London Landmarks Half Marathon 2018

After a year of planning, three Harriers (Julie T, Lorraine and Sharon) and half of their support crew (Lorraine’s mum Lawra) travelled to London to take place in the inaugural London Landmarks Half Marathon.

Having travelled down the day before the race via the train it gave us ample time to find our hotel and do a trial run to the start line. As the clocks were also changing that night we wanted to make sure we had plenty time to get organised and get to the start line for the morning of the race.

On the morning of the race after meeting with the other half of our fabulous support crew (Sharon’s sister Suzanne) we had about a half hour walk to the start line from our hotel (which turned out to be quite luxurious!). As we approached we realised that the waves were not exactly managed well, this resulted in the race being very congested.

Shortly after seeing Amanda Holden and two pacers set off we joined our wave, the atmosphere was electric. At 9.40am we set off from Pall Mall on to Covent Garden then a switch back at Holborn, just after mile 1. Mile 2 consisted of another switchback and a sharp turn at Somerset House. Over the Thames to the South bank and a further 2 switchbacks mile 3  and 4 were fairly straight along to St. Pauls for the first time! Miles 5 though to 9 were pretty convoluted (I’ll let you look at the map for yourself). the remaining miles were more straightforward and Mile 10 had the only significant climb at the Tower of London then a switchback all along the river past the London Eye to Westminster and finishing at Downing Street.

Sharon finished in a time of 1hr 59 min 47 sec

Julie finished in a time of 2hr 05min 26 sec

Lorraine finished in a time of 2hr 08 min 36 sec

The course itself was fairly flat but had quite a few twists and turns, at last count I think we ran past St.Pauls cathedral 4 times! All the landmarks were well sign posted throughout the course, and the support round the course was amazing. Almost the entire course had some kind of support which really made the event feel very special.

All in all we all had a fantastic time, although a pb would have been the icing on the cake running a race in London with two good friends and fantastic support made this a very special race. One which we will remember for a long time I’m sure.

A big thank you to Sharon’s sister Susanne and Lorraine’s mum Lawra for there amazing support on the day and to our families and friends at home for all their virtual support.
Julie

Balloch to Clydebank Half Marathon (B to C)

My plan was always to do a half marathon as part of my marathon training and after a bit of debating I decided I would do the Alloa Half Marathon as I thought the larger field would suit me better. So 10 o’clock the night before the race and I get a text to say the race is off due to the weather. A quick check on Entry Central and I found the B to C was still open so I would do this instead.

I last did this race in 2014 and I experienced a bit of a stressful situation pre-race trying to find the chip for my shoe (this particular year the chip was sent out but you were told it might not be the right one and you would need to check at registration - I spent as much time trying to find the chip and the race did not start on time). Therefore I thought surely it would be stress-free this time, after all, other Harriers had run this race since then and not encountered any problems..... Having entered a week before the race I thought I would have got my race number sent out but I got an email during the week to say about 30 runners who entered towards the end would need to collect their number from Clydebank Sports Centre. Not ideal as I was going straight to Balloch and it would mean an earlier start - not ideal on the Sunday the clocks go forward! Anyway I got to the Sports Centre at 7.40, entered the sports centre expecting to see someone at a desk with numbers... no sign of such person... rush back out of the door... back in again... where are the numbers...f inally found someone who told me that the person who had the numbers had not arrived yet but was hopefully on their way. I was a bit concerned as the buses were due to leave to take the runners to Balloch at 8.00. When the person did arrive it turned out they had forgot to put their clock forward (I am sure it must happen to us all at some point in life). Panic over and I was on my way to Balloch.

On to the race and the first three miles were done along the canal which was different since I last ran this. At mile three you then came off the canal and up into Renton. I enjoyed this change to the race route. After that it was the usual route to Dumbarton, through Bowling and Old Kilpatrick, and then onto Clydebank finishing in Seaforth Road as usual (the service road beside the shopping centre).  The route is mainly flat with a few minor inclines. The route is mainly on footpaths while briefly running on the road in quieter places.

As mentioned at the start this race did not have as big a field as Alloa and after a few miles I did find myself running on my own at times. I did find that when other runners drew level with me it spurred me on and my pace picked up.  In the last mile a female runner overtook me and I had been aware for a while of people at the side shouting support to a local Dumbarton runner. At this point I glanced in a shop window to see this other female runner was not far behind and I thought it was inevitable she would overtake me as well. However I drew level with a male runner and fell into pace with him.  I still had a little left in the tank and had enough to see me through to the finish, with a chip time of 1:28:41.

I did not think I would be saying this but I felt the heat affected me on Sunday and left me dehydrated during the race. I took a gel pre-race but I had based my hydration/nutrution on the Glasgow half when I took no gels and only had two water stops. This race had two water stops - at miles 5 and 10 and at both I felt quite thirsty. I am trying to keep an eye on hydration going forward both in training and the marathon although water stops will not be an issue in London.

Overall the race went a lot better than the last time I ran it and I certainly liked the change in route along the canal and I would certainly consider running this race again.

Julie

Footnote: It would be good if people are doing races to write a small race report. I certainly appreciate them as it can be a way of finding new races to do in the future (...I am hoping the Harriers who did the London Landmarks Half Marathon might write a report...) Julie

(Just like Julie's report, we like to see reports on races from a personal perspective, either as a runner or supporter. So just e-mail me any content and I will put it on or send me an e-mail and I can add you as an author to the blog so you can add reports yourself. Alan).

Livingston Road Relays - Surely not Sun!

Martin Howell and Sandy enjoy the sun

Thankfully the snow was nowhere to be seen at Livingston on Sunday for the final Scottish Athletics event of the winter season, the National 6/4 Stage Road Relays. It was even warm in the sun! A huge field lined up for both the men's and woman's races which for the first time kicked off 10 minutes apart to leave a less congested field for the ladies.

For various reasons, our numbers were down a little bit this year, with only one complete M50 team of 4, one incomplete M40 team (4 out of 6) and one incomplete ladies' team (1 out of 4). However that did not discourage the Harriers from giving their all. Sandy Hayden had a no pressure solo first leg of 5k distance which she paced very well (with the benefit of Garmin Connect, I can check these facts) to finish in 25:43, a good 25 seconds faster than last year. Well done Sandy.

The men's over 50 team was at full strength and was fired up to try to equal or improve on last year's bronze medal. Martin Duthie ran to a strong third position on the first leg crossing the line in 19:06 in 3rd position behind Central and Cambuslang.

Having eased back the training for the final week in Portugal, I was feeling quite good for the long leg, despite arriving back at half past midnight (a point that Scottish Athletics mentioned on their blog report; I have no idea where they picked that snippet up from). We were advised that the long leg had been lengthened by about 300m (to bypass a building site on part of the old route), taking the distance up to 9.4km (6.0 miles). Naturally, most of this extra distance seemed to be uphill. I made steady progress through the field on the first half of the leg which was uphill. But it was not until we approached the highest point of the course that I finally spotted the Cambuslang vest 100m or so in front of me. At this point, I was also surprised to see that Kenny was marshaling and had the encouraging words "Get a Move On!". As the course levelled I started to make a push to catch the Cambuslang runner and early on the descent, I caught him with the intention of accelerating past. However as he saw the Calderglen vest, he gave a groan of disappointment and then clung on with great determination. I tried everything to shake him off but the downhill was destroying my quads and despite increasing the speed significantly, it was not until we went under the final underpass and climbed onto the track beside Almondvale Stadium (or Toni Macaroni Arena as I believe it is now known) that I managed to open a gap. I had the hammer down for those final 800m and maintained a few seconds gap at the handover. At some point I had also passed the Central AC team and we were now in first place. My time was 35:10 which turned out to be the 3rd fastest M50 time of the day on the long leg.

Making his debut at Livingston, Martin Howell was really up for this event over his favourite distance of 5k. He was certainly thrown in at the deep end being handed the lead (although I am not sure that he was aware at this point)! Martin did know from Tollcross parkrun that the Cambuslang 3rd leg runner was a bit faster than him and indeed he was soon overtaken by Cambuslang, as he expected. However, Martin hung on well to second place, not knowing that both Metro Aberdeen and Edinburgh AC were closing in on him. Martin ran a very strong 20:37, handing over to Davie Watt for the final long leg. Davie seemed below the form he demonstrated at the vets relays in Strathclyde Park as fairly early on both Metro (with fastest M50 of the day) and Edinburgh (the second fastest M50 of the day) slipped by and opened a gap. Davie crossed the line in 36:15 having given his all as usual. Fourth place was initially disappointing given that our cumulative time was significantly faster than last year (despite the longer course) and would have won us the gold medal last year but was still a great result for a small club such as ours and continues our remarkable consistency in this event with a variety of members in this team and various medals over a period of a dozen years or more. It was also satisfying to know that we had been in a really competitive race and had occupied all the leading positions at some point or other. Well done the super vets!

Russell inside the final mile

Our second men's team was an incomplete mixed team of M40's and M50's. Richard Lawton was on the first leg and smashed his course best by 62 seconds, crossing the line in 22:23. Having finally recovered from the injuries and damage caused by last year's Stirling Marathon, it looks like Richard is back on track for some further big improvements. Mark Saez was another first timer here (not sure how we let him escape from this in previous years) and as such, the quite complex and tough long leg would be a surprise to him from start to finish (spiral bridge and all!). Mark continued to demonstrate his improving form resulting from hard training, finishing in 36:46. Russell Couper is another one who is improving race after race and relished not being isolated on a final long leg, finishing the short leg in 25:17. Jim Holmes was given leg 4 and I was worried to see that he had his left knee strapped up (a hamstring/calf attachment discomfort rather than a knee problem though thankfully). This did not seem to hinder Jim too much as he ran well to finish strongly in 43:20.

Recovering in the school cafe

A huge thanks to Mandy, Neil and Charlie for their support on the day and for the photographs used here. An equally huge thanks to Kenny for representing the club as a volunteer marshal. Without these volunteers the event would not take place. We also get some of the best school lunches in the cafe after this event and a huge well done to the organisers for making sure we are well catered for. Here's hoping we can get back to our usual numbers next year.

Finally, if you think the snow of the preceding weeks has been untypical for this time of year, see the photograph below. This is the start line for the first leg of the National 6 Stage Road Relay in Livingston (different venue back then) 29 years ago to the day almost. We are lined up in a blizzard and I was clearly hard as nails back then as I am wearing a vest with no t-shirt (incidentally, I still wear that same vest for the really important races!). I believe I was either 3rd or 5th on the first leg that day. Thanks to Charlie for providing the photo.
Alan

NATIONAL ROAD RELAYS ARRIVAL TIMES

With the Relay starting at noon for the men and 12.10 for the ladies I would like everyone at the start for 11.15 at the latest. The event is chip timed this year so the declarations and distributing of numbers and chips will take a little longer and you need some good warm up time.
Those running are Sandy Hayden, Martin Duthie, Martin Howell, Alan Derrick, Davy Watt, Richard Lawton, Mark Saez, Russell Couper and Jim Holmes.

there are still places available so anyone wanting a run please get in touch as youre probably listed as a reserve. If anyone is leaving from the club I would suggest you leave by 10.15 at the latest.

REMEMBER TO MOVE YOUR CLOCKS FORWARD ON SATURDAY NIGHT

National Road Relay Teams

Update: 2 places now available (any age, senior or veteran) in men's team due to illness.
The teams for the Livingston Road Relays are listed here. We have one complete M50 team of 4, an incomplete male team (5 out of 6) and an incomplete ladies team (1 out of 4). Presumably we have entered all current club Scottish Athletics members as reserves so if one man and up to 3 ladies who are not presently in a team wish to run, please let Russell know in the first instance and he will confirm if you are on the reserve list and eligible to run or not.
Alan

Scottish Athletics Road Relay Marshals - Livingston

A belated request from Scottish Athletics:

Dear Club Secretary

Scottish Athletics Road Relays Championships Sunday 25th March 2018
12.00 noon

Offers to Marshal the road relays should be with myself by to-day Monday 19th March.

At present I am short of marshals which means the successful staging of the event is at risk.

As one of the entered clubs can you please appeal to your members to ask if one person could marshal.

It involves reporting by 11.15 finished by 3.00pm with either a packed lunch before the start or sit down meal afterwards.

Thanks
Alex Jackson
Convenor
Scottish Athletics Road Relays

Falésia 5k - Low key World Championship Warm Up!

Start line (Photo - Spectrum Striders)

A record field of 150 lined up for the 12th annual Falésia 5k on Tuesday 13th March organised once again by Spectrum Striders and renamed the Joe Shellhorn Falésia 5k in memory of one of their club members who had so enjoyed and been part of this event.

The conditions were variously blistering hot or shady depending on which of the little clouds decided to take its turn in front of the sun. Stuart Gibson, Frances Ferguson and Alan Derrick joined an international field on the tightly packed start line ready for the 10am start, full of anticipation and nervousness over how the already tired legs would handle the two and three quarter laps of either up or downhills. Due to the downhill start, this is one of those races where patience is a virtue as inevitably many will take off way too fast and falter when the downhill start becomes the first long up hill drag.

Stuart powers around the bottom bend (Photo 2:09 Events)

And so it came to pass. Having been dropped by everyone and anyone at the start, I gradually picked dozens of runners off (mainly Germans it seemed) who had shot their bolt. On the first lap I could see Stuart running strongly already 150-200m ahead. But it was an indication of the quality of the field that even Stuart was already somewhat detached from the first few. As the laps ticked by remarkably quickly, I made the final right hand turn onto the 800m long uphill straight (thankfully a gentle curve so you can't actually see all the way along it) to the finish. I was pretty sure I had passed all the M50's from our training group but in the final 100m there was a bloke with flowing auburn curly locks blowing out his ears about 10m ahead. Although sprinting was not possible at this stage, more a gradual acceleration, the racer in me decided that I could not be beaten by someone who was so obviously struggling even if they were probably only in the 30's age group. So I glided by and progressed across the line to bend over double in agony. At this point, the bloke tapped me on the shoulder and said are you M50? Of course I said yes and the disappointment was evident as he actually was M50 too (Frances reckoned that not only was his hair dyed but he had had some "work done". I of course was too polite to notice). It just goes to show that in any age-group race, pass everyone you can because there are a lot of Peter Pan's out there in the veteran ranks!

Frances tails Mike Gratton (Photo 2:09 Events)

This meant I was first M50 in a time of 18:05, a full 36 seconds faster than last year and 18th overall. Stuart ran a well paced race, working his way up to an excellent 5th position overall in a time of 15:53 and first of the 120 participants from the 2:09 Events Algarve training camp group. Frances has had an injury free year and this made a huge difference to her performance, improving by some 50 seconds to cross the line in 21:48 and second F50. Frances was also just 19 seconds behind the returning from injury Mike Gratton, 1983 London Marathon winner, Commonwealth Games bronze medalist and organiser of this training camp for the past 35 years.

A journalist from one of the major broadsheets (the Telegraph I think) was also on the training camp and writes the runner's blog for that newspaper. I believe she is going to write a piece on this race titled something like "The best 5k you've never heard of". Why? For a race where entries are taken in the local Neptuno Bar (4 Euros to enter), the field was stacked with GB, German, Latvian and possibly other internationalists. From our training group alone we had Tracy Barlow and Jenny Spink (both current GB international marathon runners) and one place in front of Stuart we had Robbie Britton, GB ultra international demonstrating a remarkable competitive range from 5k to 100 mile plus! Cheering on from the side lines was Ally Dixon, another GB Women's Marathon International who put in such a strong performance at the World Championships in London last year (they are all here doing final preparation for the World Half Marathon Championships in Valencia in a few weeks time). The race was won by a Tom Thurley of Potsdamer Laufclub, one of several German clubs that had their towels well to the fore on the start line.

6km of pristine beach - the perfect training environment

Once again the race demonstrated just what the body can do if you remove all negative thoughts. The race was about half way through the training camp and we all considered it as part of the training on already heavy legs (indeed we went out for another training run in the afternoon after the race). It helps when you rest and fuel properly though as illustrated below.

Thanks to Frances and Stuart for being great company through the week and getting Calderglen noticed (I know a few of the other participants had Googled Calderglen Harriers to see who on earth we were after the race!). Also well done to both on launching themselves fully into all the training. In the first10 days Frances ran 104 miles and I completed over 120 miles whilst Stuart ran more in a week than he has previously done during the 7 days he was there!
Alan

Post 5k nutrition

Not so much the northern lights as the wind and the rain.

Three harriers headed to Aberdeen last weekend for the Deeside Way Ultra but, due to Jim’s plantar plate injury, only two of us would be taking part. I had been concerned to hear that Ruth was thinking of driving up on the Friday night straight from work, start running thirty three miles the following morning then drive home the same day as she had a busy Sunday ahead of her. Fortunately Jim negotiated himself a twenty four hour pass and was able to act as her chauffeur on both the northern and southern journeys. He bravely (having seen the forecast) volunteered as a marshall and was allocated checkpoints 1 and 3 (they’re in the same location before you ask).

I wore my harriers jacket to Duthie Park on Saturday morning in an effort to stay warm while we collected our race numbers and chatted with friends. During his race brief the organiser, George (Dod) Reid, officially announced that as well as the D33 next year there would also be a D100 in celebration of the tenth year of the race. Having heard about his plan a while ago I quite fancied the idea as I wanted to be able to say I’ve run a hundred miler as opposed to ‘only’ a ninety five miler but with my sensible hat on (I do have one) I know it would be a major challenge. Just getting the requisite training done during the winter months would be difficult if not downright impossible, anyone who has trained for the London marathon between December and March would no doubt agree.

An unusual sight, Ruth and I together near the start of the race

As things turned out I wore the harriers colours for the entire way albeit from the third mile with my 'proper’ jaiket over the top of it. That marked the start of some heavier rain as opposed to the drizzle we had had prior to the start. I can’t tell you how many runners set out as the results don't detail the DNFs but there had been just under 300 starters on Entry Central and there were 219 finishers so somewhere in between. 

I hadn’t felt quite right leading up to the weekend and struggled right from the off. Such was the lack of space on the narrow path I had to step off to get my jacket on and lost some eighty yards or so to Ruth. Slowly catching her I was so out of sorts I decided to run a few yards behind so as not to be caught up in the conversation she was having with a mutual friend. Imagine the headline, ‘Davie doesn’t want to chat shocker’!! Well, for once, Davie just wasn’t in the mood. I finally figured out the problem was partly down to a lack of energy so shoved some dextrose down my throat and almost immediately perked up. Doh!

Belatedly catching Ruth we ran together for a few miles and arrived at checkpoint one together for our first meeting of the day with Jim. He was well wrapped up and shouting out the numbers for others to grab the appropriate drop bags to hand to the approaching runners. I dallied to make sure I consumed plenty of calories to offset my earlier deficit and as a result this time lost hundreds of yards to Ruth. I couldn't quite believe how far ahead she was when I finally caught sight of her ( I did wonder if she'd put the hammer down to lose me) and it took around five miles to close the gap, coming together again just as we came to Milton of Crathes where Alison was waiting for our first rendezvous of the day. I was still stuffed from the checkpoint so only had a quick coffee and a hug and was on my way, but again behind. It was 6 miles or so to the halfway point and back to where Alison was and I caught and passed Ruth along the way but she passed me yet again while I was taking more food on board and changing gloves.

Leaving MoC, instead of setting off immediately in pursuit, I fell in with three guys I’ve known for a few years and had a great old time shooting the breeze and generally catching up - I was in damn good company as we figured out we had eighteen WHWR finisher’s goblets between us! All good things come to an end though and eventually two of us, George and I, pulled ahead of the others and caught and passed Ruth who sensibly ignored my invitation to tag along with us - we were motoring rather well at this point.

Twice more I stopped to meet Alison but in between those two meetings I saw Jim again at checkpoint three and was nonplussed to find my drop bag, along with a few others it turned out, had been lost. I improvised by drinking around half of a foul chocolate energy drink (it was the only suitable drink there as I can't abide any kind of fizzy rubbish).

Checkpoint 3 photographs

Ruth carrying off the 'wet but glamorous' look way better than me, see below! 

Me with said drink in hand

Having to spend more time eating stuff from Alison to make up for the missing drop bag (I'm not blaming you personally Jim, honest!) this time I found I couldn’t catch my pal George.

Despite wearing five layers and by now wearing my third pair of gloves my hands were so cold that the thought of exposing my skin to the cold and wet conditions to eat something was horrifying (this was true for Ruth too as she later told me) so ran for far too long without any intake other than fluid. The inevitable result was that I ran out of steam and walked twice during the final few miles. Ruth managed to avoid walking but her pace dropped considerably. Yet another reason for not attempting that 100 miler, I can’t cope with very cold and wet weather for six hours never mind for over a day! 

I dragged myself over the line in my worst-ever D33 time (seven consecutive years now) of 6:04:10 and was so feeble I had to ask someone to stop my watch for me, my fingers just wouldn't work! Ruth came home in an excellent time of 6:19:46.

The pal I had been running with over the final half marathon or so finished a full four minutes ahead of me, not by bursting away but simply by maintaining his pace – he certainly got his nutrition right during the latter stages.

We hurried away from the finish to our hotel room where Jim dried off (mostly!) and Ruth managed a shower which restored some feeling to her fingers (and no doubt other parts too!). They headed for home while I flaked out on the bed before heading out with Alison for a lovely dinner with my eldest brother and his extended family. I did think it was somewhat ironic that the restaurant had electric fires dotted among the tables as the heating system had broken down, perfectly in keeping with our day. 

It was just as well that Jim was driving as he told me later Ruth slept almost the whole way home! She did stay awake long enough to discover online that she had finished as third female auld burd, sorry, super vet! Proof in black and white below;

1st place Male	1st place Female
Name: Dwayne Batt Time: 3.55.02	Name: Lynne Allen Time: 4.00.41
2nd place Male	2nd place Female
Name: Lorne Crawford Time: 3.57.26	Name: Sophie Mullins Time: 4.05 15
3rd place Male	3rd place Female
Name: Neal MacDonald Time: 3.59.11	Name: Louise Marshall Time: 4.30.12
1st place MV	1st place FV
Name: David Naughton Time: 4.07.50	Name: Debbie Brazier Time: 4.40.25
2nd place MV	2nd place FV
Name: Emilio Cosimo Time: 4.08.44	Name: Colleen Black Time: 4.52.50
3rd place MV	3rd place FV
Name: Nick Reid Time: 4.11.11	Name: Kate Bloomfield Time: 4.56.41
1st place MSV	1st place FSV
Name: Willie Rennie Time: 4.02.39	Name: Sarah Houston Time: 5.02.42
2nd place MSV	2nd place FSV
Name: Neill Kelly Time: 4.29.26	Name: Catherine Williamson Time: 6.10.57
3rd place MSV	3rd place FSV
Name: David Blaine Time: 4.34.04	Name: Ruth Kelly Time: 6.19.46

The unique prizewinner's goblet which Ruth received today

And yes, that is Willie Rennie, the Liberal Democrat politician. All politics aside he ran a fabulous race finishing seventh overall and almost half an hour ahead of the second placed MSV. Give up the talking shop Willie and become a full-time athlete! Hilary Clinton was also running, but not that one.

The overall winner was Dwayne Batt of Metro Aberdeen in 3:55:02 and the female winner was unattached athlete Lynne Allen in 4:00:41 with the final finisher on a miserable day coming home in 7:27:34. As a footnote Scottish Athletics chairman Ian Beattie, on something of a comeback to ultra running, finished in 5:38:34

Photographs are courtesy of Ruth, Jim and Norrie Hunter.

MEMBERSHIP FEES

Were now well into March and a lot of members have not renewed their fees. Please get in touch this week and let me know if your intending to renew or not. The fees are the same as last year for Harriers.

Russell

Presidential branded nutrition now available....

Not content with beetroot juice as a performance enhancer, our esteemed president now seems to have branched out into own brand bananas to further extend his competitive advantage. Available in Portugal, these bananas are labelled "Keny" with a sub-title highlighting his target marathon time (4:00:11). Is there no end to the monkey business "Keny" gets up to!
Alan

Tom Scott 10 Miler (back in Grand Prix)

With the cancellation of races this season we have been left short of events for the Grand Prix so it has been decided to put the Tom Scott Memorial 10 miler back into the series.
The race is on the 1st April so get your entries in quick although it is open for entries till the 27th March. There will be no entries after this and at the moment there is 206 places available.
Entries are available from STUWEB  https://www.stuweb.co.uk/race/1Ny/
Race details are at https://www.tomscottroadraces.com/

Grangemouth Round the Houses 10k

Update since the post about Tom Scott 10 miler being added to Grand Prix. The Grangemouth Round the Houses 10k is the succeeding Grand Prix event after Tom Scott 10 miler.  So far 5 Harriers have signed up.

All the details are available and able to enter online at Entry Central: https://www.entrycentral.com/RoundTheHouses

Race date is Sunday 8th April starting at 10:30am. Race fee is £16 for SA members. Online closing date is Wednesday 4th April.

Richard

NATIONAL 6 + 4 STAGE RELAY

The National 6 + 4 stage relays will be held on Sunday 25th March in Livingston.
The event will follow the usual format of alternate legs of 3.1 miles and 5.8 miles.
Cost is £5.00 each and entrants must be members of Scottish Athletics.
A change of start times this year
Race starts at 12 noon for the men with the Ladies at 12.10pm with the short leg first.
I need names by Thursday 8th March
If you wish entered leave your name HERE.
Those already registered are listed HERE.

A STRANGE SIGHT TODAY

Found a strange sight this morning. A snow and ice free run Yippee. Thanks to a hint from Emma Craig I headed down to Troon as the parkrun was going ahead. It was there alternate course which is just a shorter version of the normal course but 3 times. They have had snow and ice like the rest of us but there crew had worked hard to clear the ice from their course and had cleared enough to run the alternate course. The run is pancake flat and without the wind and cold this is a course for anyone looking for a PB in the future. Off we went at 9.30 all on the seafront and shortly reaching the first of the many u turns. Not long after this first turn I got a shout from the runners behind me heading to the turn, it was Martin Howell. Yes I'm beating Martin (well not really) Martin had arrived late and was playing catch up. He was soon past me and moving away. Despite the wind I was going well and enjoying running on a tarmac surface. Soon enough we were on the last up and down and heading for the finish. Martin finishing in an actual time of 20.33 and myself in 25.41. Will do this one again when the spring eventually comes. Anyone out running this weekend stay safe and enjoy.

Scally Cancelled

Shettleston Harriers have cancelled due to conditions. Everybody relax. Wooly club vests back in the drawer.
Alan

Thursday Training - Storm Emma

In anticipation that the Sports Club may be closed tonight due to the weather conditions, Kenny has decided to cancel tonights Harriers' training.

If the club does open, them some of us may come up on foot for a run. However, if you have to drive to the club, please respect the warnings and don't come.

Obviously the Scally Road Relay is also at risk due to the weather. Watch this space for updates. See the separate post for the teams which we had to enter in advance.
Alan

Allan Scally Teams

We had to pre-enter the teams for the Scally this year. The teams entered are listed here.

Clearly the risk that the race will be cancelled due to weather is high so watch this space. However, in any case, if anyone has to cancel for other reasons, then let Russell or me know in advance as we can modify the running order when we pick up the numbers on Saturday morning.
Alan