Houston - Season Opener

The Harrier's Grand Prix season started on Saturday with the George Cummings Road Relay in Houston with a fine turn out from the Harriers. The threat of rain loomed but apart from a few spots during the final leg, the conditions were dry, cool and pretty much perfect for running (and supporting).

First leg runners

We had one complete ladies' team of three and two and three quarter mens' teams of four. Alison Lessells, Andrew Buchanan, Jim Holmes and Geo Ferguson lead of each of the teams. The first leg is on the one hand good for potentially getting towed around to a fast time but equally bad for getting tempted to start too fast and blowing up. All of the first leg runners judged the pace very well. Alison has run here a good few times and recorded a time of 18:42. This was Alison's fastest time since 2014 when she ran only 7 seconds faster, so great to see Alison heading back to her best form again.  Andrew Buchanan is in the final stages of York Marathon preparation and could be excused for not having any speed left in his legs. However, this was not the case as Andrew blasted round in 15:35 which I believe is a course best. Jim Holmes has been running here for most of the past 20 years and knows the route like the back of his hand. However with only a week to recover from the Great Scottish Run, Jim's legs would not be at their freshest. Jim recorded a time of 18:02, a good 35 seconds faster than last year confirming Jim's return to improving form. Geo has never run here before but has spectated and sampled the cakes several times. This turned out to be a course that Geo thoroughly enjoyed, with a mixture of undulations, twists and turns on quiet country and village roads. Geo crossed the line in an excellent 18:47.

Leg 2 runners

Our leg 2 runners included a mixture of regulars and long term absentees. Taking over from Alison, Lorraine Buchanan was introducing a bit of speed to her marathon training and to good effect. Lorraine finished in 20:15, a full two and a half minutes faster than her previous best from 2016. Mark Saez took over from Andrew and is easing his way gently back into racing after an Achilles tendon injury. Mark finished in 16:02, a bit down on last year but just needs a bit of race sharpness to be back to his best form. Allan McLellan has never run on the "new" course for these Kilbarchan AAC relays, the course having changed 20 years ago. However, Allan is one of the key members of Calderglen's team when we finished 5th in this event 30 years ago and was glad to be back racing in a team event again. Allan has the Aviemore Half coming up very soon and is managing the pain of some long-term injuries to string the training together. This paid off with a fine time of 17:16, which would surely be one of the fastest M60 times of the day (age groups not given in the results so can't confirm). Davie Searil took over from Geo. Davie last ran this event 17 years ago. It hardly seems believable that so much time has past. This time, Davie completed the course in 20:27 (unfortunately my records of results from 17 years ago are archived. I must dig them out).

Leg 3 runners

Sandy Hayden was really excited to be running in a Harriers vest again after a few injuries and a full season of cycling and swimming. Sandy completed leg 3 in 20:47, a full 20 seconds faster than last year and a course best, proving that the aerobic engine and leg strength has been well developed on the bike! Stephen Phimister took over from Mark. Stephen had also completed the GSR last Sunday and would be a little heavy legged for sure but still ran well and beat his estimated time (18 minutes) comfortably to finish in 16:54, only about 30 seconds down on his previous best set 7 years ago. David Wardrope has had a leave of absence for a few years but is back in a Calderglen vest stronger, fitter and older (like the rest of us). David is also preparing for another marathon but finds these shorter races make marathon pace seem so much easier and is regular at local park runs. David covered the undulating course in 18:22 which David will be pleased to know is only 3 seconds slower than his most recent run from 2012, so age is not making much difference to him! Gordon McInally is managing his long-term injury well through a combination of some running and a lot of cycling. This is paying off as Gordon ran a fine 19:52, substantially faster than the past two years and only 20 seconds down on three years ago. Well done Gordon!

Fourth leg runners

There were only two of us on the last leg. I took over from Stephen with some trepidation, not having raced since March and not really knowing what would happen if I pushed. Actually nothing happened as the legs weren't capable of pushing so I finished quite disappointed with my time of 15:50. However, it turns out it was not my worst time as I ran one second slower on my previous outing in 2016 which at the time was a massive personal worst.

Eddie Reid was on the last leg taking over from David. As is a common theme, Eddie is also managing various injuries and niggles and is needing some races to get sharp. There was some consternation when Eddie crossed the line as his Garmin suggested he had run a time of well over 20 minutes. However, this seems to have been a Garmin or user failure as the official results confirm that Eddie actually ran a time of 17:50. Its actually a good few years since Eddie last ran here (2013). His last performance was about a minute faster so Eddie actually ran well given the 6 year gap.

We then retired to the very crowded church hall to enjoy the soup, sandwiches, cakes, teas and coffees on offer from the host club Kilbarchan AAC. A huge thanks to our support and help provided by Frances, the Phimisters and the Buchanans! All your shouts and cheers were heard loud and clear. Frances also took many photos which you can see along with some from me here.

Well done to all. Lets get as many names as possible down for the other forthcoming relays as running for in a team for your club really provides that extra motivation.
Alan