May Auldhouse 5k Time Trial

18 Harriers turned out on a reasonable weather night on the first Thursday of May to set their benchmark times for the Summer season of Auldhouse 5k time trials. This was more Harriers than any of the TT's from last year and was particularly impressive given that it was the day after the Troon 10k and the SVHC Snowball Race, at both of which a number of the Harriers were competing.

Fastest time of the day and on an Auldhouse 5k TT debut went to Jordan Stewart in an impressive 17:39. Fastest lady and setting a new course best was Karen Allen in a very impressive time of 20:24, highlighting the massive aerobic boost that marathon training gives and how that carries forward into all the distances we race over. Karen's time was 1 second faster than her previous course best but that was set in 2014 and Karen's best times in recent years have all been in the 21's and 22's. Very well done Karen on a return to your best form.

Karen was not the only Harrier to record a course best. Julia Pechlof continues to improve each year and knocked 35 seconds off her best to record 22:46, another impressive improvement which will no doubt reduce further through the Summer.

There were also a few first timers on the Auldhouse TT. Surprisingly, this was Gerry Connelly's first time, starting off with an excellent 20:18. Tony Goodall recorded 26:27 and Tammy Hutchison 25:04 and both will be improve as the season goes on, now that they have their eye in.

Several more Harriers demonstrated their careful progression back to form. Jacqueline Balmer is on the way back with a 26:23; Andrew Buchanan set his first sub-20 time for many years recording an excellent 19:47, again off the back of consistent high mileage marathon training; Robert Gibson was significantly faster than his best from last year and set his fastest for several years recording 23:15; Richard Lawton recorded a cautious 26:28; Frances Ferguson is heading back to form with 23:48, which was a faster time than two years ago, despite racing in the Snowball Race the night before; Geo Ferguson was also racing in the Snowball Race and recorded 24:30 on tired legs; Gordon McInally is definitely on the post-injury comeback and will improve significantly on his 25:39 as the season goes on; Ian McKenzie knocked 2 minutes off last year's time with a 26:43; Claire McSorely has missed the TT for the past 3 years but is already ahead of her last recorded time with a 23:30; Jim Mearns is recovering from a persistent injury and set the benchmark for the season with 23:08; Eddie Reid ran his fastest time for 5 years, finishing in 22:47 and confirming the rumour that he is ready for a big leg on the WHW; this was an injury test for Russell Couper which he passed in 29:57.

Well done all and hopefully we see even more at the next edition on 6th June. All results are available in the Auldhouse Time Trial link in the Blog menu on the left or here.

Alan