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