Ayr Running Festival

Seeing as Martin took over a week to write his Paisley report I thought I'd be super quick and get this one on the blog in under 24 hours! (sorry Martin but I do have more time than you!)

The rain which started during the journey down the M77 had long since cleared by the time Jim and I parked at the Citadel Leisure Centre although sadly, as soon as we climbed out of the car, it became apparent that the wind had strengthened and might play a part in the race. The route was a straight (literally) forward out and back in both directions from the start/finish area situated at Low Green, however as it was a 5k route only we would have to do it all twice.

The later runners from the 5k race were still out on the course as we warmed up and we even managed to get the first of many photos taken of us by the one and only Kenny Phillips, hopefully he didn't think we were taking part just yet.

We're no racing yet Kenny!

Speaking of photos here is a link to Kenny's shots from the 10k starring, in particular, a lady wearing her Calderglen trail race tee shirt - it turned out we both spotted her during the race and cheered her on at different points, she seemed quite pleased. Ayr Running Festival

 
The course was an amalgam of parts of the Land O'Burns and the Turkey Trot routes so was very familiar which perhaps contributed to the race passing quickly nor being as boring as we had feared (it was still pretty boring!). The wind was coming straight in off the sea and wasn't the hindrance it might have been and seemed to slacken as the race went on.

Jim was pleased to finish in 39th place and a minute up on his Paisley time of two weeks ago in 45.34 and even more pleased later to find he was 2nd MV50. I had been concerned at reaching the half way point in 24.50 as I was targeting sub-50 as is usual for me these days and thought that was a bit too close for comfort. I must have picked the pace up very slightly during the second 5k loop and came home in 49.28 and 71st place overall but was delighted when Jim contacted me later to say I was a category winner, 1st MV60! Hopefully I'll get my award this time...

There were 161 starters and with 4 dnfs (unusual in a 10k) only 157 finishers.
The winners were Sean Chalmers of Inverness Harriers in 33.07 and Laura Stewart of Glasgow Uni Hares and Hounds (also U23 winner) in 39.20.

TTC Dinner Menu Choices

Time for some big decisions to be made. Please use the form at this link to make your selections for dinner on both the Friday and Saturday evenings. Dinner as always will be at The Lade Inn. For a fuller description of each dish, refer to the menu here. Note that your TTC fee covers two courses (either starter + main or main + dessert). Be sure to choose "None" for the course you are not having. If you wish a third course on either or both of the nights then go ahead and choose it and pay Russell the extra £4 per course on the night.

Please fill in as soon as you can so that we can have the list prepared and handed over to the Lade Inn in advance of the training camp weekend. I will also send out an e-mail with the same information as in this post to those who have registered for TTC for your convenience.
Thanks
Alan

Paisley 10k

Since Richard has shamed me for being so lazy in getting around to writing this report, here’s an account of the goings on at last Sunday’s Paisley 10k!

Jim Mearns and I arranged to meet at the club to travel across to Renfrewshire together and on the way there we sussed out that fellow harriers Kevin Farmer, John McBride and Paul Rooney were also lining up to take on the ever-growing event. My first go at this course was fours ago and if memory serves me correctly, on that occasion there were around 600 runners taking part. It has swelled in numbers and popularity so much so that this year’s 10k had 2.5k runners queuing in anticipation for the starters gun. There’s also a 3k event, mostly for juniors and that has grown in numbers equally so.

So, arriving in Paisley Jim and I jogged up to Gilmour Street and headed for The Last Post pub where late entrants were to collect their number. That done, we headed back down to the car to get race ready. Heading back to the line, the apparent numbers were clear to see with runners warming up, stretching and those so inclined, joining in with the pre-race aerobics being expertly marshalled from the big stage (lorry!).

Lined up and ready to go we got underway. As expected, the initial stages were congested with runners winding their way round the tight turns with eventually the field beginning thin out as we rounded the spectacular Paisley Abbey and on up the High Street, turning right in to the cobbled Moss Street and on out past the Sheriff Court towards the West End and Ferguslie Park. The route then leads out to Linwood where there’s a 180-turn heading back out to Elderslie. To my surprise, as I was running along and beginning to feel the effects of the initial exertions, Kevin Farmer jumped off the pavement to join me for a short while. I didn’t get to see Kevin at the end so I’m not sure if his race went according to plan or if he was intending to back out his usual pace. Anyway, the course is largely flat although at this point there were some little hills to tackle as we ran in to the country park.

With some more undulations tackled the route then exits the park and across Canal Street and up quite a stinger of a climb on to High Street which eventually flattens out and becomes a slight downhill to Paisley Cross finishing with a sharp left hander for the final 150m to the line on Gilmour Street.

Jim had been telling me before the race that since this was his first sprint race (given that he doesn’t ordinarily run events with less than 250 miles these days (!)) it was more or less a test of his form and would be delighted to achieve a time of sub 48 minutes. For me it was my first outing since the Men’s Health back in June where I managed a few seconds over 40 minutes but given my lack of training and the obligatory all-inclusive fortnight in July I was targeting somewhere between 42 and 43 minutes. So, for Jim, he was encouraged to come home in a time of 46.39 and I was pleasantly surprised to cross the line in 41.31 and 10^th MV50.

 

Of the other harriers taking part their times are noted in Richards blog message.

Once again, a great event, well organised, well supported and decent prizes that attract most of the big guns of our wee patch.

As is becoming a bit of a Spot the Trail Race T-Shirt game, here’s me and Jim in our post-race garb!

Martin H.

KILLIN 10K

Two Harriers made their way to Killin for the annual 10k. This is one Richard normally does but he decided to give it a miss this year leaving Ruth Kelly and Russell Couper as the clubs representatives. Ruth had travelled with two friends that she was going to help round the course. Conditions were good before the start being overcast but dry. Just after noon we were off and running up Killin main st and the sun came out making it feel very warm. We were soon over the river and a loop back down the old rail line towards the start area and off onto the country roads that have some nasty undulations and one big uphill to the turning point just after 6k then its a mostly downhill run back to town on a different road but I had forgotten that the downhill has a lot of ups on it too and by this point my legs were very heavy so it was a bit of a slog to the finish but happy to take 2 mins from last years time (56.41). Ruth had started with her friends Alison Smyth and Catherine Garioch but going up the main st she instructed Alison to push on and run her own race finishing with a new pb (60.42) which would be a sub hour on most other courses. Ruth ran with Catherine to encourage her round a tough course finishing in 79.13 and 79.14 respectively. The girls were all running in our Trail t shirts. A very scenic race and an offer of a free beer at the end.

Irvine Marymass 10k

235 runners were tempted to the Ayrshire coast last night by the promise of a free ice cream from race sponsors Vanilla Joe's. Three harriers made the short journey doon the watter to Irvine and were surprised by the sight of a fourth in the shape of John Boyd who had a sponsors place and therefore hadn't shown on the pre-race start list.

The usual coastal breeze lowered the temperature very nicely for the runners tackling the fast and flat course which hasn't changed all that much since I ran what was a pb at the time of 42.06 way back in 2002! I would be content with a time under 50 minutes this time around though.

Not surprisingly the leading harrier and second female was Julie Beveridge in a (jet-lagged) time of 40.53, her flight from Mallorca having only touched down at two o'clock that afternoon. Now there's dedication for you. Second home in a girls one-two was Kirsty Wilson in 46.02 and 6th female. I wiped myself out by coming over the line in 49.02 with John Boyd chasing after me in 50.41. Ex-harrier Davie Wardope was one place behind Kirsty in 46.14

The men's winner was Gordon Robertson of Cambuslang harriers in 33.28 only 23 seconds ahead of an EKAC athlete, Daryl Reid (any relation Eddie?) The female winner was Toni McIntosh in 38.17, although it was announced later at the prizegiving as 28.17!

I can report the ice creams went down very well as did the post-race home baking back at Irvine Sports Club.

Big thanks are due to Kirsty for the transport to and from Irvine and I hope you figure out soon how to open the doors of your new car!

I will add a link to a few photos of the race tomorrow. They are courtesy of Julie (she had plenty of time after finishing so quickly!), Kenny Philips and myself.

Photos now on Flickr here https://www.flickr.com/photos/135841033@N05/albums/72157670502696437

Paisley 10k

On Sunday 19th August was the annual Paisley 10k & 3k running event.  We had 5 Harriers strutting there stuff on the road & pavements of Paisley town centre and surrounding area. Good performances from all. Here are the results:-

Kevin Farmer, 40:26 (possibly his first race registered with Calderglen Harriers)
Martin Howell, 41:31
Jim Mearns, 46:39
Paul Rooney, 47:50
John McBride, 54:16

3k results on junior blog
http://calderglenjuniors.blogspot.com/2018/08/weekend-round-up-18-19-august.html

Link to results:-
https://www.sportsystems.co.uk/ss/results

Good to acknowledge people doing races and working hard to get good times/performances. I will leave it that one of the intrepid 5 might submit a full race report.

Richard

New Parkrun

Just to let anyone know who enjoys touring the different parkruns there is a new one in Lanark.

It is called Lanark Moor parkrun and its inaugural run was on Saturday 11th August.

The event takes place at Lanark Racecourse, Hyndford Road, Lanark and it is about 45 mins to get there from East Kilbride

See link for more details:-

http://www.parkrun.org.uk/lanarkmoor/

Richard

SVHC Glasgow 800 10km Road Race - Pollok Park

Fast finish to a hilly 10k

This was my first race since Land O Burns 10k in May with a few parkruns and Auldhouse Time Trials in between I wanted to see how my training was going and get myself race fit again. So the SVHC Glasgow 800 10km Road Race on Sunday 12th August would be the start.

 

Over the last few years this race has been ran in glorious sunshine but obviously we have ran out of these days for 2018 and we were left with a wet and humid day which in the end up dried up a bit and running conditions were good.  The usual Harrier contingent that run this event were absent due to holidays and injuries and so it was reduced to myself. In fact the whole event was a quiet affair with only a field of 18 runners and as I was waiting in the car park for other runners to appear I thought I might get a prize if it was a low turnout but enough turned up (one can only hope). The course itself has evolved over the years and this year's route has been used I believe the last few years.  The route is now on traffic free paths within the park and takes in sections of the Pollok Park parkrun.

 

The course start was just up from the Pollok Cottage and the race started downhill running towards Pollok House direction. When we got to the end of the path there was a triangle section we ran round and double backed heading towards the familiar hilly section of Pollok Park parkrun.  I got to the section of the route were the path forks left and right of Pollok Park parkrun and you take a left then at this point in the race I was lost and almost came to a stand still.  Luckily there was Lesley McArdle from Cambuslang Harriers shouting on me to turn right and I turned to follow her losing a couple of places in the process. Then we took another wrong turn by going left instead of a right so had to turn round again to get back on track.  Eventually we emerged back onto the main drive and ran through the arch at the main gate before doing a 180 degree turn around a cone to head back through the arch and 1k uphill back to the start/finish for the next lap. The next 2 laps were more straightforward.

 

With a small field and mixture of running ability after lap 1 the field was well spread out and so it could of been more of a time trial for me had Lesley McArdle from Cambuslang Harriers not been in the race.  By the end of lap 1 and next 2 laps we were taking turns leading with me leading on the hills and Lesley faster on the flat.  On the final turn on the cone of lap 3 I was right behind Lesley and was determined to keep her close. I was first through the arch and could here Lesley trying to catch me but I took advantage of the uphill finish and put the foot down with a sprint finish giving myself a clear 5 second win over her.  My time was 49:30 which to be honest I was disappointed with as I felt I had a good run and my time didn't justify my recent training.  I certainly felt the benefit of the recent club long runs and effort sessions during the race but it was an extremely hilly course.

 

Race results

https://scottishmastersathletics.webnode.com/products/svhc-glasgow-800-10k/

 

Richard

Scottish Veteran Harriers Club (SVHC) 10k

This Sunday 12th August the SVHC are hosting their annual Glasgow 800 10k event at Pollok Park.

Registration is from 12.30pm at Cartha Rugby Club and the race starting at 1.30pm.  Entries on the day only and close 15 minutes before the start.  Entry fee is £2.

At the time this was posted on Facebook, SVHC were looking for 8-10 volunteers to help with the race and to contact them direct if you could help (just go through Facebook).

This event is open to anyone 35 years and older.

Richard

Devil O'The Highlands

288 runners lined up for the start of the 2018 Devil beside Brodie's Store in Tyndrum last Saturday although this time only Jim and I were competing, in the loosest sense of the word, as Ruth had previously agreed with the devil himself, John Duncan, to marshall the event. She was however delighted to be given the task of tail running the 27 miles to Kinlochleven although her other task was to help erect the finish area marquees, around a dozen or so, and lug loads of food, drink and various items of equipment. Unwisely I travelled up with her on the Friday morning to lend a hand, not the best preparation for running the following day. We later joined up with Jim for a meal and the drive down to KLL where we had booked accommodation. Rising at 3am on Saturday we made our way to Tyndrum for the start where Jim bought the reviving coffees in time for us to awaken fully for the photo below.

Caffeine fuelled for the miles ahead

Starting nearer the back of the field than the front Jim and I started in starkly contrasting ways, he by running up the hill from the village while I walked most of the way as far as the railway crossing where the route levels out.

The only point of the race where Jim and I were together

The following twenty odd miles were rather sluggish for me as the muggy weather took it's normal toll on my breathing and it wasn't until the gradual climb out of  Rannoch Moor that a welcome breeze from Glencoe lowered both the temperature and humidity. Another happy by-product of the wind was that the midges were left behind on the moor, the only place they bothered me all day.

Despite his plantar plate injury and consequent lack of training Jim had started impressively fast which, coupled with an unscheduled (aren't they all?) early pit stop for me, resulted in him reaching the Glencoe checkpoint a full 28 minutes ahead. The CP this year was just over the bridge near the building site formerly known as the Kingshouse Hotel while the usual location of the Ski Centre had been taken over for a long weekend of drive-in Harry Potter films - cue many puzzled looks from kids in the rear seats of their parents' 4 x 4s as we ran down the access road in our usual strange and varied ultra gear, 'what are those weird-looking people doing mum?' I could almost hear them asking. You'll be pleased to hear there will be no magical puns in this report as I know next to hee-haw about it.

Glencoe CP, the tail runners in front of a misty Buachaille Etive Mor

Sadly the previously advantageous breeze had by now turned into a strong westerly which was in our faces for all of the four miles through the glen to Altnafeadh where the eponymous Devil's staircase awaited.

I genuinely think Ruth went up the staircase during the WHWR quicker than I did this time, as I certainly don't recall stopping as often - hill walking has to play a bigger part of my training in future (heard that one before? Yeh, so have I!). Upon finally reaching the highest point of the race it was most pleasant to meet the wifies fae Fife, Fiona and Pauline, who stand up here every year, devilishly dressed , dishing out hugs and jelly babies in equal measure. An extra this year was a guy who had lugged his pipes all the way up while wearing full highland dress just to play for us - he probably went up faster than me too! 

A horned piper and a wee devil

Jim somehow avoiding both female lucifers

Eating as usual

Despite feeling a great deal better I was a further 4 minutes behind Jim by Kinlochleven, no doubt due to my lack of climbing speed. Having (slowly) negotiated the never-ending drag up and out of there I was beginning to find my feet when I momentarily lost control of the right one - tripping over something substantial I took a header on a down slope and landed on both hands, knees and left hip, proceeding to slide to a halt on the rocky gravel which makes up the surface at this point. A thigh and both forearms took the brunt of the slow halt, resulting in a fair amount of the red stuff pouring out. Having ended up lying on my back downhill with cramping calves I was completely unable to move and was grateful to two girls from Dumbarton AAC who didn't hesititate when I raised my hands for a lift, restoring me to my feet in seconds. 

A good ten minutes must have been lost while I allowed the adrenalin to work it's way through my system, my heart to slow down a little from the shock and to take a couple of badly-needed paracetamol. Maybe I should take this kind of drastic action more often as I picked up my pace pretty well from here on in, arriving at Lundavra 3 minutes faster than Jim and by Fort William a further 5 minutes quicker. However he meanwhile had crossed the line in an admirable time of 9.40.31 for 190th place and a full 24 minutes ahead of me. I came over the line, hand in hand with a pal of mine, rather disappointingly in 10.04.06 for 208th place.

Jim completing an excellent run 

Bloodied hands and knees to the fore

While all this had been going on Ruth appears to have had a whale of a time, sweeping along with Karen, another girl from Kilmarnock (coincidence or great planning? - wouldn't you run faster knowing you were being chased by two Kilmarnock ladies?)  Such a good time was had that the two of them were referred to as the 'chatty wifies' by the lady who was eventually timed out at Kinlochleven! Couldn't resist posting this photo of what an athlete gets up to on her day off...

Ruth, apparently, 'finishing off the sweeties!'

279 runners finished with only 11 DNFs and the final runner reaching the KGV park in 12.29.12. The male race winner was John Hammond in an impressive 5.40.24 and the female race was won by Nicola Duncan in 6.23.18. Ruth's nephew Bryan finished only his second ultra in a speedy 7.18.10 for 37th place while Mark's cousin Ricky, of Giffnock North, was 48th in 7.32.44.
One slightly sour note was sounded on Monday when a friend of mine contacted me via messenger to say that he had seen another runner (who shall remain nameless) awarded the third MV60 prize on the Saturday afternoon. My pal had waited until he had the chance to check the provisional results and, sure enough, this imposter finished a full fifteen minutes behind me! I've messaged the RD, am awaiting a reply and will update this report accordingly, fingers crossed. Shame, as a podium picture would have made a great photo for the report.
Nothing spoiled our celebration that night though as Jim, Ruth and myself toasted one another, very carefully and gently, as we each now have WHWR finisher's goblets with a dram of  Glenfiddich 12 year old.

The following morning we made our contribution to the growing album of trail race tees 'pictures around the world'...

Photo credits to Monument Photos, Susan Murchie, Willie Irvine, Fiona Rennie, Ruth and a random American tourist!

As an interesting aside I looked at our relative positions in the field at each checkpoint and found that Jim and I progressed in opposite directions throughout the race. We were 119 places apart at Bridge of Orchy but only 18 by the end, food for thought - if only the finish had been in Inverness...

	BoO	Glencoe	KLL	Lundavra	FW
Jim	152	164	171	183	190
David	271	243	231	218	208

August Auldhouse 5k Time Trial

In most certainly the worst conditions so far this year we still managed a fine turnout for the monthly Auldhouse 5km time trial. Not only that, it was a huge surprise to see Davie Herbertson on a short work visit from Australia (and no doubt it was also a surprise to Davie to be thrown into a 5k time trial, only his second run in the rain this year!). Davie also made sure that Ian Mackenzie was on the start line which was good to see.

With several of the Harriers tapering down for the Dunoon Half Marathon on the Saturday, this was a night for controlled pace running. Andy Buchanan was following that strategy but still managed to set the fastest time of the night...... just! Andy finished in 18:45.9. The 0.9 seconds was important as Mark Saez finished second fastest in 18:46.4! The fastest lady was Seonaid Morton who set her course best time of 24:33. Well done Seonaid. As mentioned above, furthest travelled was David Herbertson, all the way from Sydney, who finished in a time of 22:52. Our only first timer on the night was Paul Dillon on only his second night at the club who finished in 30:01. That was in fact Paul's second 5k of the day!

We are now all set for the final time trial of the season on the first Thursday of September.
Full results are here. A big thanks to Davie Searil who was the official photographer on the evening and provided all the atmospheric pictures in this album: https://www.flickr.com/photos/135841033@N05/albums/72157693952449320

Alan

The Scottish Mid-Trail Championships 2018

The Scottish Mid-Trail Championship has just been announced and will be held on Sunday 2nd September in Fife and online entry is available.  Fife AC have kindly agreed to host the championships, with Strathmiglo as the start/finish location for races for all age groups.  There are medals on offer from U15 through to U20/Seniors/Masters.

 

The U20/Senior/Masters race for men and women is over 10K with the U15 and U17 mixed gender races over 5K. For the U11 and U13 races, the distance is 3K.

This has been a popular event with the club and we have good age group runners who can compete for Scottish Athletic championship medals.

Closing date is Wednesday 29th August.

 

The U11 and U13 are development races and not part of the Scottish Championships as Fife AC host their ‘Festival of Trail Running’ and welcome all standard of athletes from beginners in this discipline to Scotland internationals.

 

Entries are now open online via the EntryCentral website.
https://www.entrycentral.com/FAC-Festival-of-Trail-Running

 

 

Richard