conditions helped me feel a lot better than usual, even during the warm-up. On the start line I found myself standing right behind Colin Banks who had made his way to the very front of the field. I didn't think this was too sensible but as everyone was so tightly packed on the line, there was no way back!

A highly charged mass of runners were then released by the starter and I followed closely behind Colin for the first 100m as he cleared a path until we started to climb and Colin slowed whereby I nicked past and worked my way carefully through the swarm of kicking spikes ahead of me. By the time we had made our way to the narrow path around the pond, the pace naturally reduced as the course became congested. At this point I was being periodically pushed in the back by someone which was really getting on my wick so I put on a 10 second blast to zip past 5 or 6 runners, taking a chunk out of my right arm in the process on a rhododendron bush that was more solid than it looked. The first time up the muddy hill was quite comfortable; I wondered why I had such bad memories of the hill. Then down into the golf course which was good, firm running. The ditch was, however, as bad as I remembered with a muddy puddle at the bottom and a quad burning climb back out. The hills in front of the house were a real test, coming in close succession with no time to recover from one before you hit the next. The main drive gave a chance for a slight recovery, albeit whilst running fast, before the whole show started again. The second lap is one of consolidation, gathering for the final lap but I found myself working my way past the odd runner here and there and not being passed. The exception was an Edinburgh AC veteran who kept sprinting past me every so often and then fading. I knew I had to drop him before the finish as he obviously had a sprint in him and looked as though he could also be an M50.

By the final lap I had confirmed that my memory of the muddy hill was indeed true and it was extremely tough. I did temporarily lose a few places at the top of that hill but regained them in the golf course. As is usually the case in multi-lap races, familiarity seemed to shorten each successive lap and before I knew it I was in the final sequence of hills leading to the finishing straight. Up the first of these hills I was running strongly and passing people but on the next descent, the Edinburgh AC sprinter came hurtling past. Oh no! At the top of the next climb I cruised past and tried to keep the pace on from there to the main drive to drop him. As soon as I hit the drive I sprinted flat out for the line 150m or so in the distance. After 5 or 10 metres the Edinburgh athlete arrived on my shoulder and it really was a sprint as we both passed several struggling runners. But I just didn't have the pace and in the final few metres he eased ahead finishing in an identical time to me of 49:20. The final results confirmed that I was 7th M50, which I was momentarily happy with, until I saw that 4th to 7th M50's were covered by only 3 seconds! I didn't recognise any of them (including the Edinburgh athlete) but wished I had known earlier in the final lap and may have been able to make a move well before the final sprint. The most pleasing part of the race was that I was strong from start to finish and each successive lap was faster than the preceding one; something I have not managed in recent races.

Andrew Buchanan is growing in experience and will definitely be the leading Harrier at the National next year if he continues to progress at the current rate. Andrew finished in 51:28, cheered on throughout by the complete family and was pleased to be ahead of runners who had recently beaten him in the East Kilbride Cross Country. David Herbertson is maintaining a reasonable training mileage despite lots of work travel and this brought him in next in a time of 57:53. Jim Holmes was doing his first race wearing a Garmin GPS watch, a very recent birthday present. The appliance of science on Jim's wrist is already proving to be a real motivator and we will see the benefits in future races. Jim had a strong run, finishing in 59:36. Richard Lawton is the biggest improver this year and was delighted to be fifth Harrier in a time of 62:35. Having had a year of setbacks, Stuart Waugh was initially very disappointed with his run and time of 63:41. However, when the final results revealed that he was third M65, his disappointment was downgraded but only slightly as he knows that with consistent training, he would have been first. Stuart reported that Colin Banks was running well and indeed was ahead of Stuart (and me) at certain points of the race. Colin finished in 64:07. John McBride has a big frame to haul around a hilly course like this but he does not lack strength. John finished in 67:04. Hilly courses don't suit Russell Couper either (he would have preferred mud) but even so he competed hard as always, finishing in 75:58.

All those racing had the benefit of many Harriers and family members shouting their support around the course, including Maud, Lorraine (and children), Eddie, Charlie, George and Davy. Thanks for the shouts; they were all heard and appreciated.

A few photos taken by Eddie are in the album here. More will be added from Lorraine, so keep checking back at this link. Also check out the highlights video on Scottish Athletics web site and hundreds of photos on Bobby Gavin's web site here.
Alan