Club Training Thursday 30th December

Thursday's run is a continuation of the Avondale Hill Reps progression. This time we are on 8 x Avondale reps (all the way to the post box), starting from the wide part of the pavement as usual. Jog down to recover. Run the reps at about 5k effort (not flat 5k pace as this will be too hard going up hill).

Stick to the wide part of the pavement until around the corner with a full view of any traffic coming down the hill. As always, the aim is to be consistent on every rep; the same time to within a second or two on every rep and no saving it up for a sprint on the last one. Let's end the year with a quality session.

Alan

Club Training Monday 27th December - The Pub Run - 6PM

Monday's session is The Pub Run which starts at 6pm at the Sports Club (and stays there). Please fill in the training registration form before arriving if you are taking part or observing. Eddie has all the details as usual. Have Fun!!

Alan

Club Training Thursday 23rd December

For Thursday, the steady paced run is that old favourite, the 4-hills. As noted a few weeks ago, we are focussing on strength for a month or two now with hill reps and cross-country sessions part of our regular training. The 4-hills is a good combination of endurance and strength. To make it a little bit different, could you put in an effort on each of the following hills, regrouping into your packs at the top of each hill.

Effort 1: Markethill (short and steep and then recover and regroup down to East Mains Rd)

Effort 2: Glenburn Rd in College Milton (medium length, steep hill. Recover and regroup between the top and the Queensway).

Effort 3: Dunedin (short and steep and recover and regroup from the top to Mossneuk/Westwood Hill)

Effort 4: Lickprivick (long and steep, all the way to the water tower. Regroup along past the school)

After re-grouping, pick the pace back up to a steady pace and stay together in your packs. Make sure nobody gets left behind.

Merry Christmas to all.

Alan

Club Training Monday 20th December

 Monday's Brancumhall XC session is as follows:

5 x 1 lap at 5k effort with 1 side of the quadrangle as a jog recovery.

Therefore each effort will move around to start at a different "corner" until the 5th one which starts in the same place as the first one.

Note that I say 5k effort rather than 5k pace. It is not possible to run at 5k pace on soft ground so the pace will be slower than road 5k pace.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 16th December

Thursday is a steady run. Run down the Queensway all the way to the Holiday Inn and then turn right and follow the Stewartfield by-pass all the way to Kingsgate. Turn right again towards the Whirlies and then up the Kingsway and back to the club.

Steady pace means something like half-marathon pace, so, for those who did Brampton, quite a bit slower pace than that. Finish the run feeling as though you could go on at that pace for another 2 or 3 miles. As always for these longer club runs, I will try to have a larger number of small packs rather than a few large packs (as we do when running reps).

Alan

Club Training Monday 13th December

As we have a little bit of a gap from Grand Prix races through the festive season, now is a good time to switch back to hills and some strength training. We shall do a gradual build in volume of reps at Avondale over the coming month or so.

This Monday is 6 x Avondale at about 3k effort level (definitely not sprinting but strong, fast paced running). Jog down to recover.

As always, safety comes first, so please keep to the wide pavement on the right to round the corner until you have a clear view of any traffic up the hill and can step onto the road if clear to do so. If the roads and pavements are icy but still runnable, then take extreme care on the way back down and do not push too hard on the way up the hill in case your feet slip and jar a hamstring.

The warm-up is the usual Strathaven Rd, Churchill Avenue, round the back of Lidl and turn right onto Avondale. Start the reps on the wide pavement just after the junction on the right. Cool down via the direct route from Avondale back to the club.

During this wintery period, remember that if on any club night where a road session was planned but there is significant snow fall, then any planned road session should switch to a steady cross-country run on the golf course. Should we have a significant number of days of continuous snow cover, then the Blog sessions will give a more specific rep session on the golf course.

Alan

Harriers XMAS Handicap - Juniors to the Fore

 

Relatively mild conditions greeted a brightly coloured field of senior and junior Harriers for the annual festive handicap. This new beginning for an event that had been held every year since the club's formation (with the exception of 2020, as with most of our events) brought together many of the regular senior Harriers and an encouragingly large (and fast) contingent of junior Harriers contesting the 5 undulating laps of the main drive through Calderglen Country Park.

The runners were set off in descending order of predicted completion time over the 4 mile course. This year the handicaps were based on recent or estimated 5k times as due to the lack of road races, this was the only distance for which there was reasonable data for most of the Harriers. In some cases, pure guesswork was applied! Between the first runner and last runner being set off, there was a gap of 11 minutes to be made up. The handicap race is decided by who completes their five laps first. As the race progressed, the gaps between runners gradually decreased and by the last lap all the runners were on the same lap and the win could have gone to any one of several of our juniors who had worked their way back towards the front. Francis Santangeli appeared first on the home straight, striding out to a comfortable win in 25:46, clearly showing his potential. A gap of 2 minutes ensued before things became a little bit hectic. Four of our junior runners finished in close succession; Anna Lindsay followed up her recent cross country races finishing with the fastest lady's time (28:54), with Kai Wheeler (27:35), Angus Wilkinson (23:19) and Orla Tracey (33:51) following in close succession. Angus backed up his recent championship cross country successes by recording the fastest time of the day. Our second fastest lady was Alison Lessells (29:30) who was also one of the most colourful competitors. Second fastest man with a heavy duty soldier's uniform to hold him back was Chris McCarron in 23:53, an excellent time given what he was wearing! 

The full results are listed at the link below (note that the individual lap times are not all accurate as the splits were being taken mainly to count completed laps and the timing tablet screen was not behaving in the cold air).

Click here for results

Whereas many Harriers often shed weight as the handicap progresses, throwing bits of costume off after every lap, Ian Campbell actually gained weight as his dog, Rum, decided that 4 laps was enough and had to be carried under arm for some of the last lap! Well done Ian. An impressive range of costumes were on display again this year, from the Santas and Elves, through to a fully ripened banana. Unfortunately, Wonder Woman's super powers deserted her during the first lap, suffering from a calf strain. I hope that recovers soon Russell. 

Well done to all the Harriers running today, to Kenny for helping out on the finish line and to Eddie for keeping me right with the names of all the new members.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 9th December - EARLY START!

As the Harriers' AGM takes place at 8pm on Thursday evening, the run starts early at 7pm and is short in duration.

The route is down the Kingsway to the Whirlies. Turn left onto East Mains Rd and continue all the way down to Kirktonholme then turn left again past the railway station and onwards to Lidl. Turn right up Churchill Avenue and back to the club via the NEL roundabout.

Alan

Club Training Monday 6th December

The good thing about cross-country races is that, barring big falls, there are usually no aches or pains afterwards due to the low impact surface. But there is a lot of muscle fatigue. Therefore, those who were racing the West XC at the weekend will do this Brancumhall session as an easy run without any efforts whereas those not racing will do the efforts (those doing the easy version can catch up with their pack during the recovery section after each rep).

The session is 16 x 30 second with a 2 minute easy recovery (no stopping after the 30 seconds, just slow down). The aim is run light and fast (say 4k pace, so similar to the short relay pace) and relaxed despite the (possibly) muddy underfoot conditions. By not stopping after each rep, this will ensure that the efforts do not turn into sprints and should keep the pace in the correct range.

Alan

West District XC - Balloch

 

The Senior/Masters Women charge away from the start line

Better underfoot conditions and a slightly modified course greeted large fields in all the age groups as we returned to the West District XC Championships for the first time in two years. The Harriers were represented in the Under-15 girls, the senior/masters women and the senior/masters men races. Good to see us represented through the age groups. The seniors definitely got the better of the weather though as the younger age groups were exposed to very rainy and cold conditions, so well done to Anna Lindsay on a fine time of 20:16 for the U15 girls' 4km race, ably supported by dad Graeme who had to spend a good few hours keeping loose between the U15 race and his own senior/masters men race later in the afternoon.

The seniors/masters were running a 8km race of two laps. The course was essentially the same as two years ago but without the spur off to the middle of the course for the start/finish. Instead, the start/finish was at the highest point of the course more or less in front of Balloch Castle. Although this provided for a very narrow start straight with a big tree in the middle of it to split the field after 50 metres, the benefit was that the first two thirds of each lap was essentially gradually downhill and hence fast as the course wound its way down to the lowest point of the course almost on the banks of Loch Lomond. This was all good underfoot with plenty of firm grass and efficient running. However, as soon as the course turned up hill for the final third, underfoot conditions became decidedly more tricky. The course climbed and then traversed the slope on a narrow, extremely slippery, muddy footpath. There were plenty of fallers in the senior races on this part. Then it turned to climb steeply to the top level brining the runners back towards the castle. As the runners reached the castle, the course dived steeply down the grassy slope (and some runners did take a dive on this slippery slope) before doing a treacherous U-turn and heading up hill for 150m to the start of the next lap and the finish line on the second lap.

Frances chases down another place on the uphill finish

We were represented by Kirsty Wilson and Frances Ferguson in the senior/masters women 8km race and they turned out to be very closely matched. As the first lap unfolded, Kirsty took a slight lead of what seemed like around 15 to 20m and carried this through to lap 2. However, Frances timed her effort perfectly and by the time they came back into view on the final climb to the finish, Frances had established a lead, running powerfully up the hill to finish in 40:34 and 4th W55 overall. I don't know what training Frances is doing outside of club training and body pump, but whatever it is, she is well on the way back to top form. Kirsty was only a short distance back and finished in 40:42. Despite still being somewhat uncomfortable with cross-country, Kirsty also showed good form up that final hill and will carry the strength benefit from this race into future performances.

Kirsty powers away on the final hill

Callum sprints to the line

We had good numbers out for the men's race, being one of only 15 clubs to field a complete team of 6 (we had 8) and as always, every place counts! As this was my first proper head-to-head rather than relay race since pre-pandemic, I was a little bit nervous and wasn't expecting much on lining up on a very tightly packed start line in a field approaching 300 in number. I ran more or less a steady paced run, not really fit enough to take anyone on head to head or target someone to chase down but as the course unfolded, particularly on the second lap, I found people coming back to me despite me slowing. On both laps I had a few near falls on the slippery traverse but otherwise it was great to be out pushing myself (might wear spikes if we come back to this course though). I finished in 33:22 and also 4th in the M55 category. Callum Wright was our next Harrier home in what looked like a close battle with Graeme Lindsay. Callum finished in 35:26 with Graeme in 35:57. As both Callum and Graeme are relatively new to cross-country, I fully expect them to develop into stronger XC runners through the season as suggested by their road pace and evolving training history. Kevin Farmer is piling in the miles on the road just now and is a little bit wary of the country resulting in a cautious 37:45. Jim Holmes continued a strong Grand Prix season with a time of 40:39. Gordon McInally has made a remarkable recovery from his foot operation and in what I think was his best race performance post-op so far, finished in 41:25. David Wardrope is an out and out road runner but is taking the strength benefit of a cross country season in his stride, finishing in 41:31. Russell Couper had a much less eventful run than the last time we were here when he had multiple falls in the mud. This time he stayed on his feet to finish strongly in 48:45. As noted above, our first 6 counters (Alan, Callum, Graeme, Kevin, Jim & Gordon) formed a complete team and were 15th in the team competition and our first 3 masters (Alan, Graeme and Jim) were 18th in the masters team competition.

Thanks to the club members who carried the tent up the hill and set it up and to Geo for enthusiastic support and photography. An album of Geo's photos and a few from me are here and can be added to if anyone has any.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 2nd December

Thursday's run is an easy pre-race run. The aim of the run is to not sap strength as strength will be needed by those doing the West XC on Saturday. The route for the run is down the Queensway (switch to the left side at the underpass just before the petrol station) and then turn left onto Hairmyres Rd and then left again onto Westwood Rd. Follow Westwood Rd all the way to the Murray Rd, past the Crooked Lum and back to the club. Do 5 or 6 x approx 50m strides on downhill or flat stretches of the route.

Alan

CHRISTMAS HANDICAP FUN RUN

 We will hold our Christmas handicap run on Sunday 12th December. Please arrive by 10.30 for an 11am start for the first runner. For new members this is a 5 lap run (about 3.8miles) based on a handicap system so you will get your start time before the first runner starts. Fancy dress is encouraged and it may help with your handicap. As usual if you bring a prize along you will receive a prize after the event (about the value of £5 is a good guide). If unsure just ask any longer standing member.

WEST DISTRICT XC

 Well this Saturday were heading back to Balloch Country Park for the West District XC. You will be happy to know the big hill at the start and finish is not included this year and the start and finish is at the top of the hill following a similar course to 2 years ago.

Those running are Anna Lindsay u/15 girls with declarations by 11.30 and race start at noon.

F Ferguson, A Lessells, J Thomson and K Wilson Ladies declarations by 12.30 and race at 13.15.

R Couper, A Derrick, G Ferguson, J Holmes, K Farmer, G Lindsay, G McInally, D Wardrope and C Wright Men declarations by 13.30 and race at 14.15.

Can someone pick up the tent and bring it along and the tented area is up at the top of the hill. If everyone thats going can be there by noon for the Ladies and 13.00 for the men and i will speak direct with Graeme about Anna's entry. It would also be great if as many of us as possible arrive in time to support Anna. Anyone that can no longer make it please let me know as early as possible.

Club Training Monday 29th November

This session is a fast paced session prior to West XC with the intention of spinning the legs over without sapping the energy, which will be needed for the Balloch course.

The session will be at Langlands Place and is:

8 x 400m at 5k pace with a 90 seconds recovery and then 4 x 200m at 3k pace with a 200m jog recovery

The 400's are the usual length of the street at Langlands Place whereas the 200's are half the length of the straight and then continue jogging on to the end of the straight as the recovery.

Due to the various roadworks and closures on the Strathaven Rd, run to/from the venue via the Murray Rd and Kelvin Rd, past the end of Carron Place and up towards Greenhills Rd. Thereafter, make it up as necessary to get through any roadworks and down to Langlands Place.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 25th November

Thursday is another recovery run. Head up to the NEL roundabout and then turn right towards the Kingsway. Follow the Kingsway all the way to Kingsgate (run down the left side of the Kingsway and take extreme care crossing all roads on the way to Kingsgate). Turn left along Stewartfield Way as far as Stewartfield Crescent and turn left up the hill. Continue to Stewartfield Rd and take a left down the back, pedestrian path to West Mains Rd. Follow West Mains Rd all the way back to Lidl and then take Churchill Avenue back to the NEL roundabout and back to the club. This run should be easy conversational pace.

Alan

GLORIOUS DAY TO RACE

Well after an absence of racing for over a year we got the longest annual race on Calderglen Harriers calender back. The Brampton to Carlisle 10 miler. Great to see many events coming back. Bus booked, Dinner booked and entries done so off we headed to Brampton on a cold Sunday morning. On arrival the great debate was t shirt under vest or not but as race time approached the majority went for no t shirt. Warm ups done then the annual photo. A strange start to this year as the Sands centre at the finish is being refurbished the start and finish have been moved back about 80metres. Chaos ensued as they struggled to get the runners behind the new start line but eventually without any clear notice we were off. The usual calvary charge down the hill to the sharp turn at the bottom then heading out of Brampton. As we settled in after what for me was too fast a start for current fitness levels i could get to see how the race was going to pan out as small groups of Harriers came past. Karen, Ross, Ian and Chris were well ahead and would surely take our leading positions. David Wardrope had also moved away with a fast start but then Julie and Alison came past and looked like they would have a good race as they've been very competitive recently, then Kenny looking a bit more like his old self after recent injuries. It took 2 miles but the trio of Carly, Billy and Gerry came past and looked as though they would run as a group for at least the first half. That just left Julia behind at this stage but i knew she would run at a more even pace than i was likely to do. Up the first hill to 3 miles and although i lost some of the early time gained it wasnt as much as i had expected. Approaching 4miles and i could hear and feel a lace flapping about. Had to stop and tie it and really never got my pace going again. I wasnt losing loads but was experiencing a gradual drop off each mile. The rest where out of sight by midway but Julia had me in her sights although a long way off. Great work from Julia to gradually pull it back with that solid steady pacing eventually coming past at 8.5m on the uphill section. Time for the racing head to kick in and try to keep in touching distance till i get to the last mile push. Got to the finish just over a minute ahead of my target time so take that as i have ran slower on a few occasions on my previous runs. So how did they all finish. Breaking the 60mins with a PB Ross Mullen 58.17, Ian Tomb 60.14, Chris McCarron 60.57. We then had our leading Lady Karen Allen 71.31, David Wardrope 74.01, Kenny Leinster 77.37, Alison Lessells 79.34 pipping Julie Thomson 80.02, Claire McSorley 81.38, Gerry Mullen 82.10, Billy Buchanan 83.53, Carly Reid on her debut and getting a PB 84.22, Russell Couper 93.54 and Julia Whittle on her debut and getting a PB 94.14. We also had Stuart Gibson down with us running for Cambuslang and despite some recent injuries ran a great time of 58.14. After a few refreshments we made our way to Moffat for our post race meal then headed back to East Kilbride for 8pm. Roll on next year.

Club Training Monday 22nd November

Monday (and Thursday) are recovery runs for those who did Brampton. To avoid confusion with the 2 week Brancumhall schedule, we shall however stick to Brancumhall for Monday.

For those not running Brampton and with an eye on the West District XC, the session is:

6 x 1 lap at 8k XC race effort with 3 minute jog recovery. Each lap will start/finish where the preceding 3 minute recovery finishes. Note that each lap is approximately 800m long.

For those recovering from Brampton, please just run easy laps of Brancumhall whilst the others are doing reps. Running easy on soft ground will help the muscles recover from the race.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 18th November

Thursday is a pre-Brampton easy run with some downhill strides. The route is:

Strathaven Rd, Kingsway, East Mains Rd, West Mains Rd, Queensway, Strathaven Rd

Fit in 4 or 5 gradual accelerations to 5k pace over a distance of about 50m on the downhill sections of the Kingsway and East Mains Rd. Otherwise, run at a nice and easy conversational pace.

Alan 

CALDERGLEN HARRIERS AGM

 After a years forced break im pleased to announce that we will be going ahead with the AGM this year.

We will hold it on Thursday 9th December at 8pm in the main hall. Training that night will be a shorter run starting at 7pm to allow as many to attend as possible. Motions should be in writing and given to Frances Ferguson by Monday 6th December. Please make every effort to attend as this is your club and your input is valuable.

REMINDER OF TRAINING BOOKING FORM

 Over the last few weeks there has been occasions that some have been trying the training booking form after the cut off time of 18.30. This fires through notifications to Alan which he doesnt have time to enter into the system to manually update. This creates an innacurate record of those at training and puts us in jeopardy of sanctions from our governing body. This culminated in attempts from 3 tonight after the cut off time. Can i remind everyone that even if its only a few seconds late it breaks the recording system and creates work for Alan to fix it. Please abide by the process its for everyones benefit.

Club Training Monday 15th November

This week consists of lighter training in the taper towards Brampton. The session is at Langlands Place and is as follows:

8 x 400m at 5k pace, 90 seconds standstill recovery

The pace is quite a bit faster than 10-mile race pace but the intention is to feel light on the feet rather than plodding at a relatively slow a pace. This should make 10-mile pace feel easy (so long as you remember to hold back and don't take off at 5k pace!).

Warm up via Strathaven Rd to Greenhills Rd and then around in front of Sainsburys and up the hill to Langlands Place. Cool down via the reverse of this route.

Alan

WEST DISTRICT CROSS COUNTRY ( BALLOCH )

 This years West District XC will be held at Balloch Country Park on Sat 4th Dec

This is a straight race over 8.5k

Timings are 13.15 for the Ladies and 14.15 for the Men.

Cost is £7.50 each and should be paid to the club before race day.

Remember to make sure your SA membership is up to date at time of entry and race date otherwise the system doesnt allow entry.

I need names by Monday 15th Nov

If anyone knows if any of the Juniors want entered in the Junior races can you ask them to add there names to the below list too. Parents will need to take there kids to the venue but if we have any i will try to be there to pick up numbers at declarations. Timings can be found on Scottish athletics event page and cost is £6 and distances vary depending on age.

If you want entered leave your name HERE.

Those registered are listed HERE.

Club Training Thursday 11th November

This Thursday is a medium long run for all. The pace should be about a 1 minute per mile slower than your anticipated 10 mile race pace (on average across the whole route; slower on the uphills a bit faster on the downhills).

The route is Kingsway to Kingsgate, Stewartfield By-pass to the Holiday Inn/Centre One and then all the way back up the Queensway.

Alan

Harriers XMAS Dinner Menu Choices

The Christmas dinner is on Friday 17th December 7pm to 1am at Carrigans. Menu choices are now required. Please refer to the following menu for details (note in particular that there is an extra charge for some of the main courses) and then record your choices in the form at this link. Click or tap on the photo of the menu below to open it full screen, zoom in or out, etc.

Choices made so far are here. Any questions, then ask Eddie.

Alan

Four seasons in one race

 

Lanark XC Short course 4k Championship was the venue on Saturday where six Harriers raced against Scotland’s top runners. Yes, they were all here; Muir, Butchart, Wightman, Ferguson, racing in challenging conditions. At the pre-race strategy meeting Jim Holmes provided valuable advice on the best way to run into the wind, heid doon.

As usual, the women were first off. Morgan and Frances had a quick warm up, with one of them feeling slightly overshadowed by the fabulous shorts of the other. I don’t know if you could see them from the Moon but in a field of over 200 participants there was no mistaking our Morgan! They started in a brief moment of sunshine, then hailstones, followed by rain, back to sunshine and then more rain. All in less than 25 minutes! Portugal, eat your heart out........

Frances charged home in 18:48. Not her Garmin time of 1 hour 16 minutes.......yes, she forgot to stop her watch.........and Morgan was a strong 20:35.

Off went the men and Geo was left to hold onto the tent as there was a very good chance it would turn into a kite. The wind was becoming a problem!

Callum led the way with an impressive 15:56 (see headline photo) Jim Holmes battled through to 18:00 dead, Gordon “toe” McInally gave 19:24 minutes of strong running and Russell Couper came in at a very respectable 20:50.

With the weather conditions, there was little in the way of a post race moan, and a new world record was set for tent packing. A good, if short day was enjoyed.........

Geo

Club Training - Monday 8th November

An easier cross country session at Brancumhall tomorrow which each pack should adapt the pace of depending on whether the pack members have been racing on Saturday or Sunday. The session consists of 1 side of the circuit at a harder pace followed by 2 sides at a "float" pace i.e. not a jog but just a steady run. Each pack should treat the harder paced rep as a sort of Fartlek with no specified pace or effort to aim for but each person in the pack should take a turn at leading out that effort at a pace they feel comfortable with given the length of the rep. Do this for 6 complete laps of the circuit. The circuit is illustrated below for those not familiar with the lap.

As always, some kind Harrier will take their car to Brancumhall with your off-road shoes in it.

Alan

BRAMPTON TO CARLISLE 10 MILE RACE

 Well after missing out last year for the first time in the races long history its back and so will we be. The Harriers have gone to this event annually since 1986 and some have been to almost every event. We now have a bus booked so for those that are new to the club and a reminder to the others the schedule is as follows. The bus will leave the Sports club at 8am on Sunday 21st Nov and travel to Brampton. This will get us there in plenty time for warm ups, team photo etc before the race starts at 11.30am. At the finish depending how long we take to run we will have a couple of hours in Carlisle and time to have a refreshment or two and a good chat about how our runs went. We will then leave for Moffat for a meal and the presentations our our Brampton trophies to our first Lady and Gent and the all important reveal of the sweep winner. Back on the bus and back in East Kilbride for about 8pm.

£15 will secure your place on the bus and should be paid asap. If you opt to pay this direct to the bank acc then drop Russell a message to say its done and your place is then secure. At this point i dont know what the meal cost will be but probably about £15 and this will be collected on the day.

Guests can come on the bus too so if you know anyone thats wants to run then let them know the details.

As this is a long day you probably should bring something to eat on the bus for before the run and after to see you through to our dinner in Moffat

Entries are different this year with only an online option so everyone will have to take care of there own entry. Details are on the Border Harriers website and you will have to sign in for a login with sportsoft and this link should take you to it https://www.race-results.co.uk/onlineentries/user/login.php?raceid=4154(online    

Club Training Thursday 4th November

Thursday's club run is another run with a shorter option for those racing the National 4k on Saturday. This is the Fortnightly Four Hills run in the usual direction (i.e. starting off with Market Hill, then College Milton, etc). For those racing on Saturday, rather than diverting straight up the Queensway, cross the Queensway and head through the factories and across the railway but turn left on Hairmyers Rd and then turn right up the Queensway. Take the pace very easy indeed.

Alan

NATIONAL SHORT COURSE XC ( FINAL INSTRUCTIONS )

 This Saturday 6th Nov were off to Lanark race course.

Ladies start at 13.30 and men at 14.00 in a straight race over 4k

I need the Ladies there by 12.40 at the latest and men by 13.10 to allow number hand over and warm ups. I will be there before 12.30 to register the runners and collect the numbers and chips. Please arrive in plenty of time. The following are listed to run but if you cant make it let me know as soon as possible.

J Thomson, F Ferguson, M Beaton and K Wilson.

R Couper, A Derrick, R Beaton, G Ferguson, G McInally, R Lawton, J Holmes and C Wright.

Club Training Monday 1st November

Monday's session is a progression run at Carron Place, similar but not identical to the session we did back in mid-September. I recommend editing the programed session on Garmin Connect and letting the watch tell you when to change pace rather than trying to glance at your watch in the dark. If you programmed this session back in September, you can edit it on Garmin Connect to change the paces to the new paces as given below and then transmit the session again to your watch and finally synch the watch to upload and over-write the old workout on your watch.

The run is a progression run of approximately 1 hour duration (the final cool-down may well take you beyond the hour depending on how far you finish from the club). For each pack, I shall set an approximate 10k pace and then the pace of each stage of the progression is calculated from that. The session is as follows:

• 10 minutes at 1.3 x 10 k pace (so if 10k pace for your pack is 4 minutes/km, then the pace of this effort is 1.3 x 4 = 5:12 min/km)
• 10 minutes at 1.2 x 10k pace (e.g. 1.2 x 4min/km = 4:48 min/km)
• 10 minutes at 1.1 x 10k pace (e.g. 1.1 x 4 min/km = 4:24 min/km)
• 10 minutes at 1.0 x 10k pace (e.g. 1.0 x 4 min/km - 4:00 min/km)
• 10 minutes at 0.95 x 10k pace (e.g. 0.95 x 3:48 min/km)
• 10 minutes (still at Carron Place or on the way back to to the club) at 1.3 x 10k pace (e.g. 1.3 x 4 min/km = 5:12 min/km).

Cool down at 1.3 x 10k pace (if the final 10 minutes does not take you all the way back to the club via the reverse of the run to Carron Place).

There is no gap or rest between each 10 minute. The pace should be stepped up as soon as each 10 minute period ends. This can be programmed as a workout on the Garmin Connect app and transferred to your watch. It is also possible to programme the pace setting for each 10 minute section. The video at the end shows how this can be done (although the pace settings are not those shown above). This needs to be entered as a pace range e.g. 10 seconds/km either side of the target pace such as 5:50 to 6:10 min/km for the 6 min/km target. Alternatively, someone with good eye sight can just keep an eye on the pace on the watch and keep their pack running at the correct pace. The 10k pace to be assumed for each bubble is listed at the end of the post. The packs usually consist of multiple bubbles e.g. Pack A might be bubbles 1 to 3 or 2 and 3.

The route is circuits of Carron Place, getting there by turning left onto the Strathaven Road, along Greenhills Rd to the top of the hill and then down Singer Road to Carron Place. The first 10 minute section starts as soon as you leave the club (watch out for open trenches on Greenhills Rd!!!!).

• Bubbles 1 to 3 should base their times on a 10k pace of 4 min/km.
• Bubbles 4 to 5 should base their times on a 10k pace of 4:30 min/km
• Bubbles 6 to 7 should base their times on a 10k pace of 5 min/km
• Bubbles 8 to 10 should base their times on a 10k pace of 6 min/km

Alan

Harriers Xmas Dinner

Eddie is planning to hold a Harriers Xmas dinner with drinks afterwards on Saturday 18th December at Carrigans. Names to Eddie as soon as possible so a group booking can be made.

Alan 

Club Training Thursday 28th October

Thursday is another longish, easy run. The route is as follows:

From the club to the NEL roundabout and then down to the Murray roundabout. Turn left along the Murray Rd and continue all the way to the junction with Westwood Hill Rd where you turn left. Run along to Lickpivick and then up Lickprivick to Greenhills Roundabout/underpass. Turn right through the underpass and up onto Greenhills Rd. Carry on down Greenhills Rd heading towards Hairmyres Rd. Take the usual back lane onto Hairmyres Rd, then back to the Queensway and back to the club.

The pace should be easy. It is of more benefit to spend longer covering the distance and hence getting a longer duration of aerobic training than it is to hammer it at race pace and effectively burn yourself out. Races are for racing; training is for training.

Alan

Club Training Monday 25th October

Monday is our fortnightly Brancumhall session. As stated in a previous post, the purpose of the XC training on a soft surface is to build muscle strength and propulsive power, to complement the elastic energy we get from the muscles when running on a hard surface.

The session is 4 x 1 lap reps at faster than 3k to 5k race effort with 1 minute stand-still recoveries.

Despite the heavy ground, think about being light on your feet, running tall as if there are strings on your head lifting you up out of the mud, keeping the cadence fast and skimming over rather than plodding through the mud. Visualising like this will automatically get you through the mud more efficiently.

As usual, a kind hearted Harrier (probably Gordon!) will take your off-road shoes down in his car.

Alan

National XC Relays Scone Palace

 

For the first time in what seems like decades, we finally had a new venue for the National XC Relays on Saturday. With a massive turnout of clubs from all over Scotland, it was a little disappointing that we could manage only 2 incomplete teams and one complete M50 team, however all of our runners enjoyed a wide open course with some gentle hills and no mud to speak of! As with the West XC relays two weeks ago, the lap distance was nominally 4k but the absence of severe hills made this a very fast course indeed. On the basis of our runners and those from other clubs who also ran the West, the course was between 60 and 90 seconds faster than Alexandra Park.

Our two ladies ran each other very close indeed. Alison Lessells was on first leg duty and ran an impeccably paced run with a powerful finish in 18:04. That would be a hard time to beat but Julie Thomson had found her cross-country legs on the second leg and ran pretty much solo to finish in 18:01 (rounding the official time to the nearest second)! This was over 2 minutes faster than at Alexandra Park and proved that Julie needed a race under her belt to get the pacing worked out. Well done to both ladies. We now have a very close competition in the GP and Scratch Championships with only a few points covering the top 3 or 4 in both competitions. 

For the men we had a senior team of 3 (one short of a complete team) and an M50 masters team of 3 (which was a complete team in that category). Kevin Farmer once again proved he can handle a crowded race situation on the first leg for the senior team, finishing in 112th position in 15:11. Jim Holmes took the first leg for the M50 team. Despite feeling a bit heavy-legged following the half x 4 hills on Thursday, Jim loosened off nicely for the race. It's a bit daunting to go straight to the back when the gun goes but this was the sensible place to be as many of the others were "over-reaching" on the fast, flat start straight and soon came back to Jim who picked his way through the field, finishing in 144th position in 17:07, again sticking to the formula of Alexandra Park minus approximately 1 minute.

Gordon McInally goes from strength to strength as his toe gradually heals and today was on the second leg for the senior team. Gordon followed the rules and also ran just over a minute faster than 2 weeks ago to cross the line in an excellent 18:39 (but failing to keep a flying Andy Butchart from passing in the overall lead on leg 3!). Gordon handed over in 132nd position. Jim Mearns continues to demonstrate the speed he has in addition to endurance on leg 2 for the M50 team. Jim was in fine form, not having handicapped himself with a double vaccinations beforehand this week, and finished in 17:19, a full 95 seconds faster than 2 weeks ago, suggesting that the vaccine is about a 30 second handicap! Jim was in 134 position which meant that the M50 team was now just 2 places behind the senior team.

Russell Couper was on leg 3 for the senior team up against me on leg 3 for the M50 team, starting 2 places behind. Russell had already agreed to pull his elbows in when/if I caught him to give me the shortest route around. With the long start straight, I could see Russell approaching the U-turn at the end when I started off. I was also aware that the 2nd and third placed overall (and several more teams) would probably come flying past early on so needed to keep my eyes (unsuccessfully) on the rear view mirrors to avoid tripping them up. This was one of those days which demonstrates the rule "do what the coach says, not what the coach does" as I have been suffering with a virus since the West and was tight chested and passing liquids like a mountain spring. The coach says "don't race if you feel like this!". Anyway, I didn't withdraw but felt the stress in the chest once the heart rate hit the max a few minutes in. Not a nice feeling. True to his word, Russell pulled the elbows in as I went past after about 400m just as we turned onto the first gentle climb up the banks towards the palace. The course climbed then dropped and then climbed again before finally dropping down a fantastic, firm grass surface to effectively the Tay flood plain. Surprisingly, this was also remarkably firm and the remaining 3.5km's to the finish were very smooth underfoot. The second, third, fourth (and possibly several other) teams flew past me eventually and I crossed the line in 14:49, only 50 seconds faster than the West, so a bit down. I subsequently noticed that all of the other club's M50's who were a similar time to me at the West were about 80 to 90 seconds faster here, so that kind of confirms how I felt, unable to push in the flat middle section, fearing I was going to flake out. Russell meanwhile put in a very even paced lap, except for the final 200m when he really piled on the pace, to finish in 20:24, some two and half minutes faster than at the West and the club's biggest improver. Russell is getting back to form with every race!

Jim Holmes has now taken a surprisingly early lead (Jim normally leaves it to the last couple of races) in the GP although the top 5 are very close. Kevin Farmer has stretched out a well deserved early lead in the scratch championship. The next GP race is the National 4km XC at Lanark Race Course.

For comparison, Andy Butchart ran 11:31 with all 4 in Central's winning team being between 11:29 and 11:34. Amazing strength in depth, particularly as Central's B team placed second.

I have only a couple of photos this week in this album.

Alan

York Marathon &10 Mile Race Report

A quick background to the reason for entering this race was the fact that in 2019 an intrepid band of Harriers ran the York Marathon with great success, known as Andy's Angels this group (you know who you are) covered themselves in glory with Andy leading the way and Kenny close behind. It would be true to say that they celebrated with great success on the way home on the train as well and that was possibly when Kenny stated he would do the race again but faster.

So fast forward to 2021 and Kenny is running well and he decides that the York marathon is ready to be run again with high hopes of a faster time (some people seem to remember what they say when they have had a drink !!). Not having high hopes of fast times for anything never mind a marathon I decided that I had better go down with him to York to make sure he didn't get lost (seems he did once before somewhere).

For some reason I let myself be talked into the 10 mile race scheduled to begin about 45 minutes after the Marathon, at this point Frances decided we both needed looking after and entered the 10 mile as well. Chris decided nearer the time that he would enter the 10 mile too (a training distance for him these days). Then we found out that Davie Watt had been spotted doing a lot of running from a reliable source (Kirsty is not a policewoman for nothing, she notices things going on around her neighbourhood). Frances confirmed with Davie who stated he had entered the York Marathon but not broadcast the fact because he had not done a marathon for 35 years and as he had now entered the MV60 category (comes to us all sooner or later 😟) he thought he would give it a go.

So things are all set for the return to York, entries in, accommodation ready everything in place !! Well even the best laid plans go astray, Kenny picks up an injury which unfortunately means he will not manage to run the Marathon nor even drop down to the 10 mile distance, however he still plans to come down and hold our "jaickets" and cheer us on and buy us drink afterwards 👍. Ah well that didn't happen either as a family commitment prevented him getting to York at all.😞

So at last you will be saying get to the point and give us the race report, ok it is worth waiting for honest.

The day of the race started off wet and windy on the way to York University Campus , however the weather God smiles on Calderglen Harriers , well sometimes, and the wind dropped and the rain stopped. Frances and  I met Chris, Davie was already off and running, and got ready for the start, Chris sensibly getting up near the front and me sensibly getting near the back. Frances had said a few times before the race she was just out for a scenic run round York to see the historic landmarks on the route which meant she would be running with me. She would be sightseeing I would be huffing and puffing and seeing nothing much but the road in front of me .

I knew it would not last even though she was adamant it would, needless to say the Harriers competitive instinct kicked in (that's Frances 's competitive instinct mine is just a burning ember these days) and after a 1 slow mile for her off she went never to be seen again until the end of the race.

Chris meanwhile was absolutely flying round I don't know if he saw any historic buildings at his pace but I suspect not. So 10 miles passed as 10 miles does, with the Harrier's 10 mile results as follows:

 Chris       - 01:02:23 Category Position.        28 (out of 322)

 Frances  - 01:19:23 Category Position.        06   (out of 94)

 Billy        - 01:24:38 Category Age Concern 02  (out of 15)

And leaving the best till last, what can I say Davie Watt's Marathon may have been 35 years to wait for but his race was incredible.

 Davie     - 02:58:15  British Masters Silver Medal for 2nd place in the M60 category.

I think I can safely say that we were all pleased with our performances and that Alan's training schedules definitely work, this is surely proof of that, thanks Alan.👏👏

By the way  Chris is now a media star as he was interviewed at the end of his race for York University TV, not sure if he is looking for an agent yet but you never know.

So there we have it, all done and dusted, t-shirts and medals in the goodie bag, along with cans of "non-alcoholic beer", actually tasted ok, but I did go for the real thing later on courtesy of Frances, obviously feeling guilty about running away and leaving me !!

Next year ? well who knows what Kenny will come up with we will wait and see.

Billy B 

Club Training Thursday 21st October

The run on Thursday is quite simple. For those NOT doing the National XC Relays, it is the 4 hills (Kingsway, Village, Market Hill, College Milton, Dunedin, Lickprivick). For those doing the National XC Relays it is the first part of the 4 hills as far  as College Milton but rather than crossing the Queensway into the factories on the other side of the road, stay on the Queensway back up to the club. The pace should be easy.

Alan

NATIONAL XC RELAYS TEAMS AND INFO

 These are the teams for Saturdays race at Scone Palace.

Ladies     Leg 1   A Lessells,  Leg 2    J Thomson. legs 3+4 spare

Men M50    Leg 1    J Holmes,   Leg 2   J Mearns,    Leg 3   A Derrick.

Men Sen     Leg 1    K Farmer,    Leg 2   G McInally,   Leg 3  R Couper.  leg4 spare

There are 2 spare legs for the Ladies and 1 for the M sen so if anyone still wants to run let me know and i will check if your listed in the reserve list.

Ladies start at 13.20 and men at 14.45 so i need the ladies there for 12.30 and the men for 14.00 but it would be nice if you could be there to support the Ladies. 

Parking There will be NO parking at Scone Palace. Access to the site is via Stormontfield Road accessed off the A93 approximately 1mile NORTH of the entrance to the Scone Palace grounds. Parking is available on the grass area to the left of the access road. Please park responsibly.

Masters-only Teams Masters teams - attach “V” to the FRONT and BACK of team members’ vests. V50 teams - attach “X” to the FRONT and BACK of team members’ vests. “X”s and “V”s can be collected from declarations on the day of the event. Masters/V50 athletes running in Senior teams do not need this additional indicator.

I will do the declarations online before i leave on Saturday morning and collect the numbers and X's  before 12.30.

If anyone can no longer make it please let me know by first thing Saturday morning at the latest.

Russell 

Performance Award Scheme - Updated with M70 Standards

I have added the M70 category to the performance standards for the Harriers Performance Award Scheme. The standards at each of the distances have been calculated from the top performing M70's in the Power of 10 web site in the same way as all the other age group standards have been calculated. i.e. gold = within 112% of the average of the UK top 5 M70's, silver = within 116% of the average of the UK top 5 M70's and bronze = within 125% of the average of the UK top 5 M70's.

The revised table for men is here.

The equivalent women's table (unchanged) is here.

These tables and all the other information and forms can be accessed via the blog menu on the left.

Alan

Club Training Monday 18th October

In the midst of all those races but with longer races on the horizon, it is important to keep the quality training up on at least one of the club nights and to recognise that the races we are doing, particularly the shorter ones, are training sessions in their own right. So for this Monday we return to the session from two weeks ago which mixes slightly faster than (short) race pace with short race specific pace. The importance of this type of session is as much about muscle memory (i.e. training the legs to move fast without straining) and speed endurance. When we move up to the longer race distances, this muscle memory makes the slightly slower cadence of the longer races easier.

The session is as follows:

The warm-up is a run up the Strathaven Rd and then onto the Sainsburys Loop. Continue clockwise around the loop, past the entrance to Sainsburys and then all the way up the hill to the junction with Greenhills Rd. The session starts here. Run from there run clockwise around the Sainsburys loop at 4k XC race pace until you reach the Sainsbury's main entrance (it is approximately 1100m). Take a 5 minute recovery but during the recovery, jog up to Langlands Place. 

At Langlands Place do 3 sets of the following:

400m along Langlands Place at slightly faster than 4k race pace. Jog recover for 200m back along Langlands Place then run the remaining 200m of Langlands Place to the junction at a slightly faster pace than the 400m was run at. Standstill recover for 2 minutes.

After 3 sets of the above, take a further 3 minutes recovery (5 minutes total) during which you should jog up the hill to Greenhills Rd. Then do one more effort at 4k race pace from there clockwise around the Sainsburys Loop to the Sainsburys entrance.

Jog back to the club as a cool down.

Alan

Glasgow University Road Race - Centenary

 

It was great to see the Glasgow University Road Race, one of the long-standing races in the Scottish road running calendar, celebrating it's centenary on Saturday. The Harriers have run in this race over variations of this course for most of the past 37 years, originally starting from the vicinity of the old GU Westerlands Sports Grounds (now where the Anniesland Morrisons is) over one 5 mile lap and more recently from the new Garscube Sports Complex over 2 x 2.5 mile laps. The hill at Dawsholm Park has always been a feature; originally up the steep section, nowadays down (twice). Given the hills (up and down), this has always been a hard race but falls at the right time of year when we are working on strength by doing cross-country and building towards 10 mile road race and 10k cross country endurance.

It was therefore nice to see so many Harriers turning out (some later than others) on a cold Saturday morning to join a field of more than 160. This was the second race of the Harriers' Grand Prix season and there is already a sense that this is going to be a very competitive GP. It was very fitting that Glasgow University Hares & Hounds occupied the first 3 places, the winning time being 25:33. First Harrier to finish with a very confident run was Kevin Farmer in 31:46 (57th) who had gradually opened up a gap on Callum Wright (32:42) throughout the race. Julie Beveridge was next Harrier across the line (33:59) and 15th lady. Julie led a very tight Harriers race-within-a-race, heading Kirsty Wilson (an excellent 34:01) and a bewildered Stephen Phimister (34:05), who thought he had the sprint finish covered.

Davie Wardrope's legs are just beginning to recover from the London Marathon and he felt pretty good, finishing in 35:46. Jim Holmes ran very strongly and finished very well, resplendent in number 118, in a time of 36:23. Demonstrating the benefits of many years of Harriers' training, Richard Lawton made his first race since pre-pandemic and knocked nearly 2 minutes off his previous best time from 2009, finishing in 37:33. Richard Beaton slipped past without a Harriers vest in 38:43. However, I was surprised and delighted to see Geo Ferguson back in a Harriers vest after a long, long injury and a steady run in 39:16, with no injury recurrence. Robert Gibson was another big improver, gradually making up ground throughout the race and finishing in 39:50. Next on the return from injury (or in this case, return from surgery) trail was Gordon McInally who will soon be back to great form on the basis of his time of 40:48. It's a while since Davie Searil did this race but great to see Davie back racing very regularly, finishing comfortably in 44:25. Russell Couper rounded off the Harriers' finishers with a time of 44:44. 

Of course there were other Harriers in attendance. As I was walking back to the start line some 4 minutes after the race started, I saw a Harriers vest running towards the line. Given that 2.5 miles in 4 minutes would be stretching human performance limits, this was unlikely to be the leader starting lap 2 and was instead the very late Martin Howell starting lap 1! Martin gave chase for a few minutes and then eventually abandoned as he was too far behind (and would have to collect his number on lap 2). Then we had two hindered by the lurgy. Both Morgan Beaton and Jim Mearns had been under the weather the past week or so and sensibly pulled out after the first lap. It was good to see Stuart Gibson making his gradual return from a long injury, finishing in 28:31 and 22nd position overall.

Some sensible joker playing has brought Kirsty Wilson into the lead in the women's GP and Stephen Phimister has leapfrogged to the front of the men's GP.

The main thing I noticed was how strong the majority of the Harriers looked at the finish; a reflection on the consistent hard work they have put in over the summer. Some photos of all Harriers racing are in this album.

Alan

NATIONAL SHORT COURSE XC

 This years National short course XC will be held at Lanark on Sat 6th Nov

This is a straight race over 4k

Timings are not yet posted but will be early afternoon.

Cost is £8 each and should be paid to the club before race day.

Remember to make sure your SA membership is up to date at time of entry and race date otherwise the system doesnt allow entry.

I need names by Monday 18th Oct

If you wish entered please leave your name HERE

Those already registered are listed HERE

Club Training Thursday 14th October

It's threshold Thursday again! Remember this is the effort you could sustain for 1 hour under race conditions, so somewhere between 10k and 10 mile effort. At this effort, each rep becomes uncomfortable after the first minute or two and then remains uncomfortable for the rest of the rep. The recoveries are quite short such that you quickly get into this uncomfortable state on the next rep.

As some will be doing the GU Road Race on Saturday, the number of reps has been reduced compared to last time. Run controlled at all times; don't run yourself into the ground. The session is 3 x 6 minutes with a 2 minute jog recovery.

The route is from the club up Strathaven Rd to Greenhills Rd and then along Greenhills Rd. Start the first rep after crossing High Whitehills Rd (a downhill start!). Carry on all the way to Greenhills roundabout and then turn right onto Lickprivick. Run down Lickprivick and then bear right again at the bottom and head for the Murray Rd and back to the club past the Crooked Lum and the NEL.

Alan

Club Training Monday 11th October

Monday is our fortnightly cross-country session at Brancumhall. The session is as follows (referring to the aerial photograph below):

Run one side of the quadrangle at 4k race pace then slow down to a "float" pace for the next two sides of the quadrangle and then do the next side at 4k pace. Do this until you have completed 6 complete laps of the quadrangle. So, you start off with side 1 at 4k pace, float for sides 2 and 3 and then side 4 at 4k pace and then sides 1 and 2 at float and side 3 at 4k pace and so on until you have done 6 complete laps of the quadrangle. Press your lap button at each change of pace so there is a good record of there actually being a change of pace.

"Float" pace is not a jog, it is something like 10k to 10 mile race pace, so means taking the foot off the gas from 4k pace. 6 complete laps is approximately 3 miles of which about 1 mile will be fast and 2 miles at float.

Take the usual route to and from Brancumhall and bring a change of shoes, if you have them, for the cross country reps. If we are lucky, someone may even take you cross country shoes to the course in a car but come prepared with a small bag or rucksack to carry them in if not.

Alan

West District XC Relays - Speed Golf Harriers' Style

 

Saturday saw the welcome return to normality as far as Scottish Athletics competition was concerned with a very well attended and competitive West District XC Relay Championship at Alexandra Park, Glasgow. This new venue provided a challenging course with a surprising amount of elevation change but a also a firm, grassy surface in the light rough at the sides of the fairways. There were perhaps only 4 or 5 steps in slightly squidgy ground on the whole course, which was remarkable given the amount of rain in the preceding days and the number of feet that had pounded the course by the time the senior women and men ran at the end of the day.

The women were running in teams of 3, each completing 1 lap of the 4km course. We had one full and one incomplete (2 runners) team competing. We had the two Julies on the first leg of each team (Julie Beveridge and Julie Thomson) and each ran very well. Julie Beveridge paced the leg well and was able to take advantage of the terrain to finish very fast indeed in a time of 16:57. Julie Thomson has taken great strides forward this past year, hitting multiple pb's on the road but is still relatively new to cross country and is learning how to pace herself on hilly courses such as this. Julie had a fine run of 20:09. Kirsty Wilson made a welcome return to cross country (at least it was welcome for all of us supporting; speaking to Kirsty after her run, she was not so certain!) and put in a very strong performance on leg 2 for the first team to finish in 17:40. Frances Ferguson has been struggling with a few niggling injuries in recent months but showed good natural ability to run a very consistently paced lap in 19:38 for leg 2 of the second team. Alison Lessells completed the first team and, as seemed to be the case with most of our runners, got involved in a finishing straight sprint to hold a place, not that Alison had much choice given the very vocal encouragement she was getting to "Gooooooo" by her teammates. Alison finished in 19:06. As the ladies held onto their jokers, the Grand Prix and Scratch Championship leader boards are exactly in finishing order with Julie Beveridge leading both.

For the men we had two complete teams and a half complete team. The men were running in teams of 4 over the same 4km lap as the ladies. Our senior men's team was led off by Kevin Farmer who was getting himself unnecessarily worried about a return to racing. However, once he got going he was fine and stormed around on the crowded first leg in 16:13. Our over 40's (well over 40 in most cases) masters team was led off by Graeme Lindsay, stepping down considerably in distance from his last race. Graeme sped around the lap at a very consistent pace uphill and down in 16:54. For the incomplete team, Gordon McInally made his first race post foot surgery and surprised himself with an excellent time of 19:44. This shows that for all the race distances we cover from 4k to marathons and beyond, the bulk of the energy we use comes aerobically and Gordon has maintained his aerobic fitness despite the layoff from running by doing a lot of cycling. Gordon will of course get faster as he is able to add more running to his training but he has done a good job so far of keeping his aerobic fitness up.

Leg 2 of the senior team was given to Richard Beaton, making his cross country debut as an adult! Richard made good use of his new trail shoes to finish in 19:26 and with a strategically smart move, played two jokers to take an early lead in the Harriers Grand Prix. Stephen Phimister was on leg 2 for the Masters team and made up ground and passed several, including Richard in our first team, finishing in 17:19 with not a spec of mud on his legs; this was definitely a clean cross-country course. Russell Couper was on leg 2 for the incomplete team and was somewhat isolated but still kept the pace under control, finishing in 22:55.

Leg 3 for the Masters team was taken by me and as I was on the verge of several recurring injuries I lined up for the changeover with some trepidation. However, despite not having raced since October 2019, as soon as the leg was underway, it was business as usual and chase, chase, chase! I definitely felt my age on the uphills, lacking the power that I remember from even a few years ago but paced it well enough to even have a big sprint in the final 50m to make up one more place, finishing in 15:37. Callum Wright was on leg 3 for the senior team and despite not having done many cross country races of any distance, let alone a relative sprint such as this, ran very well and overtook many on his way to a time of 16:05.

Jim Holmes was on the final leg for the Masters team and held on well to the team's position. Jim enjoyed the lap much more at race pace than he did doing the warm-up lap with me, when it seemed there were only uphills on the course! Jim finished in 18:04. The senior team was also fielding a Jim on the 4th leg, this time Jim Mearns. Jim doesn't necessarily like to take the easy option, so somewhat handicapped himself by having a covid and flu booster jag the day before. However, Jim's main concern was finishing in time to see the Scotland match which had a 1700 kick-off. He needed have worried and was another Harrier demonstrating an impressive range of race distances from 4k to ultra, finishing in 18:52 (not at 18:52, in which case he would have missed the first half).

Well done to all who were able to compete and those who came down to support (Anne and Allan). Also a big thanks to Shettleston Harriers who hosted the event and put in a power of effort to put the first post-covid championship XC on at a completely new venue.

The impressive thing about all the Harriers running at the weekend was the very obvious commitment to chase down every vest in front of us and make up places for the team. For those new members who haven't competed in a relay for the Harriers (road or cross-country) and thought that running was purely an individual sport, this sort of event really makes you feel part of a team and, although there are unfortunately not many relays on the calendar, I would recommend getting a Scottish Athletics membership such that we are able to pick you for a future event and you can enjoy the team spirit first hand. 

There are a few photos from Frances and some from me in this album (which you can upload to). Also, the up-to-date Grand Prix and Scratch Championship scores are available via the Grand Prix menu to the left of the blog.

Roll on Scone Palace in two weeks (also remember that the Glasgow University 5 Mile Road Race is next weekend and is a GP event. There are still over 100 places available for pre-entries on Entry Central)!

Alan

Grand Prix Season Start Jokers

I've done a few simulations of the joker scoring system to try to even it up a bit this year as it was becoming possible to run away with a total that was dominated by those with more than a few jokers at the start of the season. This also reflects the fact that the numbers taking part were on average down the last time we ran a full GP which again biased the result to those with many jokers at the start of the season. So, based on the average participation over the past few Grand Prix and some simulations of average positions throughout the field, the list of starting jokers for the season is here and is based on our well established pack ranking. Note that those starting with zero jokers will still pick up jokers after 5, 8 and 11 races completed as described in an earlier post here. To stand a chance of winning, it is still necessary to do at least 11 races.

For this year, given that we are starting with a lower number of jokers, there is no upper limit on the number of jokers that can be played/earned per season.

Alan

WEST DISTRICT XC RELAY TEAMS

 The teams for Saturday are listed below

LADIES A     Leg 1 J Beveridge,    Leg 2 K Wilson,     Leg 3  A Lessells

LADIES B     Leg 1 J Thomson,     Leg 2  F Ferguson

MENS SENIOR TEAM    1 K Farmer,   2 R Beaton,  3 C Wright,   4  J Mearns

MENS MASTER TEAM   1 G Lindsay,  2 S Phimister,  3 A Derrick,  4 J Holmes

INCOMPLETE TEAM     1 G McInally,  2 R Couper,  3 A McLellan.

Please arrive in plenty of time. (see instruction post below)

Training Thursday 7th October

Thursday is a pre-race run of relatively short duration with some light strides in the middle. The suggested route is from the club to High Common Road via the lane down past Colonsay Field. Follow High Common Rd downhill to St Leonards Rd and along towards Brancumhall. Carry on past Brancumhall to Maxwelton Rd up to Calderwood Square. Cross over the road and run down to the Whirlies and back to the club via the Kingsway. Start the strides on the better lit parts of St Leonards Rd (if there are any better lit parts) and fit in strides (i.e. a gentle acceleration to a relaxed, light on the feet pace) on flatter parts of the route. Each stride should be approximately 50m to 100m in length (e.g. between 3 lamp posts), Do 4 to 6 strides when the conditions allow, well spaced out with at least a few minutes between each one.

Alan

WEST DISTRICT XC RELAYS INTRUCTIONS FOR SATURDAY

 For those racing on Saturday please read the following.

Parking is available on Blochairn Road (Post codes G21 2DU or 2DZ). This a large industrial area which is free from traffic on Saturday. A footbridge takes you from this road directly over the M8 into Milnbank Sports Hub where you find the tented area and course. Please note strictly no parking allowed in Park or in residential housing next to park. Club tents can be dropped off at the side entrance of the Park via Sannox Gardens (G31 3JE). This street is accessed off Alexandra Park Street and Coventry Drive. Individuals dropping off tents may park in these streets -This will be strictly monitored by Community Police. No others may park in this area.

Can someone pick up the tent and bring it along.

The course is at Alexandra park golf course and is a mixture of golf course and parkland. 

There is no changing available so come ready to run.

The Ladies start at 13.00 and i need everyone there by 12.15 to allow distribution of numbers and to allow a warm up. The Men start at 14.15 and again i need everyone there by 13.30 for the same reason as the Ladies but it would be good if you can be there before this to support our Ladies running.

Anyone that can no longer make it should let us know asap to allow a restructure of the teams.

Those running are J Beveridge, F Ferguson, A Lessells and K Wilson. For the Men A Derrick, R Couper, J Holmes, J Mearns, G McInally, G Lindsay, A McLellan, R Beaton, S Phimister, K Farmer, D Wardrope and C Wright.

There are 2 spaces available in the Ladies team and there are 2 reserves entered K Allen and J Thomson so if either want a run let us know asap. At the moment there are no spaces in the mens team but there are many reserves listed so if anyone not listed above wants a run let me know and if a space becomes available i will let you know.

Teams and running order will be listed when the Club Captains and Vice Captains get back to me.

Club Training Monday 4th October

Note, that following Gordon’s comment below about part of the pavement being dug up on Sainsburys loop, scope it out during the warm up and decide if you are running on the road (in which case run single file facing the traffic) or pavement. The rep pace is 4k race pace so it won't be a frantic pace anyway and if you have to slow down or stop for traffic, please do so. 

A complex session for Monday to get the legs spinning over prior to the first of the short relays.

The session is as follows:

The warm-up is a run up the Strathaven Rd and then onto the Sainsburys Loop. Continue clockwise around the loop, past the entrance to Sainsburys and then all the way up the hill to the junction with Greenhills Rd. The session starts here. Run from there clockwise around the Sainsburys loop at 4k XC race pace until you reach the Sainsbury's main entrance (it is approximately 1500m). Take a 5 minute recovery but during the recovery, jog up to Langlands Place. 

At Langlands Place do 3 sets of the following:

400m along Langlands Place at slightly faster than 4k race pace. Jog recover for 200m back along Langlands Place then run the remaining 200m of Langlands Place to the junction at a slightly faster pace than the 400m was run at. Standstill recover for 2 minutes.

After 3 sets of the above, take a further 3 minutes recovery (5 minutes total) during which you should jog up the hill to Greenhills Rd. Then do one more effort at 4k race pace from there clockwise around the Sainsburys Loop to the Sainsburys entrance.

Jog back to the club as a cool down.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 30th September

Thursday's run is a threshold session which shifts the emphasis from the leg power of Monday's session to aerobic efficiency and operating on the edge of sustainable pace. For those new to this type of session, the effort of each rep is one that you could maintain for 1 hour in a race situation. So if your 10k race time is 1 hour, then that is the level of effort for each rep in this session. For others, a one hour race will be around 10 miles and that is the level of effort you should apply (if Callum Hawkins were to turn up, he would be running at his half marathon effort for each of these reps!). Note that it is a level of effort rather than a pace as uphill sections will be slower than flat or  downhill sections for the same level of effort.

The session is 4 x 6 minutes at threshold with a 2 minute jog recovery in between.

The route is from the club to the NEL roundabout and then turn right to the Whitemoss Roundabout and onto the Kingsway (petrol station side). Start the first effort when you have passed the petrol station exit. Head down to the Whirlies, turn left onto East Mains Rd and all the way down to West Mains Road. Follow West Mains Rd up to McDonalds and then left and back up the Queensway to the Strathaven Rd and the club.

Alan

NATIONAL XC RELAY CHAMPIONSHIP

 The National XC relay will be held on Saturday 23rd Oct

This year the venue has moved to Scone Palace.

Its 4 legs for Ladies and Men in this one.

Cost is £6 per head and should be paid before race day.

Timings are not available but normally slightly later than the West start times.

Again make sure your SA number is up to date.

I need names by Monday 4th Oct.

If you wish entered leave your name HERE. 

Those already registered are listed HERE.

Provision Calderglen Grand Prix Events List and Simple GP Explanation

After a year without a Harriers GP, we now have the beginnings of a list of GP races for season 21/22. The Grand Prix is an annual event for all Harriers to compete against each other in a sort of handicapped league (the handicaps being controlled via the accumulation of points doubling jokers) and a parallel "scratch" championship with no handicap.

In simple terms, the points are awarded to each Calderglen Harrier dependent on their finishing position relative to the other Harriers in a GP race. The first Harrier gets maximum points of 12 (same for men and women), the second Harrier gets 11 and so on down to 1. 13th position and onwards get 1 point. Before the season, each Harrier is assigned a number of jokers. A Harrier can then "play" one or more jokers by declaring it to Russell, myself or some other designated person prior to the start of the race. Each joker played doubles the score (e.g. if you score 2 points by finishing 11th Harrier and play one joker, you score 4 points). Further jokers are accumulated by those who finish 5th or less (1 extra joker) or 10th or less (2 extra jokers). A code of honesty is expected from all Harriers to not "throw" any races to gain jokers. Finally, extra jokers can be accumulated by anyone on reaching the following milestones:

• 1 extra joker after 5 races
• 1 extra joker after 8 races
• 2 extra jokers after 11 races

There will usually be up to 16 races in the GP of which each person's best 11 scores count. The initial set of races is as follows although note that final details of some still have to be confirmed. We are checking to see if the Lanarkshire Road Relays (usually Drumpellier Country Park) are taking place in October/November, in which case they may also be added.

Provisional GP Races List 2021/2022

Alan