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