The Donkey Brae 7 Mile 2017

As I did not have the Islay Half to look forward to this year I decided to enter The Donkey Brae 7 miler through in Aberdour, part of the Aberdour festival week events. It just shows the popularity of running at the moment. This race has never sold out before and you could normally enter on the day. However by the time I decided to enter this race at the beginning of July it had sold out and I found myself on the waiting list. It was only the week before the race when I got notification to say I had a place.

So on Sunday 30 July I found myself in Fife to do this race. Strangely I was in Fife racing and there was no sign of George! I suspect it was not far enough north in Fife for George.

The race itself started on a grass field and headed down the field before heading for some trail paths and then down a steep flight of stairs and then up a long hill. It was certainly a very scenic race and the weather was lovely. It proceeded to head along past the golf course and from what I remember it gradually climbed. We had possibly gone through some trails again. There was a turn and this took us past a field. This section was on Tarmac and the majority of the race was either Tarmac or trail paths. We eventually came to the edge of Dalgety Bay and from here you had great views across the Firth of Forth to Edinburgh. We came up a small slope and into a residential area of Dalgety Bay. I just remember being rather warm and to my relief we ran by a house where the owner had his garden hose pipe spurting water out into the street for the runners' benefit. Very welcome this was! It was then a small slope and a turn which took us back towards Aberdour. This was a quiet country path section that eventually ran into trail paths and then back by the golf course. I struggled in the first part of this race and was ready to settle into a steady run. However I got a second wind on the last part and managed to overtake a female runner who had overtaken  me about 2 miles or so into the race. I felt I was now running strongly. The long hill at the beginning turned into a nice downhill at the end and then I came along the west beach area of Aberdour. I did have the steep climb back up the stairs and this took my second wind out of me. The finish line could not come quick enough as I was struggling to run but I still had the grassy field to contend with which was an uphill finish.

I finished in a time of 48.48 for 3rd female and 1st vet.  All things considered particularly as I look back and reflect on the first mile or two this seemed not too bad a run in the end. I would certainly say though it was a hilly course and the trail paths made for harder running than the fast flat Parkrun I had done at Strathclyde Park the day before.

The one downside - I sat in the field after the race. The weather was lovely. Must have sat for an hour waiting on the prize giving and only discovered just before it started that there had been a beer tent and I could have been sitting with a gin in my hand relaxing! I will not forget this for future.

I had walked around the field  before the race as there were a lot of craft and food stalls (how I never noticed the bar though!). This made for a really nice day and the atmosphere was good. Their festival looks good - a right community feel about it.

Now that the race was over I had to get myself to Burntisland and so I ran the two or so miles along the Fife coastal path (trail paths - as if I had not had enough of trail paths for one day). I must admit though on a dry day this was a lovely route and yet again there was great views across the Firth of Forth to Edinburgh.

Julie

The Bikeless Beastie

Sandy was recruiting at Chaletherault one night. The Bikeless Beastie? What the heck’s that? OK, we’ll give it a go. It is basically a triathlon without a bike, i.e., an aquathon. So Andy and I signed up for a 750m swim in Loch Lomond followed by a 5k run. All that was needed now was a wetsuit, some open water practice and a pair of quick tying laces.
Here is the account of a couple of novices in their first aquathon.

Jim:-
“On Saturday morning in Balloch Castle grounds we collected our timing chips, numbers and sorted out our stuff in the transition area. I filled my trainers with talc and laid my harriers vest on top. I had a premonition of me here later on rolling about the ground in my wetsuit like Houdini trying to get out of a strait jacket.”
Andy:-
“After getting ready and the customary pre-race photos we headed down to the Loch and got a quick recki of the swim course. Jim and I looked at the course thinking it wasn't that far after all it was only a swim out and back of 750m not that far for a runner.”

Jim:-
“We headed down to the pier for a warm up. Never has a description been more wrong! I eased into the loch and floated on my back for a bit until my hyper-ventilating breathing calmed down, then splashed about in among the rescue boats, kayaks and a hundred other bobbing yellow swim caps. It was ten minutes until the start. I looked back at the pier and the experienced ones weren’t in yet. Lesson learned, don’t warm up too soon or you’ll freeze to death!”
Andy:-
“We made our way in to get a quick dip and warm up in the tropical 15 degree water. After a wee swim we were dually informed we had to get back out again, I was a little confused at this however it seemed that the reason for this was to allow the event organiser's to count us out and back in again.”

Jim:-
“They lined us up and a hooter sounded. We’re off. I had taken the pre-race briefing advice that if you are not trying to win and you go at the front you’ll get swum over. Russell be warned! The leaders went away like trains, I settled into a rhythm of my own with Sandy and Andy nowhere to be seen. It was an out and back course clockwise around four buoys. I kept plugging away. It must be about time to turn, I looked up, still miles to go.”
Andy:-
“So back in the water again I lined up next to Jim and behind Sandy in hope that I could keep up with either of them knowing that both would be in front of me. After a little reorganization of the start line due to most folk floating forward we were off.
Now trying to keep with Jim and Sandy was the idea, trying to identify them was a whole different matter. When registering we were all given yellow swim caps so trying to figure out who was who was like looking for a needle in a stack of needles, so I was on my own.”

Jim:-
“The waves got bigger and I took a few mouthfuls of Loch Lomond. It got quiet around me and I thought I might be last, I had a look behind me and thankfully there were still plenty there. Finally I turned at the buoy and headed back. The pier approached and I realised I was too far inshore so had to swim back out to get to the end of the pier. Another lesson learned, don’t make the course longer than it has to be!”
Andy:-
“I was swimming at a reasonably good pace however I soon found myself near the back. I got to the first buoy and had a glance forward to see were the next buoy and turn was, it was a lot further than Jim and I had thought!
Breaking through the water was completely different from some training in the pool and even a few open water sessions at the Heritage Loch and my arms were starting to feel heavy. Once around the turn at the second buoy there was a swimmer in a wetsuit with a red trim by my side so I decided I would stick with them to the end hoping them to drag me to more familiar ground of the run. The water started to get a little choppier going back to the shore however I made it back and a little worse for wear managed to climb on to the pier and head up to the transition area.”

Sandy first out of transition, Jim is still transitioning and Andy is a man on a mission!

Jim:-
“Then a three hundred meter bare foot run along the tarmac to the transition area, the whole time fighting with the zip on my wetsuit, finally getting the guy at the transition area to help me before that premonition came true. Sandy was already there and left for her run just as I arrived. She had a great swim, completing it in 13:51. My time was 15:00. I pulled on my shoes and vest and chased after her. It was exhausting running after the swim.”
Andy:-
“We had to run up the concrete pier and tarmac path to the transition area and I began to start to pick off some places I had lost in the swim. I got in transition and started to strip down to get in to my running gear looking round to see if I could still see Jim or Sandy's harrier vest still on the ground, however it seemed as predicted they both got out the water much quicker than me. After a not so quick change, I couldn't get my vest on, it took two attempts and I had to sit down to get the wetsuit off. (I'm pretty sure I could hear Lorraine and the kids shout hurry up!) I was off and running after a swim time of 15:55 and a transition time of 1:59.”

Andy is first Harrier home, Jim beats the "Wee Rab" lookalike and Sandy finishes a strong run.

Jim:-
“Andy sped by me. He was putting in a good run. I was going as fast as I could, picking runners off but getting lapped by some serious looking triathletes with GBR on their bums. This was a British Championship after all. Thankfully the finish line approached and Benny Rooney was there cheering us in. He was supporting his daughter in the race and was surprised to see Harriers vests. So I had finished my first aquathon. It was a great experience and I would like to try it again.”
Andy:-
“Sprinting out of transition I knew I had some ground to make up passing by a few athletes on the way out. The run was a 2 lap course making up a 5km run. Running along the shore line on a trail heading towards the play park I passed 3 maybe 4 runners I was back in my comfort zone. As I came out of the trail I could see the two harriers vests in my sight both side by side. I kept my pace hoping to catch both of them. We ran through the field past the play park and on to the entrance off Balloch Country Park and it was on this stretch of the course I managed to pass both Jim and Sandy. Now up a hill to a turn and back down the hill and into the trail for the end of the first lap.
My confidence was growing in the second lap however I was having to hold back a little know that I was just coming back from a calf strain and didn't want to jeopardise my participation at Islay next week. . I started to take more places on the second lap and finished on an overall place of 35th with a 5km time of 19:41 and a total time of 37:36. Overall it was a great experience especially to get out on the Loch and do the open water swimming and I will definitely be returning.”

Andy and I both agreed it was a great event and thanks to Sandy for suggesting it. The results were:-
Andy 37:36 (35th position, 12th M20-39), Jim 39:48 (47th position 7th M40-49) and Sandy 42:42 (58th position 13th F20-39).
And thanks to Lorraine, kids and dog for supporting us and for some great photos.

There was one final bit of hilarity when the ladies changing tent blew away with Sandy inside it, only just making herself decent moments before!

DB12 RUN

Good evening

My name is christopher Gray and i am the owner of DB12Run the Diabetic community club based in hamilton
I am emailing to ask if any if you or any of your runners are looking to do any future events in october.
my club is doing two events:
The Great scottish Cake Off - Strathclyde Park - Motherwell - 6k 12k 18k - on the 8th of October

https://www.entrycentral.com/cakeoff

Everyone recieves an cake like medal, a running vest and cake treat goodybag
50 people max for this event

the last in our events is called DEATH RACE
this is the last event of the year for us and its happening at 5:30pm on sunday 29th october at strathclyde park, motherwell so plenty of time to do another race before hand and come and do an 6k or 12k fun run for one of the biggest medals you will have seen! 10cm wide 15cm high! and not to forget you also get a running vest aswell
it will be an halloween themed event so be wary as a few scary people out there! and they are not dressed up either!

www.entrycentral.com/deathrace

thank you so much and i hope to see you at one of our events
Kind regards
Christopher Gray
DB12Run

 

Islay Dinner at Lochside

As usual we will be making a booking for dinner at the Lochside Hotel, Bowmore on the evening of Saturday 5th August, after the half marathon but before the ceilidh.

As we will have to book a table, please use the form below to indicate if you would like to be added to the booking or not. If you do not wish to be added to the booking, please also fill in the form so we know that everyone has made their choice. You only have to fill in the form once per family (there is a field on the form to enter how many adults/children you are including in your booking).

Booking form
List of booking received.

Eddie

Calderglen Striders

Calderglen 'Striders'

Postscript: Relay results now at the foot of the report

That was the team name given to us by Race Director Lee MacLean as I struggled to come up with a catchy moniker for our entry to the Clyde Stride Ultra Relay. In truth I had, predictably, been preoccupied with the WHWR three weeks before then with assisting Ruth with her hastily revised ultra goal and, frankly, took my eye off the ball.

Orginally I wanted my ultra clubmates to make up the team but, as Ian always runs the whole thing himself and it turned out that Jim would be in Spain on the day, we were 50% down from the start. Ok, I’ll see if my WHWR running support team fancied it and got a result - Gerry and Gordon did indeed. Then muggins here injured himself running the big one and Ruth was forced into a complete change of plans by the same event, back down to 50% again. Michael had been on standby for the team so in he came to the plans only to drop out again when he realised it clashed with a wedding he was attending. A last minute appeal via the club blog thankfully resulted in Karen and Kenny putting themselves forward to make the team whole again. Then, with only three days left, Gerry realised that with Michael away and Celia on nightshift, (five) grandwean-minding was down to him alone and, ever-so-apologetically, had to pull out also! Arrrrgh!! I went to bed that night thoroughly depressed and intending to email Lee in the morning to withdraw my entry. I switched on my tablet to catch up with the day before hitting the pillow and, lo and behold, Gordon (at one point the last man standing) had had the good sense to post on facebook a short while before and Sandy had already responded, sent me a wee message and completed the team. Yay! Zzzzzzz

A rather complicated meeting on Thursday night in the bar (planning the logistics of a four person relay over forty miles is no simple task although I would guess the Devil's Burden, given the greater numbers involved, might well be worse) eventually led to us coming up with a solution which ran like clockwork on the day. After all that the race itself was a doddle, albeit that's easy for me to say as I wasn’t running!

Karen and I headed to Partick on a typically driech Fair Saturday morning, arriving in plenty of time to collect the team numbers and our high-tech team authorisation, see below.

The heavens opened as we arrived but fortunately it was to prove to be the only heavy downpour of the day. During the RD’s pre-race briefing Ian was introduced and was given a big cheer from the assembled runners as the only ever-present in the ultra, having run all of the previous seven Clyde Strides - quite some record. After the short walk to the start I wished Karen good luck and headed off to find a spot a couple of hundred yards down the path to take some photos.

Karen off to a cheery, if damp, start

Ian, almost hidden from the camera

Then it was back to the car and head down the M74 to pick up Kenny at Strathclyde Park and run him up to Cambuslang Bridge where Karen seemed to finish her leg quicker than I expected. The first thing she said to me was sorry for not being quicker as she’d developed a stitch which caused her to walk at one point but was given a tip by one of the ultra runners. Contrary to what I, and Karen, have always thought she advised breathing quickly – and it worked, allowing her to get underway again, arriving at the bridge in 1:13 to set Kenny on his way.

Easily the funniest moment of the day happened a minute or two earlier when the Hamilton Harriers first leg runner (Karen's neighbour, as it turned out) came charging in to the CP only to find the leg two runner missing! Brief panic ensued as he scanned all around him saying ‘where is he?’, the worst nightmare of any relay runner. At last leg two guy was spotted, casually sauntering back over the old road bridge from the direction of Morrisons, headphones on and coffee in hand, and the changeover belatedly took place half way across the wrong bridge! Leg one guy told me later it was his fault as he had told leg two guy he would run around 1:20 but came through about ten minutes quicker. Always be ready well in advance, you just never know.

The Hamilton Harriers eventually find one another and

The changeover is finally complete!

I have no idea where the coffee ended up, possibly in the Clyde (where all coffee in Glasgow ends up I suppose, one way or another), but all ended well with him haring off over the river on the newer footbridge. 
   

Finally I met up with the rest of the team, Sandy and Gordon, back at Strathclyde Park. As later leg runners they had had the luxury of a wee bit of a lie-in and looked in fine shape for the miles to come. For a bit of fun I clambered up a steep banking and over a metal railing, not easy for me with my iffy knee and camera over the shoulder, to get a shot of Kenny running over the footbridge making up part of the pedestrian access over the new Raith Interchange. It seems quite straightforward now after the difficulties during construction but I’m not sure he was too enamoured of the fact that it is at least a hundred yards or so longer than before. On the way past the camera he said he just didn't have it in him today, muttering something about his legs being foosed or goosed or ducked - words to that effect, but it didn’t seem to have affected him too badly, handing over to Gordon in 1:17 (2:30 overall), having overtaken three or four relay runners en route.   

Saying goodbye to Kenny, Sandy and I headed off to Mauldslie Bridge for the next changeover via the Watersports Centre, Sandy for a 'comfort break' as she’d been drinking too much and me to refuel with a takeaway bacon roll and black coffee – absolute heaven, I was starving. First rule of supporting, look after yourself!

Gordon ran a strong and steady leg in 1:21 for 3:51 overall and continued to sweat for the next half an hour, such was the humidity that had built up. He commented how nice it was to get out from the trees and into some fresher air. Having seen Sandy away safely we headed to the nearest garden centre on the Lanark Road for some nosh, Gordon choosing carbs with carbs – macaroni cheese with chips and an egg piece for me to follow my roll shortly before - we're the club gannets right enough!

Sandy had been wary of getting lost but only once took a wrong turning, while running through the village of Kirkfieldbank. Oddly that was where I missed a turning a few years ago when running the ultra but Sandy managed to find a different spot to go wrong! Running in road shoes was also tricky given the muddy underfoot conditions and she often found herself working hard just to avoid slipping backwards downhill. She had been hoping to run under two hours and keep the team under the six hour mark and, in the end, brought the team home well under both targets – 1:52 and 5:43. Now that I think about it 1:52 for well over half marathon distance on a hilly, and on the day muddy, route was an exceptional performance from her. 

Sandy approaching the line

And getting her post-race hug from Lee

The official results and splits are not yet available as, like the rest of the race, it’s all hand-knitted and consequently takes that wee bit longer but I would estimate our total time to be around 5:45.

All four runners reported their legs as being short! Ultras are notoriously inaccurate, this one is advertised as a 40 miler but is reckoned to be 38 something. I’ve checked and my Garmin registered 39.03 miles in 2013 but that included a diversion around the Commonwelath Games Athlete’s Village construciom site which must have added a half mile or so.

Having seen him off at the start not one of us had clapped eyes on Ian during the rest of the day so I’m happy to report he came over the finish line in 'sub seven hours'.

Ian, finishing his eigth CS40 and smiling as ever

A wee tribute to Sandy or ‘Supergirl’ as Gordon christened her the other day. Not only was she prepared to step up to the mark at the very last minute, completing the team, she was consequently lumbered with the longest and hardest leg of all. She also had a lane swim session at the Dollan Baths on Friday evening and an open-water swim in Loch Vennacher the following day - phew, I’m tired just typing that! As someone else from the club, who shall remain nameless, commented 'oh to be that young again!'

A big personal thanks from me to Karen, Kenny, Gordon and Sandy - thank you for being the team, it was an absolute pleasure to spend Saturday scooting around the route supporting you all and was almost as good fun as running myself. Cheers guys.

I've uploaded a wheen of photos of the day which you can see here https://www.flickr.com/photos/135841033@N05/sets/72157683624157404

And the results are in;

Position	Relay Team	Time
1	Hills Thrills & Ten Dollar Bills	04:41:10
2	Mooney Madness	04:55:56
3	JGS	05:09:01
4	Mary Hillbillies	05:18:59
5	Annie Get The Tea On	05:32:08
6	Phsyco Skwerls	05:37:29
7	Clyde A	05:43:43
8	Clyde B	05:44:04
9	Calderglen Striders	05:45:53
10	C'Mon The MAC	05:50:27
11	Who Dares Cares	06:27:29
12	Carluke Jog Scotland	07:09:19
13	Jinty's Joggers	07:09:19
14	NWGRN	07:12:16
15	Lanarkshire Lassies	07:14:55