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.

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

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

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

Brampton Race Time Archive

As we have been running this race too long to fit all the Harriers' times on a single sheet of A4 paper, click this link to go to a searchable list of all the times recorded by Harriers since 1984 to 2015 (note that 2009 was a shortened course due to extreme floods).
Alan

There's a sad sort of clanging from the clock in the hall....

Hi everyone,
As time frantically ticks by and we now find ourselves less than four weeks from departing the near frozen shores of Scotland Shirley and I have booked the function hall at the Sports Club on Friday December 2nd for a wee leaving "do" and we would like to invite anyone who has the time and inclination to come along. We expect to to be there from 7.30pm.


It won't be a formal occasion and folks can come and go as they please - staying for the night is not a requirement! We very much realise that the date is smack bang up against our Club's own Christmas Dance as well as your work nights out so apologies for that.


We would ask that you don't buy any gifts or cards and things like that as all our worldly goods except what goes in our suitcase will already have been taken to Grangemouth to go on the back of a supertanker to Sydney. If you are feeling you would like to do something then we would ask you stick the cost of the Christmas or leaving card you would get us in a box we will put on the bar that night and all donations will go to the East Kilbride Dementia Carers Unit - a charity which deserves all the support we can give it. Hopefully Brian who runs the team there will be there on the night and we will give him the proceeds.
Hope to see you there....
David, Shirley, Louise and Gavin

BRAMPTON DETAILS

Well your training should be complete and tapering done all in good shape for Sunday morning.

The bus will leave the Sports Club at 8am sharp DONT BE LATE. The bus will go.

Remember to bring something to eat and drink as we wont be stopping till Brampton.

British & Irish Masters Cross Country International - Tollcross Park

Mild, dry weather returned to Glasgow just in time for Saturday's British & Irish Masters Cross Country International, much to the relief of the SVHC organising committee and all the competitors. Tollcross Park looked absolutely magnificent in its Autumn colour scheme and more to the point, the course remained relatively firm under foot. Although there would be no chance of the sunburn experienced during the team trial back in September, we really couldn't ask for better conditions in November in Scotland.

This is the race that I always feel under most pressure; not because I have any chance of winning it (I don't) but because it is the only race for which masters athletes in the UK are selected to run in. For all other national, district or regional championships on road, track or country, you pay your money and you run if you want to. The pressure comes from wanting to be one of the 4 from 6 to count in the team but mostly from knowing that all 30 runners in the M50 field are among the best in their country (Scotland, England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland) so there is a very real chance of finishing last if you are even slightly off form. Naturally I went into the race carrying a cold that I had not been able to shift for several weeks despite taking 3 days off the week before just to add to the uncertainty. There was no doubt that I had been in great form earlier in October but I was a bit down on that form now. However I would give it everything as always.

The nominally 8km course was a 4 lapper on a grass surface with a mixture of undulations, hills and faster flat sections. The start is downhill for 100m or so before turning left and I immediately gravitated towards the middle of the field for an attempt at a cautious first lap. The field remained quite tightly packed for the first lap and I established a position behind two of my M50 team mates. By the start of the second lap I was feeling shakier and dropped about 10m back behind Jim Buchanan, a gap which he gradually extended through laps 2 and 3. A Northern Ireland M50 runner dropped back between us and as points make prizes in this team event, beating him became my objective for the race. After briefly passing him on lap 2, he got past me and established a 2 or 3 meter gap which I struggled to close until the climb at the end of lap 3 where I cruised up to his shoulder. Although he passed me again on the downhill start to lap 4, as soon as it flattened I passed again and was actually feeling stronger than on laps 2 and 3. When we reached the flat section around the perimeter of the baseball pitch, I focused on smooth, relaxed running and became less aware of the runner behind, suggesting that I was pulling away.

For the week before the race I had decided that my strategy for the final 200m (150m uphill followed by 50m downhill) was to really hurt any nearby opposition on the 150m climb and to avoid a 50m head to head sprint for the line at all costs (I usually lose those). The final effort really started about 400m out but as I made the 180 degree turn onto the final climb I dug deep and kept the effort going all the way up and over the hill and down to the line. A glance through my legs (I was bent over double after crossing the line!) confirmed that I was well clear of the N. Ireland athlete so the tactic had worked and the next M50 runner in front of me was my team mate Jim Buchanan. My finishing time was 27:44, exactly 2 minutes faster than in the trial (although my Garmin got the course at about 500m shorter somehow; I think the first corner was a bit closer in to the centre of the field) so I was happy with the performance. Indeed, after the first quarter lap, I did not lose any positions confirming that I paced it much better than last year in Dublin where I was losing places continuously in the second half. However, the final results showed that I was only 18th out of 30 in the M50 race so nowhere really. The first 4 counters in the Scottish team were Stan McKenzie 27:08 (15th), Jim Buchanan 27:31 (17th), me 27:44 (18th) and Denis Williams 28:25 (25th) which unfortunately left us in last place. Our 4 counters were all finished before the 4th Welsh runner but Wales had superstar veteran runner Austin Davies in 3rd place overall which kind of wiped our score out.

What helped to make this day even more special was the enthusiastic support from Harriers and friends around the course. So thanks to Frances, Alison, Rebecca, Russell, Martin, Neil, Charlie, Stuart, Maud, Louis, Andy and many others who I heard cheering me on all around the course. Photos are by Frances and Martin.
Alan

GLASGOW 5 MILE ROAD RACE

Dear Club Representative

The Glasgow University 5 Mile Road Race will take place on Saturday the 26^th November at Garscube Sports Complex. The race starts at 2pm, with registration inside the Sports Centre from 12.30 till 1.40pm. Changing facilities / showers are also available.

Online entry is available at entrycentral.com/5mileroadrace

Entries will also be available on the day subject to the race limit of 300 entrants. Entry is £7 for SA members, £9 unaffiliated. Participants must be 16 years or older on the day of the race.

The course follows an undulating 2 lap course around Garscube and the surrounding area. The course has been officially measured as 5 miles. A course map along with previous results is available at: haresandhounds.com/race

Following the race the prizegiving will be held within the Sports Centre. Tea, Coffee and cakes will also be on offer!

It would be greatly appreciated If you could promote the race within your club. If you have any questions don't hesitate to contact me.

Scottish Athletics Permit Event held under UKA Rules

Proudly Sponsored by Achilles Heel: https://www.achillesheel.co.uk/

Many thanks,

Alastair Thurlbeck,
Club Captain

Glasgow University Hares and Hounds
Stevenson Building, Oakfield Avenue, Glasgow, G12 8LT
haresandhounds.com

WEST DISTRICT XC CHAMPIONSHIP (AYR)

This year the West District XC Championship will be held at Mosshill Industrial estate on the outskirts of Ayr. This is a new venue so we have no knowledge of it.
Date is Sunday 4th December
Ladies race 6.4k with a start time of 1pm
Men race 10k with a start time of 2pm.
Cost is £6 per head and should be paid in advance.
I need names by Thursday 17th November.
If you wish entered please leave your name HERE.
Those registered are listed HERE.

CALDERGLEN HARRIERS HAT

 

As our winter training progresses the autumn weather kicks in with lowering temperatures leading us to a cold winter you could benefit from keeping yourself warm and maximising your body heat during training nights. Then look no further than a Calderglen Harrier commemorative hat. In 2014 Calderglen Harriers had their 30th anniversary and as part of those celebrations we got commemorative hats for members.  I have a final stock of 21 commemorative hats which are available at a cost of £3.

 

If you looking for a Christmas stocking filler for your loved one(s), any new members to the club especially the Tuesday training squad, existing members looking to renew their well worn hat or any other family or friends wish to purchase such a fetching hat then just speak to me on Monday, Wednesday or Thursday training nights. Alternatively leave a note on the blog.

 

Richard

RENFREW LOST PROPERTY

To all that were at Renfrew young Cameron Green left his blue jacket at the end and when they returned for it it had gone. Did anyone pick it up for safe keeping or put it in your bag by error. please check and get back to me if you have it.

Russell

Performance and PB Awards Review

It is time to review the performance of our members against the club standards for the 2015-16 season. The season ran from 1st October 2015 to 30th September 2016. I tried to keep the following spreadsheet up to date as the season went on but have been up to my neck in other things in the past few months and have most likely missed the most recent performances. Could everyone check their race performances during the 2015-16 season against the performance standards listed here:

women
men

If I already have your best times for the season recorded in this list of performances then there is no need to fill in the form.

Use this form to tell me about any missing performances and if possible provide a link to the on-line results confirming the performance. Fill in a separate form for each race standard achieved. Your times will appear in this temporary spreadsheet when successfully submitted.

We have a separate category of awards for PB's achieved during the season relative to the previous seasons. This spreadsheet lists the PB's that people have advised me of so far. If you have set PB's at any of the standard distances over the past season, then please use this form to record your PB (fill in a separate form for each PB). Your times will appear in this spreadsheet when successfully submitted. The rules are explained in the Performance Award link on the menu to the left.

Could you all please complete the above by 7pm on Sunday 6th November.
Alan

PANCAKE FLAT RACING

Well today the short course XC was held on a new course in Renfrew. I wouldn't describe this as XC but just running on grass. The only flatter course ive ever ran on is a track. The only incline was the pile of woodchips they put down to cross paths. That said its still a race and the effort must be put in.
First up was the Ladies race with the Harriers fielding 3 women. Competing against eventual winner Laura Muir didn't faze them in the slightest with Joanne McEvoy finishing in 17.38 followed by Kay Conneff in 18.36. Our final Lady on her debut season was Lorraine Buchanan 22.24.
Onto the Mens race and we had 9 Harriers lining up in a field of 364 runners. Off we went with the usual cavalry charge to the first corner and I found myself out the back except one. With it being a flat open course you get a surprisingly good view of whats going on from the back of the field. Enough of the sightseeing time to move up some places. I set my sights on the Greenock runner in front of me and put in a wee effort after about 1k to move past him and move away soon passing another. Coming back into the start/finish area I passed another Greenock runner and with the cheers from the girls and Neil Green at the start area to push me on I passed a Metro Aberdeen runner. Onto lap 2 and I still had Gordon, Kenny and Richard in my sights but there was a big gap. Had a motherwell runner in my sights but when I went level with him he kicked and moved clear. I thought he would come back to me after that but he kept that new pace going to the end. As the field was strung out a bit by now I could see Richard had moved about 15 metres clear of Kenny. Thinking that would be the finish line result I was surprised to find later that Kenny had caught and passed Richard only for Richard to press him at the end with Kenny saving enough in the legs to win the sprint for the line. Results for the men where. A Buchanan 15.23, M Saez 15.43, M Howell 16.35, J Holmes 17.16, A Henderson 17.30, K Leinster 18.07, R Lawton 18.09, G McInally 18.53 and R Couper 21.06. Many thanks to Neil for the cheers today and the children cheering us on too.

SSE Airtricity Dublin Marathon

Six harriers made the trip over the Irish Sea last weekend for the 37^th running of the Dublin marathon. It was my first time in Ireland so an inaugural Irish Guinness was eagerly anticipated. We (Ruth, Jim, his daughter Emma and myself) were up at an ungodly hour the day before the race to catch the slightly cheaper early flight from Edinburgh – it was to be the only cheap item of the entire weekend as Dublin is expensive, even according to most Irish folk we spoke to!

We had dreamed up the idea one sunny Sunday afternoon in May, sitting on the grass in Jim’s front garden after an easy long run just soaking up some rays and drinking chilled lemonade while making autumn racing plans. The idea of finally getting to run the Irish capital’s premier race strongly appealed to me as it’s a box I’ve wanted to tick for well over twenty years but, as Jim said the day after the race, if we had known what the bill would come to our plans would have swiftly changed!

A slight breakdown in communication between Jim and his other half Majella meant they had no-one to look after young Emma so Jim decided to take her with him and arranged for his sister-in-law to travel up to Dublin to keep an eye on her during the race. In the end two sister-in-laws turned up and she had a grand day.

David Herbertson had come along to the club last Thursday night to exchange phone numbers but it soon became apparent we had exchanged something else as by Friday morning I had a sore throat and was coughing and spluttering. Ian had caught it too so by Saturday morning fifty percent of the team were under the weather. Paracetamol, ibuprofen, lemsip, vicks vapour rub, sinex spray, throat lozenges etc. were safely brought/smuggled through Glasgow airport security.  

Arriving in Dublin around lunchtime the four of us proceeded to the RDS arena for the Expo, collected our numbers, took some photographs and toured the various sponsors’ stands.

Ultra tee-shirts to the fore

Exiting the RDS Jim confidently turned left and we followed him all the way onto Landsdowne Road almost to the Aviva Stadium before Ruth and I started wondering aloud about the direction his leadership was taking us.

I'm getting a thirst just looking at this

We were to be staying at the Clayton Hotel which, the last time Jim was in Dublin, was indeed in this direction. Unbeknown to him the company had since taken over a bankrupt chain of five other Dublin hotels, renaming them all with the Clayton brand. Needless to say ours, the Ballsbridge one, was less than half a mile away from the RDS if we had turned right! Jim won’t be allowed to forget that one anytime soon! An unplanned three mile walk, with cases, was not the best preparation for a marathon but, having finally checked in, we found the nearest pub for some food and repaired some of the damage with a long-awaited Guinness – it went down excellently. It seemed slightly creamier than over here and I liked the way the head clung to the inside of the glass on the way down.

It was then back to the hotel for a lie down and out again for pasta followed by some decidedly unhealthy but very enjoyable puddings…

Eton mess!

We also saw an inspiring omen, a contrail saltire in the evening sky above the city – a good sign surely for the Scots running the following day.

We made our way the two miles or so to the start area on a bright, clear and surprisingly warm morning. Instead of the normal bank holiday Monday the race was being held on Sunday for the first time and this had resulted in a record entry of some 19,500, including an impressive 5,700 from outwith Ireland. It made me wonder about the financial benefits Glasgow could gain were we to do something similar, our half marathon is good but it’s the full 26.2 that brings running tourists from around the world. Sadly it seemed as though all 19,500 were trying to get to the baggage area at the same time so we quickly gave up any hope of meeting up with the others for a pre-race photograph.

Joe, David and Ian at the baggage area

My only criticism of the race organisation would be the provision of toilets in the third wave start area, I won’t go into detail but after queueing for 45 minutes I ended up almost fighting for a cubicle and eventually started with the fourth wave  at 09:30, the last group heading off. No real problem as the race was using chip timing but mildly annoying all the same.

By the four-mile mark it became obvious that my initial aim of breaking four hours was a pipedream as I was already nearly four minutes over schedule. I eased back at this point, decided to ignore my watch and run on feel alone (given that I wasn’t feeling very well anyway it was probably a wise decision).

If I’m totally honest the race wasn’t a wonderful experience for me as it seemed to pass in a slightly surreal, detached manner (as did most of the weekend) most likely caused by the painkillers and other potions I was consuming. This was a great shame as, even in my slightly dazed state, I was still aware of the lovely weather, great route and the craic from my fellow runners and the fantastic crowds.

At eighteen miles, unnoticed by me, someone ran on to the road and injected concrete into my quads. Joe told me later he also cramped up around here and was forced to walk and stretch his way to the finish. I’m guessing the miles I have in my legs already this year helped me through and I avoided having to walk much, not even at Dublin’s own version of Heartbreak Hill around twenty two miles in.

I ran alongside three female Irish club runners for many miles in the early part of the race but had been left behind as they upped the pace and I started to struggle. I was surprised to see them all surge past me on the last left-hand bend with just over two miles to go - when had I caught and passed them? Never mind, they looked like they were running well and would provide me with a good pace to follow so I made an effort to stay with them. I may well have finished over the 4.30 mark were it not for the imaginary competition as they were moving considerably faster than I had been. Finally sprinting (!) for the line I was most distressed to find I was racing towards some race paraphenalia which had been placed over a traffic island – the finish was at least another 150 yards away! Argggggh! Much gritting of teeth later I dragged myself over the finish line in 4.23.29, only 23 seconds slower than my recent Clyde marathon result. Watching an online video later of Jim finishing I was very glad they didn’t film me as I recall clearly crossing the line with the words ‘thank duck’ (in case you’re wondering – no, I didn’t say duck).  

I was surprised to learn over the course of the weekend that half the harriers, David, Ian and Joe, were running their first-ever marathons. Bearing that in mind and that he was also running with a cold, David Herbertson’s time of 3.34.37 was very creditable – although if he wants to beat it he’ll have to get used to running in slightly warmer conditions (unless you’re coming back to the northern hemisphere for Dublin again next year David?)

Another marathon virgin and also loaded with the cold was Ian McKenzie. He may have missed breaking the four hour mark but, in finishing in 4.06.30, has given himself an excellent marker for the future – when’s the next one Ian? The benefit of consistent club training is very evident in Ian’s improved running of late, keep it going pal and a sub-4 is yours for the taking.

Did they really just run a marathon? Looking fresh as daisies!

Ruth has hardly trained at all in recent months due to work and musical commitments and although feeling good and cruising to the half way point wasn’t really surprised when her calves tightened to the extent that she also had to walk/run her way home. She came home in 5.11.58 having enjoyed the craic with the punters and runners alike (with her name emblazoned on her club vest in London last year she had heard the crowd shouting ‘go on Roof’ while here in Dublin it was ‘keep going Root’!

Excellent running encouragement, Irish style. 

As coach noted on the blog soon after the race Ruth’s surname does cause problems when searching the results as there are pages and pages of Kellys. There were actually two Ruth Kellys on the start list although it must be noted only one finished - one Ruth Kelly, there’s only one Ruth Kelly, one Ruth Kellyyyy, there's only…

Incidentally the best sign of the day for me was simply “down with this sort of thing”, which if you haven’t watched Father Ted won’t mean a thing to you but had me chuckling.

This was Jim’s twenty sixth marathon, being by far the most experienced of us all, and I believe his seventh time around the Dublin course. Needless to say he didn’t get lost nor did he develop any cramps along the way coming home in an excellent 3.38.11, exclaimimg later that if he’d only known how close he was to big Davie he would have tried harder! That’s only nine minutes or so outside his best.

Joey's medal featuring the General Post Office on O'Connell Street, marking this year's centenary of the Easter Rising

Dave Mansfield ran 2.27 beating the previous, two-decades old, record for the fastest marathon by a serving member of the Garda – sending a clear message not to bother running away from the police in Ireland!

Many runners were in fancy dress but for me the star of the race was a 70 year old Frenchman carrying a fifteen foot high replica of the Eiffel Tower, a seriously impressive feat.

All in all a hugely enjoyable event and weekend in good company, if a tad expensive - did I mention Dublin is pricey?

Photos are courtesy of Jim Mearns, David Herbertson, Joseph Shields and the Dublin marathon itself.

Postscript; Jim has, predictably, gone down with a cold too and mine has developed further which is why neither of us has been at the club this week. Ruth's poor excuse is that she's on the other side of the world! I'm gradually getting better today (Friday) and hope to make the start line for my sixth (ever-present) Southside Six on Sunday (try saying that with your teeth out!)