Houston, we've got a problem............

Sandy & Alison steam around the first turn.

........ the WEATHER!!!! What happened to the traditional, fine early Autumn day we usually enjoy at the George Cummings Memorial Road Relay in Houston! The Met Office severe weather warning for wind and rain was spot on unfortunately. At least it was mild. However on the (very) bright side, Calderglen had two and a bit men's teams and two complete ladies teams in action. This is going to be a great season for Calderglen ladies as we could so easily have had 3 or 4 teams out today.

We were glad that Kevan Harvey had been persuaded to take part today and he led the men's A team off with a fantastic 14:29 in 16th position on leg 1. Our former member, Stuart Gibson, had meanwhile won the first leg giving Cambuslang a reasonable lead. However, this was short lived as host club Kilbarchan AAC had one of their two Olympian brothers, Calum Hawkins, on leg 2, who absolutely destroyed the field, setting the fastest lap of the day (12:08), a full minute faster than anyone else and setting up a lead that they would never lose. Kevan handed over to Andrew Buchanan who was making a family day out of it with wife Lorraine also running and the kids supporting enthusiastically, despite the weather. Andrew completed the lap in 16:05, a strong time in the conditions, keeping the team inside the top 20. Richard Lawton was somewhat thrown in to the deep end of leg 3 but still managed to run a good time of 18:57, a bit down on last year despite being in really good form now. That was just down to the conditions. Gordon McInally was a first timer here and his target was a sub-20. He comfortably achieved this despite the loneliness of the last leg runner, finishing in 19:33, the team finishing a creditable 33rd in a high quality field.

Kevan strides away with a mile to go.

Our ladies' A team was led off by Alison Lessells who has run this course several times previously. The conditions were against everyone today but Alison was only very slightly down on last year, finishing in 19:25 in 16th position. Frances Maxwell is just getting back to hard training after a series of injuries so is not yet back at her sharpest. Frances' time was 20:15 (15th position), about 90 seconds down on last year. That form will come back. The final leg for the ladies was taken by Kay Conneff who split Alison and Frances with a time of 19:49, her first run here (and delighted to be sharing the course with Calum Hawkins!) bringing the team home in an excellent 14th position.

Charlie, a class act in motion

Our men's B team was a vets team (40+) but we certainly spanned the decades, fielding Mark Saez (43), Charlie McDougall (67), Davie Watt (55) and Alan Derrick (51). Anyway, the old guys did well. Mark set a time of 16:05, just 2 seconds outside his previous best set in 2014 to place the team 36th. Charlie McDougall found his lack of weight a real problem in the second half, running straight into the wind but still set an exceptional time of 17:23 (35th position), only slightly down on last year which was run in much better conditions. Davie Watt has had a few accidents and illnesses this year but, battered and bruised or not, you can always rely on Davie to set a fast time. Davie ran a fantastic 15:15, quite a bit slower than last year but fast all things considered, bringing the team up to 25th. Finally, I set off on the last leg feeling quite lethargic due to too much standing about. I completed the lap in 15:50, 25 seconds down on my last run here 3 years ago. I passed a few and was not past by anyone, so brought the team up to 21st position and 3rd veteran team overall. Russell Couper was one of the few Harriers performing well in the conditions, running solo on leg 1 and setting a time of 22:16, his fastest for some years. Well done Russell.

Monique was not even on the TTC but still has the perfect forward lean to start

Our ladies B team was a team of complete first timers. Fast starting Sandy Hayden led the team off enthusiastically, completing the lap injury free (a relief nowadays) in a time of 21:39. This was Monique Duffy's first race in a Harriers vest but you would never know as Monique performed like an experienced relay runner, pacing it well to finish in 21:58 on a very spread out second leg. Lorraine Buchanan was really keen to do this short, sharp race and there were no sign of nerves as she maintained good form all the way to the end (I know she was running well as I passed her on the final hill!), finishing in 22:44. A very well grouped team.

Lorraine moving well through the cross.

This was not a day for spectators but it was great that so many of the runners lined the course in the start finish area and could be seen and heard cheering us all on in difficult conditions. Hopefully the weather improves as the season progresses. There are some wishy washy photos from me, supplemented by some photos taken by Frances out on the course here.

Grand Prix and Scratch Championships also updated and available via the usual link in the menu on the left. Tight at the top.

Alan