Brampton 2019 - All's well that ends well!

Most of the Harriers

On a very chilly Sunday morning, (most of) the Harriers obeyed the instructions and were gathered at the Sports Club by 8am to board the bus. Only problem was the bus was not there due to an accident blocking the M74 temporarily. After about an hour of waiting (by which time we had moved out to the "speedy boarding queue" on the Strathaven Road) the bus arrived and we were off. In any case, the nervous tension induced by the lack of a bus was a fine substitute for an extended warm-up on arrival at Brampton.

Speedy boarding queue

Round about 11am we arrived in Brampton for an 11:30 race start. A few had yet to collect their numbers and the toilet queues were well developed, so the pressure was on. Everyone found some time for a short warm-up along the country lane and most managed to join the team photo. By this time we had also lost another runner as Eddie's iffy hamstring had not passed the warm-up test. So Eddie joined Chris McCarron, Davie Searil and I on the bus which departed Brampton shortly before the race start and headed to our usual parking space behind The Turf in Carlisle. This would definitely be a well photographed Brampton as we were all equipped with cameras.

Andrew Buchanan in the clear

In what seemed like a very short time after arrival, the race winner flew across the bridge in an excellent time of 47:24, closely followed by second placed runner in 47:45 and a couple of minutes later the third placed runner in 49:41. With the first three under 50 minutes this a sign that the standard of British road racing is returning to the levels of many years gone by. Indeed, the first 75 runners in the race were under the hour, confirming the very high standard and good conditions.

The usual Ian Hughes pose

As we walked against the flow to our various photo positions the first Harrier appeared, Andrew Buchanan having a good run on legs still a bit tired from the York Marathon. Andy crossed the line in 64:53, a good bit faster than last year and just missing out on an M35 performance award. Ian Hughes has made a dramatic return to form since the Summer and this is down to his own very hard work in training. Ian finished in 65:04 achieving an M50 bronze performance standard. Also reaping the benefit of some consistent miles in the legs, Martin Howell finished well in 68:58, having been annoyed most of the way by a runner who persistently cut in front of him only to slow down (my solution to that is to accidentally clip their heels; they give you plenty of room after that). This was 2 or 3 minutes faster than Martin's last time here in 2015.

Karen flying.

Karen Allen continues to improve with every race and is getting back towards her best form of a few years ago. This year Karen was 4th Harrier to finish and our first lady, crossing the line in 70:15 and earning a bronze performance award in the process. Karen was also 10th L35. This was Karen's second fastest time ever at Brampton.  Exactly one minute later, Kirsty Wilson completed a fine run with a 10 mile best time of 71:15.

Jim Holmes absorbed the competitive pressure applied by our Club President in the lead up to the race and was heard to say "what race" on finishing in a time of 71:33.

Kirsty starts the descent

David Wardrope made a welcome return to Brampton in Harriers colours and bettered his previous course best from 2011, finishing in 72:29. Kenny Leinster is also in recovery mode after the York Marathon and needs to start building strength, speed and fitness again. However, despite not being too happy with his run, Kenny still achieved an M60 bronze performance standard, finishing in 72:48. Kenny was 11th M60.

Alison Lessells was our third lady to finish in a time of 74:47, faster than each of her previous two runs here as Alison also returns to form. The first of our serial Brampton runners, Gerry Mullen was next in. With well over 30 Brampton's behind him, there is not a mile of this route that Gerry is not familiar with. That knowledge enabled Gerry to pace his effort well and to pull away from Geo Ferguson in the final half mile, finishing in 78:12 with Geo close behind in 78:22.

Billy has time for a wave.

Billy Buchanan has put the effort in recently and reaped the rewards with third place in the M65 category in a time of 78:50 which also equates to a bronze performance standard. This was a good 5 minutes faster than last year. Billy is Back! Gordon McInally was on Billy's tail for the whole race and kept him in sight as he finished in 78:59, also taking minutes off last year's time. It was good to see Andy Henderson able to do the race as this was Andy's 30th Brampton to Carlisle race. Andy was 6th in the M65 category in a time of 80:04 and also hit the bronze performance standard level. Lorraine Buchanan completed our set of Buchanan's running today with a time of 82:11, reflecting tired legs not fully recovered from the York Marathon. Making her first appearance at Brampton, Claire McSorley will continue to improve with race experience. Claire had a solid first run at this unusual race distance, crossing the line in 83:20. Julie Thomson continues to make steady progress, once again smashing her 10 mile best with a time of 83:44. Confirming his return to form, Russell Couper recorded his best time since 2011, finishing in 89:03, despite also having a dodgy hamstring. Finally, maintaining a consecutive streak that started in 1985, Chas ran steadily to finish in a comfortable 95:53.

Marion almost missed

Almost sneaking out of this report in the same way she almost sneaked past the photographer by not having a Harriers vest, Marion O'Connor was a highly impressive first F60, finishing in 70:54. This would have been a comfortable F55 gold standard let alone an F60 standard (whthe precise times for which still need to be derived). Well done Marion and lets hope Gordon buys you a Harriers membership for Christmas!

An impressive 689 runners completed the race and the quality remained high despite the North of England 10 mile championship taking place in Preston that same weekend. Plenty of Scottish clubs were in evidence too.

The day then progressed to "The Turf" for rehydration and merriment for a few hours before we left for dinner at the Star Hotel in Moffat. After dinner the annual PB, performance, grand prix and club championship awards were made. It was nice to see a wide range of Harriers receiving awards this year at the end of a very competitive season.The extensive albums of photos from Davie Searil and me contain photos of all the award winners and the race action.

Not Strictly but Russell is in the prizes

Thanks to Eddie, Russell, Gerry and Chas for making all the arrangements on a perfect day of running. Lets try to get the numbers back up to the usual levels for next year though as the bus wasn't even half full and we had our lowest number of Harriers since the year 2000. You can pretty much put the second or third Sunday in November in your diary now as that is when it is likely to be!
Alan