Club Training Thursday 29th May

Thursday's session is a medium length run with some short intervals in the middle to fire the legs up, particularly for those who did Monday's very heavy hill fartlek session at Chatelherault.

Given, the heavy rain, let's avoid the glen and the mud for this one. Warm up is along the Strathaven Rd and up Greenhills Rd to the fingerposts. Start the first rep at the fingerposts. The session is 12 x 1 minute at 5k pace with a 1 minute jog (regroup into packs) recovery. Head along Shields Rd to the Kennels. Turn left at the junction and up to Auldhouse Cross. Carry on straight through Auldhouse Cross back towards Langlands. Return to the club via Sainsburys and Strathaven Rd.

Alan

Land o' Burns 10k

 

Team Photo

The weather last Wednesday night couldn't have been more of a contrast to the previous year where we had torrential rain and strong winds, this years event was blue sky and sunshine, making it a much nicer night for spectators. 23 harriers made it to the start line down in Ayr (a harriers grand prix event) with several more down to support. Jim Mearns had intended on running but got held up at work and made it to the starting area as the race started, however without a warm up or his race number on he decided spectating was a better option.  The course was the same traffic free route as last year, starting on the sea front and following the cycle path. It is now an out and back course, with more uphill on the way out than the way back. Craig Ferguson was still feeling the effects of a virus and had to pull out after about 1k. Kai Wheeler continues to improve with just about every race and used the tactic of sitting in behind coach Andy for most of the way before pulling away in the final stages to be the first harrier home and achieve a new PB of 40:39 (also 3rd U20). Andy Buchanan was the next harrier home and will be disappointed that Kai got the better of him this time to finish in 41:37. 

Kai powering to a new PB

Stephen Phimister, Julie Beveridge, Graham Lindsay and Jason Grant all had a close battle throughout the race with Stephen coming in next harrier in a time of 43:10, Julie Beverdige was not far behind in 43:17 (also finishing as 3rd female and 2nd FV40), Graeme Lindsay was next finishing in 43:38 then Jason in 43:47. The spectating harriers didnt have long to wait on the next pair of harriers which was also a close finish and both obtaining new PBs, Scott Hair got the better of Andy Higgins this time with Scott finishing in 44:22 with Andy 4 seconds behind in 44:26. Rachel McPhilips was the next harrier and 2nd of our female harriers (pleased to beat her dad again but not sure anyone else apart from Kev thought he had a chance - sorry Kev...). Rachel finished in 45:06 and was also 2nd U20. Robert Pattinson had a steady race, working his way through the harriers finishing in 46:25 with Kevin McPhilips not too far behind in 46:42, Alison Lessells was next harrier home n 47:40 (3rd FV40) with Robert Gibson finishing a couple of minutes behind in 49:55. Richard Lawton has had a good injury free period now and ran the fastest 10k he has ran since his heart attack a few years ago and was delighted with his time of 50:52. Gordon McInally has had very limited training in the run up to this after his toe operation (maybe about 3 or 4 runs in total) so was pleased with his time of 53:04. Tuesday night graduate Peter Moyes has reaped the rewards of consistent training and joining our Thursday night training sessions to run a great time of 54:45. Catherine Boyd was a few minutes behind in 57:13 and another of our Tuesday night graduates who has also benefitted from joining regular Thursday sessions also ran a new PB of 58:28. Russell Couper was pleased to get in under the 

Vivek on his way to a new PB

hour finishing in 59:20. Tammy Hutchison and Rebecca Kirsten ran round together and crossed the line in 60:01 and 60:02 respectively - they would have been under the hour had they not finished to the left of the finish funnel and had to go back and cross the finish line... Lauren McPhilips finished not far behind in 62:09 completing the harriers line up. Thanks very much to everyone who came down to support - there's so many who were there that I'm bound to forget some so wont mention any!!

            

Vertical Mile - Calderglen Grand Prix

The final race of the Grand Prix, the Vertical Mile will take place as part of normal club training on Thursday 19th June. Register for training as per usual and we will use that as the start list.

Alan

Chatelherault World Championship - Calderglen Grand Prix

The Chatelherault World Championship event in the Calderglen Harriers Grand Prix will take place on our next scheduled Chatelherault training night, which is Monday 9th June. Turn up at Chatelherault as usual but do wear your club vest or T-shirt. Depending on who is there on the night, we may stagger the start or we may all start off together. The onus is on everyone to take their own time and to report back to me with their time at the end. We will endeavour to take times too if there is someone free on the night but best if everyone times themselves too just in case. Declare jokers to Russell in advance of the run as per usual.

Alan

Club Training Monday 26th May - Chatelherault

Monday's Chatelherault session is a hill fartlek. This means we do the usual lap but on each uphill section, pick up the effort to a threshold level for the duration of the uphill. Run very easy between the hills and make sure that your pack regroups between hills. Start the first effort once we cross the first big stone bridge to allow a bit of a warm-up.

As usual, either be at Chatelherault ready to run at 19:30 (in which case select "Training Venue" on the training registration form) or be at the Sports Club for 19:00 ready to share cars (in which case select "EKSC" on the training registration form).

Alan

Club Training Thursday 22nd May

Thursday's session is a post-race recovery run following the fine performances at Land O' Burns 10k. Run through the glen and climb up onto the road at the Crutherland, crossing over onto the back road. Follow the road to the junction with Leaburn Rd. Turn left then immediately right and climb up to the next junction and turn right. Follow that top road to the cross-roads. Turn right back down the hill to Leaburn Rd. Turn left and immediate right past Park Farm. Return to the club via Sainsburys and the glen.

Remember the Strathclyde parkrun takeover this Saturday, the final details and roles for which are in this post: https://calderglen.blogspot.com/2025/05/strathclyde-parkrun-calderglen-takeover.html

Alan

Club Training Monday 19th May

Monday's session is a short post-WHW, pre-Land O'Burns run. The route is an easy run to Langlands through the glen. When exiting the glen onto the road at near Langlands, turn right back down the hill towards Sainsburys where you should enter the glen again just opposite Sainsburys and run through the glen back to the club. When arriving back at the club, go onto the edge of the cricket pitch through the gap at the entrance of the club car park. From there do 6 x gentle accelerations to 5k pace on the grass on the cricket pitch along the fenceline parallel to the main drive. Jog back to the start after each of these accelerations. Stretch when you get back into the club or on the grass if still warm.

Alan

West Highland Way Relay - A Scorcher

The 2025 Calderglen Harriers WHW Relay was an event of extremes; early start, late finish, high temperatures, few midges and lots of fun. A massive thanks to all who made the weekend one to remember whether through organisation, driving the minibus, joining us to run a leg or being part of the full weekend on the bus. The official rough times are here and an album of various photos (feel free to add) are here.

Alan

West Highland Way Relay Pick-up Times

The pick up times are a bit earlier this year to ensure we get to Fort William in time for a quick swim and dinner.
The details are as follows:
2.45 Greenhills Rd :

Davie Searil, Russell Couper
2.55  Finger Post : 

Jim, Ruth, Davie Watt, Andy
3.00 Greenhills Rd :

Gordon
3.05 Kelvin Rd  : 

Jim Holmes
3.10  Our Lady of Lourdes Church :

Scott, Joe
3.15  Queensway :

Frances, Geo, Alan, Robert

Kenny

West Highland Way Relay - what to bring.....

Update - ever the optimist, remember to bring your swimming gear on the off chance we get to FW in time to use the hotel pool and spa (or pre breakfast for the early risers on Sunday). 

For those Harriers new to the WHW relay, here are a few pointers on the format and what to bring. We start very early on Saturday morning but even so, come dressed to run with leggings and warm tops on over your running gear as it will initially be quite chilly. Who is running which leg will be revealed on the bus. Everyone is assigned a leg and that person should wear their Calderglen Harriers vest when running their leg. Some of the more experienced runners may accompany some of the newer runners on their legs to take the pressure off on the navigation (just like Monday at Chatelherault......). However, don't be tempted to do too much before your own leg as all the legs are tough in their own way and every second counts towards us making it to Fort William before the hotel kitchens close (I'm not kidding!).

The minibus is quite tight for space, so pack a compact sports bag or rucksack for the weekend (think Ryanair cabin baggage allowance!). The forecast is for very hot weather over the weekend, so you won't need much in terms of running gear. Bring your normal running shoes that you would wear down the glen or Chatelherault. The WHW is not the place to experiment with new running shoes. A few t-shirts, your club vest, shorts and socks. Bring clothing appropriate for the evening dinner at the hotel and on the Sunday we usually go for a relaxing walk on trails somewhere on the road back, for which normal shoes or trainers will be fine. However, if you burn easily, do bring appropriate body cover, a hat and sun screen for the running and for the Sunday walk. If we are lucky, it will be too hot for the midges but if you suffer, bring your favoured repellent/net.

None of the legs are particularly long. 13 of the 18 legs are less than 10k. The more experienced Harriers are on the longer legs. Therefore you won't need massive amounts of food with you. A few sandwiches and snacks should be enough. Focus more on bringing liquids given the heat. There will be 10 litres of drinking water on the bus. There are a few locations (Inveroran, Crianlarich and Tyndrum in particular) where there are shops/cafes where you can top up with a quick coffee and snacks.

The final thing to bring is plenty of enthusiasm!

Alan

Club Training Thursday 15th May

Thursday's session starts off through the glen to Langlands junction. The reps start there at the junction. The session is 8 x 3 minutes at 10k pace with a 3 minute jog recovery. Regroup during the jog recovery. From there, head past the Langlands Club House and continue into Auldhouse. Turn left at Auldhouse cross and down the hill into the dip and back up to Leaburn Rd. Turn right and follow Leaburn Rd until it veers right down the steep hill. At the bottom of the hill turn right and come back through Auldhouse Cross back towards Langlands Club House. Return to the club via Sainsburys and the Strathaven Rd.

Alan 

Club Training Monday 12th May - Chatelherault

Monday's session is our fortnightly session at Chatelherault. This will be a lap at an easy to steady effort level. For those new to Chatelherault, we meet at one of the following two locations:

• at the venue (the car park on the right at the end of the drive when entering through the Fernigair main entrance to Chatelherault) ready to start at 19:30. Select "Training Venue" on the training registration form.
• at the Sports Club ready to leave at 19:00 and car share if possible. Select "EKSC" on the training registration form.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 8th May

It's a threshold Thursday (except for those who were racing on Wednesday, in which case it is an easy run on the same route as the reps). The session is 4 x 6 minutes at threshold effort (could only say 3 or 4 words after the initial few minutes of each rep) with a 2 minute jog recovery. The route is out the glen and up onto the Strathaven Rd at the Crutherland, cross the road and take the back road to the 90 degree left hand bend where we start reps. From there, run the first rep up towards Leaburn Rd, turn right and follow Leaburn Rd all the way until it turns right, steeply downhill towards Auldhouse road. At the bottom of the hill, turn right and then first left past the Kennels. Follow Shields Rd back to the fingerposts and Greenhills Rd. Carry on to Strathaven Rd and back to the club.

Alan

Strathclyde parkrun Calderglen Takeover - 24th May 2025 - Final Roles

Thanks to all who volunteered to assist with the Strathclyde parkrun Takeover on Saturday 24th May. Julie has assigned roles to all of the volunteers. See the link to the list at the end of this post. Could those who are doing the barcode scanning or timing roles please download the parkrun Virtual Volunteer app and install on your phone which you will need with you on the day. These links show how to use the app for scanning or timing.

The list of role assignments is here.

If you have any questions or are no longer available, please contact Julie as soon as possible.

Alan

Club Training Monday 5th May

Monday's session is out on the roads around Auldhouse as will become very familiar over the Summer. The session is 12 x 2 minutes with a 2 minute jog (regroup) recovery. The pace is 10k race pace (or effort rather than pace if going up hill) and as before, the intention is for the recovery to be slowing down to a jog without stopping completely. The faster runners should turn around and jog back to behind the slower runners such that everyone stays quite close together.

The route is out Greenhills Rd and then left into the Fingerposts at Shields Rd. The reps start here. Follow Shields Rd past the Kennels. At the junction, turn right and then left up the very steep hill. At the top of the hill, the road turns left onto Leaburn Rd. Follow Leaburn Rd along to the junction for Park Farm and turn left down past Park Farm. Return to the club via Sainsburys and Strathaven Rd as usual.

These sessions on very undulating terrain build (appropriate) speed endurance and improve the ability to judge the right level of effort to apply during races when the course is not flat.

Thursdays session will be a threshold session, also out on the back roads.

Alan