Club Training Monday 25th May - Chatelherault World Championships

Monday's session at Chatelherault is the Chatelherault World Championship which is part of our Grand Prix. Please fill out the training registration form as normal (i.e. select "Training Venue" if going direct to Chatelherault at 7:30pm or "EKSC" if going to the Sports Club at 7pm for a lift or to give a lift). We will stagger the start by packs so that we all finish close to each other. Please take your own time on your watch just in case the time keeper (me) loses the plot.

The men's and ladies' Grand Prix are tight and are far from decided with 4 races still to go (Chatelherault, Polkemmet parkrun round 2, Dechmont Law and the Vertical Mile). It would be great to see the respective championships going down to the last race and this will happen if we have a good turn out at each of the remaining races.

Alan

West Highland Way Relay 2026

This year's Calderglen Harriers WHW Relay was a cracker, establishing a number of firsts along the "Way" but what remained the same was the fun had by all. First of the firsts was the 2am start time, two hours earlier than last year and 3 hours earlier than our normal from previous years. Although this seemed a bit extreme, as the day progressed it proved to be a good idea, resulting in less time pressure and a more relaxed feeling throughout. Running the early legs in pitch darkness also changed the character of these familiar legs, adding an extra level of concentration to navigation and foot placement.

Eddie coordinated the early morning pick-ups with his usual expertise and we arrived at Milngavie station at just before 2am. After the obligatory team photo in the tunnel, Claire McSorley was set off at 2:10am with me in tow to assist by shining further light on the ground and the navigation.

Once we were clear of Milngavie it really was pitch dark and any scenery there was remained unseen! Claire ran strongly and there was no sign of fading as we powered uphill, coping with the rocky path and tree roots. We even met a runner heading in the opposite direction, not that he even acknowledged our greeting as we passed in the dark. Strange!

Claire finished at Carbeth in 35:56, handing over to WHW first-timer Emma Carroll, accompanied by Colin Holden, whilst the minibus headed off to Dumgoyne for the change-over. One advantage of the darkness was that we caught glimpses of Emma and Colin's head torches a long way out as they approached Dumgoyne and were ready for their arrival. Emma finished in 26:46, handing over to another first-timer Catherine Boyd, accompanied by the very experienced Eddie Reid.

Emma finishes at Dumgoyne

Catherine was running to the Killearn junction handover in the layby to Eddie who carried on solo for his official leg to Drymen.  It was noticeably colder than usual this year with the temperatures just hovering above freezing. This was particularly noticeable on Catherine's leg with the many steel gates to be opened very cold to the touch and with a slight frost on some of them. Catherine reached the changeover in 23:05.

It was still pitch dark at this time and Eddie's leg had a few critical junctions not to be missed. This Eddie managed fine and he commented that one difficulty is that there is no long view of the background hills or any other landmarks to confirm the correct direction. Anyway, Eddie soon emerged into the field at Drymen, slipping and sliding on the dew and frost covered grass and handing over to Graeme Lindsay in a time of 25:56. It was fantastic to see Eddie back running pain free and looking more like his (very) old self. Hopefully the cortisone injection to his knee is indeed the solution to an injury that has put him out of action for well over a year and a nice, steady build up will see Eddie back to good form again. 

Eddie climbs through the final field to Drymen

This stage over Conic Hill, partially in the dark provided an excellent training session for Graeme who is preparing for the full WHW race in just over a month. By the time Graeme crested the summit it was twilight with wonderful views across Loch Lomond. 

Graeme arrived in the car park at Balmaha in 01:11:22 from where he continued his long-run by running back to his car in Drymen via the road. Many thanks to Graeme for meeting us at a very anti-social hour and putting in a fine shift.

Geo Ferguson took over from Graeme on the first of his two legs of the day. With a couple of late withdrawals, some runners would have to do two legs, Geo and Emma being the chosen two! In the case of Geo, I knew that he is very strong on the uphills and so I gave Geo two relatively short but hilly legs. Geo ran from Balmaha to Millarochy with Jordan Stewart for company, completing this short, sharp section in 19:14. 

Geo handing over to Jim

Next up was Jim Mearns, also using his leg to Rowardennan as part of a longer training run. Jim also travelled through especially to meet up with us bright and early at Balmaha. Jim completed this very undulating leg solo in a time of 64:26, now with the benefit of full daylight.

Kai Wheeler, our youngest team member at 18 years old was next up for the longest and toughest leg along the side of Loch Lomond to Inverarnan, a distance of 22km across extremely rugged terrain. Kai looked very strong when he finished in 2:23:55, handing over to his dad, Mark. Much to our delight, we had passed Loch Lomond without encountering a single midge; too early in the day and too cold for them!

Kai hands over to his dad, Mark

The next stage ended at the deer gate high above Crianlarich and as Mark would complete this leg quickly, we were under a bit of time pressure to get our next runners a kilometre or so from the minibus and up the hill to the changeover. We managed with a few minutes to spare and Mark handed over in 48:48 to Emma who was up for her second leg of the day with Claire for company. This leg starts with a steep climb and then a long, technical descent over which Emma proved to be a natural, flying down to the handover at the main road crossing at Ewich in 26:02.

Standing ready to go on the other side of the main road, Gordon McInally headed off on the leg to Tyndrum with the ever competitive Eddie for company (aiming to run more legs than Emma). There is one potential navigational pitfall on this leg but I was confident that Gordon would not go wrong, the main issue being the shoulder injury he has been carrying for several months now. Whilst Gordon & Eddie were running, we drove on to the changeover at Brodie's Convenience Store in Tyndrum, topping up with coffee and making use of the facilities at the Green Wellie. Gordon & Eddie arrived at the main road crossing in a time of 36:18.

Frances takes over from Gordon

By now the temperature was nice and warm and perfect for running, so time to bring on the club's resident warm weather and sunshine specialist Frances Ferguson for the spectacular leg to Bridge of Orchy. Frances always runs well on this leg and today was no exception, despite the best efforts of a group of American hikers trying to skewer Frances with a walking pole when she took them by surprise approaching at speed from behind! Despite (or maybe because of) being poked in the side with a sharp stick, Frances finished in 57:23.

Frances handed over to husband, Geo, for his second short, sharp leg of the day. This leg may be short but is tough with a steep ascent and then a steep, tricky, rocky underfoot descent to the changeover at Inveroran, where again, the Calderglen team basked in perfect, sunny conditions. Catherine, Julia, Emma and Claire had set off ahead of Geo and arrived just before Geo came in to view on the final descent, Geo finishing in 27:53, his work done for the day. At this point we were 12 minutes ahead of last year and looking good to arrive in time for a swim and dinner!

Colin sets off......

The next leg across Rannoch Moor is one of the longer ones and can suit faster runners but as with many of the legs, underfoot conditions are treacherous when running fast, particularly on the downhills, where the feet have to dance from rock to rock, picking a path several steps ahead.  Colin Holden is in fine form right now and was given this leg. After seeing him safely off on the initial mile on road, the minibus headed around to meet him at the other end in Glen Coe. 

After 35 years of doing this relay, we always have a good idea of how long each leg should roughly take. So after that time had passed by 20 minutes or so, we were beginning to get worried, not least because Colin's phone (which he should have had with him!) was heard ringing in the bus several times but rung off before we could get to it. Then a cryptic message was received via a voice message via Iain McLean (who was not on this trip) about Colin having some problem. 

Secondary rescue team

Cometh the hour, cometh Jordan Stewart (who knows this leg), who volunteered to head off over the leg backwards to see if he could find Colin and give us a report back by phone. Meanwhile, due to our early start, we still had more than enough time to complete if we carried on now before Colin arrived. So Colin Banks was duly set off on his leg from Black Rock Cottage to Kingshouse Hotel whilst Julia Whittle set off with Colin to warm-up for her leg and take over from him. Eddie and I took Scott Hair along to the bottom of the Devil's Staircase where he would take over from Julia. No panic, we had been here before on this very leg, as Eddie well knows! At least the weather was fine this time. 

We then drove back to Black Rock Cottage via Kingshouse to pick up Colin Banks (and also to direct Julia onto her route as she was somewhat lost trying to find the start of the leg from Kingshouse to the Devil's Staircase). On arriving back at the rest of the team, we were informed that Jordan and Colin, having been "rescued" and treated by a group of women from Switzerland, were walking to the changeover from about 4km away. Colin was limping badly and had a head knock. Therefore, our secondary rescue team of Emma and Geo had worked out and practiced their rapid patient carrying technique just in case they were needed.

After an elapsed time of about two and a half hours, Colin and Jordan arrived at Black Rock Cottage. Claire carried out a quick appraisal of his injuries and it was decided that we were good to go and indeed Colin was in good spirits (but a lot of pain, mainly from his right hand and wrist). With almost perfect timing, we arrived back at the bottom of the Devil's Staircase to pick up Julia, arriving just a minute or so after Scott had set off. Then it was on to Kinlochleven. With two fast runners still to go we were looking in good shape for a finish just after 6pm, definitely justifying our 2am start! Meanwhile Strava was consulted to work out Julia's leg time (28:23). 

Scott hands over to Jordan at Kinlochleven

We had a bit of time to relax at Kinlochleven whilst waiting for Scott. Jordan was given some guidance on the route out of Kinlochleven at the start of his leg as we have had navigational mishaps on this leg too! After 76:11 Scott appeared over the top of the final descent for a smooth hand over to Jordan. Meanwhile it had been decided that we should deliver Colin to A&E in Fort William because of the head knock and also to check for broken bones in the hand and wrist.

This final individual changeover at Lundavra can be a bit tight to get to, particularly with a fast runner such as Jordan running across from Kinlochleven. However, it is a tough 13km which which takes over an hour typically and this would give us enough time to drive to the hospital in Fort William, drop Colin and Julia off and then head up the long and winding single track road to Lundavra. The stress was building as we found ourselves stuck behind a minivan/taxi that was crawling along the single track road, only turning off about a mile before Lundavra. I was on the last leg and had dozed off a bit on the road to Fort William and was not feeling at my liveliest. When we arrived I got the heart rate monitor and club vest on and headed off into the undergrowth for another "pit stop". No sooner had I found a place, I heard the shout "here's Jordan" so rushed back out of the undergrowth, to intercept Jordan at the junction, handing my gilet to Eddie on the way past. Jordan had an excellent, problem-free run, handing over in 69:49, keeping us well on schedule for a swim and dinner.

Meanwhile the panic handover had got my heart rate up better than any warm-up and I was feeling quite good running smoothly up the hill with Eddie's shout of "you'd better not lose us any time!" fresh in my mind. Unfortunately, I had not yet tightened my shoe laces and my feet were rolling about inside the shoes. With the risk of a twisted ankle or injury on the rocky path, I stopped after a few minutes to tighten both shoe laces which cost me about 40 seconds according to Strava. This first part of the ascent is very open terrain and I still needed my "pit-stop". After another 5 or 7 minutes the surroundings became more scrubby so I dived into the undergrowth, losing another minute. Then I was feeling much more relaxed but feeling my age on the steep climbs towards the summit and the forest road descending to Glen Nevis. I've been focussing a bit on leg speed and downhills in recent training and was prepared to give it everything on the forest road descent. I felt great on the descent and was hammering along at 3 to 3:30 minutes per km. The descent does seem never-ending though. Finally I turned the final bend and could see all the Harriers waiting to start the final group run to the finish. I completed the stage in 45:17 and stopped for a few minutes to have a chat with Jimmy Stewart before carrying on to catch up with the pack.

First runner to reach the finish in Fort William was Frances who's time gave us a total time for the 96 miles of 16 hours and 2 minutes, a few minutes faster than last year (although I should probably add some extra time for the Glen Coe episode...). After the obligatory team photo (minus Julia and Colin who were waiting in A&E), we arrived at the hotel for about 18:30 with time for a swim and sauna before dinner at 19:45. Very relaxed in comparison to recent years! Colin had been given the all-clear with regard to concussion by A&E but did have two hairline fractures in his fingers and the aches and pains were increasing. Dinner was excellent and the bar was not particularly busy afterwards, a very nice (but not too late) evening being had by all.

The forecast for Sunday was atrocious meaning that we skipped our usual walk or other activity and headed straight to the Glen Coe Ski Centre for coffees and cakes and an earlier than usual return to EK.

A huge thanks to Eddie for sharing the minibus driving, to Kenny for booking the minibus and particularly to Frances for organising the weekend, the hotel, encouraging the Harriers to volunteer and coordinating the friends of the Harriers, Mark Wheeler and Colin Holden, to ably fill some gaps in our numbers. The WHW Relay is definitely one of the best Harriers' events and this was clear from the banter and hilarity over the weekend. Thanks to all who ran and made this such an enjoyable weekend.

Keep your ears to the ground for an announcement about next year's date. We will more than likely stick with the 2am start next year and will also introduce a few more compulsory safety rules (i.e. everyone must carry their mobile phone and, for those with a Garmin, enable the free Garmin Livetrack function in the Garmin Connect app such that we can track each runner's progress on our phones. This was how everyone was gathered, ready to take over from me in Braveheart Car Park as Frances was tracking me on her phone).

Finally, all the photos are in this album.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 21st May

With a good number of the club racing in Ayr last night, Thursday's run is a post-race easy run. The route starts off through the glen to the Strathaven Rd and then out to the back road via the Crutherland. Then run to Leaburn Rd and turn left and immediately right and continue climbing. Turn first right onto the top road and follow that to the cross-roads. Turn right and descend to Leaburn Rd again. Turn left and immediately right past Park Farm and back to the club via Sainsburys. It is a deliberately hilly route to keep the pace in check. Take it very easy! You will get the benefit from the terrain; not from pushing the pace.

Alan

New Treasurer Required

As some of you may know Russell had mentioned stepping down from the treasurer role at last years AGM and said he would stay on for an extra year, stepping down at this years AGM (start of December). Unfortunately Russell is unable to continue in the treasurers role and is stepping down with immediate effect. We are looking for somebody to take over this role. You will be supported with the role and Russell will be on hand to help with anything as required.

The main duties are

• Managing/keeping track of the finances
• Reporting to committee whether funds are available for financing things where required
• Paying bills from the club account

Russell will continue in the race secretary role for now so the incoming treasurer does not need to take that part of his duties on, when/if Russell does step down from the race secretary role a separate recruitment process will happen, it will not be added to the treasurers duties.

If this is something that interests you send an email to calderglenharriers@outlook.com or contact myself, Russell or Richard directly on Whatsapp, or speak to us on a training night.

Remember without a treasurer we cannot function as a club so we must find a replacement.

West Highland Way Relay 2026 in Photos - into the darkness!

A full report will be coming (when I can keep my eyes open long enough to finish it) but in the meantime, this is just a short post to thank all the Harriers and friends of the Harriers who made this another truly memorable weekend and also to give a preview of the story of the weekend in photos in this album (please feel free to add photos).

Alan

Club Training Monday 18th May

Monday's session is a combined post-WHW, pre-Land-O'Burns easy run with strides. The route is Strathaven Rd to Sainsburys and then to Langlands Club House. Carry on towards Audlhouse and take the right turn before Auldhouse and right again to return to the fingerposts via the new houses. Turn right on Greenhills Rd and return directly to the club. Starting from Langlands Club House, fit in 6 x 50m accelerations to 10k race pace using flat or slightly downhill sections of the route only for this. Focus on running these strides as relaxed and smooth as possible.

Alan

West Highland Way - What to bring..........

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 so, come dressed to run with leggings and warm tops on over your running gear as it will 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. 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!). With regard to navigation, all junctions where there is a turn off the straight ahead are marked with WHW markers on posts at and/or a few metres along the path you should be taking. Be particularly on the lookout for those. If in doubt, stop and look.

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 cool, showery conditions over the weekend, so bring appropriate clothing for running and hanging about in those conditions, particularly a running jacket and some layers. 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 early and cold for the midges to be awake at Rowardennan but if you suffer, bring your favoured repellent/net. Those on pre-sunrise legs have already been told to bring a head torch. However, even if you have not been told, you may wish to run with one of the early leg runners so bring a head torch if you are likely to be so inclined (and also to provide backup torches should someone forget theirs).  I am hopeful that we will be in Fort William in time for a pre-dinner swim in the hotel pool so bring your swimming gear if you want to do that.

None of the legs are particularly long. 13 of the 18 legs are less than 10k and many are less than 5k. These shorter legs are all manageable distances without gels or carrying water. The more experienced and faster Harriers are on the 5 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 for pre and post-run hydration. There will be 10 litres of drinking water on the bus. There are a few locations (Inveroran 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 as always!

If you have any questions, get in touch. I'll be at the club tonight for a committee meeting.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 14th May

Thursday's session is an easy run as many of the club will be running the WHW Relay at the weekend and some having done the Troon 10k on Wednesday. The route is through the Glen to the Strathaven Rd, out to the Crutherland and then across the road to pick up the country back road. At Leaburn Rd turn right and then carry on through Leaburn, turning right again at the Park Farm junction. Carry on back to the club via Sainsburys. Keep the pace easy and conversational.

Alan

Club Training Monday 11th May - Chatelherault

Monday's session is another easy(ish) lap of Chatelherault to get used to the terrain and the route. At any pace, slow or fast, Chatelherault builds fitness. As usual, either be at the car park at the far end of the main drive into Chatelherault on the right for 19:30 ready to run (in which case mark "Training Venue" on the registration sheet) or be at the Sports Club if you are able to give a lift or need a lift at 19:00 ready to leave (select "EKSC" on the registration form).

Alan

Club Training Thursday 7th May - Auldhouse 5k TT

Thursday is the first Auldhouse 5k TT of the year. For this first one, treat this as a familiarisation lap to work out how to pace it in future months. We may have the additional complication of road resurfacing works near Auldhouse. If that is the case, then make your way past the road works safely, walk or jog on the verge if necessary, and then resume your time trial pace on the other side, making it a two effort time trial.

As I enter the start list onto the timing app in advance, please register for training as normal and I will use that registration list as the start list in the timing app. For newcomers to the monthly 5k TT, we run this as an individual time trial, setting each runner off at 30 second intervals. The fastest runners start last such that everyone finishes relatively close to each other. Kenny is going to help me on the finish line. All previous times are available via the menu on the left of the blog.

Warm-up to the start via the Strathaven Rd and Sainsburys.

Alan

Club Training Monday 4th May

Monday's session is another session at 10k effort, this time 7 x 3 minutes with a 3 minute jog recovery, regrouping during the recoveries. As usual, moderate the pace depending on the terrain and wind. In addition to the benefits in fitness and running efficiency, doing these sessions on the country roads also teaches pace judgement on the sorts of roads many of our summer road races are on i.e. undulating.

The route is a warm-up through the glen to Langlands and then down the steep hill (the start of the 5k TT). The first rep starts at the 90 degree corner at the bottom of the steep hill. Run past park farm and turn left then right at Leaburn Rd and continue climbing up the hill to the next cross-roads junction where you turn right. Carry along this top road and follow it as it turns right back down towards Leaburn Rd. At the Leaburn Rd junction turn right and first left and down the dip and up to Auldhouse Cross. Turn right again and back past Langlands Club House and Sainsburys and back to the club. These are the sorts of Summer routes which make training with Calderglen a bit special with the EK streets banished to the darker nights.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 30th April

Thursday's session is hopefully a run in the sun around the country roads. The session is 10 x 2 minutes at 10k race effort (pace depends on hills) with a 2 minute jog recovery during which regroup as much as possible ie everyone turns and jogs back until they meet the pack at the back and then turn around and continue jogging.

The route is through the Glen to Langlands junction. Start reps at junction heading past the clubhouse to Auldhouse. Straight through Auldhouse Cross and turn right at the kennels. Carry on along Shields Road to turn right on Greenhills Road and back to the club.

Alan 

Club Training Monday 27th April - Chatelherault

Monday's session is the first Chatelherault session of the year. This week it will be an easy, post-race recovery and route familiarisation run. Details of where and when to meet and how to fill in the registration for training are in this post from a few weeks ago: https://calderglen.blogspot.com/2026/04/chatelherault-training-starts-monday.html

However, to recap, if you are going direct to Chatelherault, select "Training Venue" on the training registration form and be at the meeting point in the car park at Chatelherault by 19:30 as described in the above post. If anyone is leaving direct from the club and can give a lift or needs a lift, then select "EKSC" in the form and be ready to leave the Sports Club at 19:00. This lets us know if we are waiting on anyone before the run.

Alan

Round the Houses 10k - Some Photos

 

Fantastic performances from the Harriers today in as good as the conditions get in Grangemouth. Many PB's were achieved along with very strong performances. I captured a few photos in this albumhttps://photos.app.goo.gl/nyJStZ7ASw2hP7fw7, which includes Harriers, Olympians and prize giving.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 23rd April

Thursday's session is an easier, medium distance run with fast strides given that the Grangemouth 10k is on Sunday and some were racing last night too.

The route is through the Glen to Langlands, then follow the Auldhouse 5k route and back to the club via Sainsburys. On the flatter parts of the route (the first one being from the bottom of the steep downhill after the 5k start) fit in 6 x 15 seconds accelerations building to a very fast but relaxed "sprint" for the final few seconds of each rep. Don't do any of them on downhill sections as you are likely to strain a hamstring (ask me how I know....).

Alan 

Club Training Monday 20th April

Monday is a threshold Monday (doesn't have the same ring to it as a Thursday). The session is 3 x 8 minutes with a 2:30 jog recovery. Once again, we will do this out on the Auldhouse roads on a relatively flat route. Warm-up on Strathaven Rd and around by Sainsburys to the Langlands junction where the reps start. Run past the Langlands club house to Auldhouse. Run straight through Auldhouse cross and turn right past the Kennels. Carry on along Shields Rd to the fingerposts and then turn right on Greenhills Rd. If the faster ones are running out of space to complete the reps (I don't think you will), turn right into the Kelvin industrial estate at the top of the hill on Greenhills Rd and run around the Sainsburys circuit anti-clockwise to finish. As always with threshold sessions, maintain constant effort by varying the pace to suit the slopes and wind. The effort should be about two or three word talking level.

Thursday's run will be an easier run with strides ahead of the Grangemouth 10k.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 16th April

Thursday's session is at Langlands Place with the focus on 10k race pace (rather than 5k pace, so do take care to turn the pace down compared to recent weeks). This will be more of a threshold session for those with 10k times in the 55 minute + range.

The session is 6 x 800m at 10k pace with a 1 minute stand/jog around recovery. 

Alan 

Club Training Monday 13th April

 With a good number from the club doing the Dumarton AAA 10 Mile on Sunday and several more doing a long-run, Monday's run is an easy run. For those with an impending marathon in the next few weeks, then this is a good chance to do a section of the run at marathon pace (give yourself a a mile or two to warm up and then lock in to marathon pace/effort (remember, as with any run, if the terrain or wind make it more difficult to maintain marathon pace, then ease back to marathon effort as you only have so much energy to distribute through the marathon so don't waste it).

The route is the Auldhouse 5k route, starting off through the glen, all the way to the point where the trail race crosses Langlands Rd on the way out. Then pick up the Auldhouse 5k clockwise circuit and back to the club via Sainsburys and Strathaven Rd.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 9th April

Thursday's session is a slight progression from last week's Langlands Place session with the addition of an extra 800m rep. The session is 2 x 800m, 4 x 400m, 4 x 200m at 5k pace with 1 minute stand/jog around after each 800m and 400m rep and a 200m jog after each 200m rep. This totals 4k at 5k pace with recoveries in between and should therefore feel hard but not on the limit. If you are struggling during the 800's and 400's the chances are you are going faster than your realistic 5k pace or are still fatigued from previous training or racing. Slow it down such that you are able to run all the reps at a consistent pace.

Alan

Club Training Monday 6th April

Monday's session is a threshold session out on the road to Auldhouse. So rather than running the threshold session on a loop, as we often do in the winter, this session is integrated into a run in the country. The session is the same as we did a week or two ago but we will build on this significantly over the coming months. Do 3 x 6 minutes at threshold with a 2 minute jog recovery. The route is similar to our first Auldhouse run of the season last week, running out via Sainsburys to Langlands corner and then starting the first rep from that junction, heading past Langlands club house and onward to Audlhouse. This time, carry on to Auldhouse cross and then turn right heading towards the new houses at the fingerposts. Turn right on Greenhills Rd and head back towards the Strathaven Road and the club. As usual, manage your pace to maintain a constant effort depending on whether going up hill, downhill, into the wind or with a tailwind. As well as the physiological benefit of threshold sessions, when we do them out in the country this also trains you to manage your effort during a race where we are usually dealing with variable terrain and weather conditions and running on feel is way more beneficial than trying to maintain a pace from your watch.

Alan

Summer Pub Run

Edit - voting will close Friday 10th April at 6pm.

The committee are proposing the following dates for this years summer pub run. Friday 7th August or Friday 14th August. Please vote for your preferred date here.

Responses can be viewed here.

Chatelherault Training Starts Monday 27th April

Our 2026 series of fortnightly training sessions at Chatelherault Country Park will start on Monday 27th April and will continue through the Summer with the last session being on Monday 17th August when lack of daylight becomes a problem. The full calendar of sessions is listed in the club calendar at the top of the blog and in the club website.

The session is around an approximately 7 mile undulating trail. Some weeks we do it as an easy run, whilst on other occasions I turn it into a sort of fartlek session with e.g. efforts on the uphills and easy in between. For one of the weeks we hold a timed "race" around the circuit as part of the Harriers Grand Prix - this being the "Chatelherault World Championships" round.

We meet in the last car park on the right of the main Chatelherault entrance/drive off Carlisle Road, Fernigair ready to run at 19:30. The map below shows the location. Some are also available to give lifts from the Sports Club, in which case be there ready to run at 19:00. So that we know who to expect, fill in the training registration form and if going direct to Chatelherault select the "Training Venue" option or if going to the Sports Club to give or get a lift select "EKSC".

Alan

Car park is located at the marker on the map 

Club Training Thursday 2nd April

Thursday's session is a lighter session at the Harriers' "track". Those who did the Tom Scott will still have significant fatigue in their legs, therefore keeping the total volume of this session down.

Follow the usual route to Langlands Place and then do the following:

1 x 800m at 5k pace, 1 minute jog around recovery, 4 x 400m at 5k pace, 1 minute jog around recovery, 4 x 200m at slightly faster than 5k pace with 200m jog recovery.

If you were racing last Sunday and the legs are just not cooperating at 5k pace, ease back to fast but comfortable effort and don't worry about hitting 5k pace.

Alan

Club Training Monday 30th March

Monday's run is a post-race, easy recovery run with the intention of easing any tightness out of the legs before they seize up with the usual 2-day DOMS.

The route is Strathaven Rd to Greenhills Rd, round by Sainsburys and then past Langlands club house. Just before Auldhouse, turn right and right again, back towards the new houses. Carry on to Greenhills Rd and back towards Strathaven Rd and the club.

Take it very easy.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 26th March

Thursday's session is a pre-race run ahead of the Tom Scott 10-miler. The intention of the session is to keep the legs ticking over at a relevant pace to the race whilst not introducing lasting fatigue. Therefore, this is a short, steady run with strides.

The route is Strathaven Rd to Queensway, down to KFC and turn right onto West Mains Rd, up East Mains Rd to the Whirlies and then back up the Kingsway to the club. Fit in 6 x 50 to 80m accelerations to 10k pace on flat or downhill stretches, starting from the Queensway at the town centre. In between these strides, run at a comfortable, easy pace but not a chatty jog.

Alan

Club Training Monday 23rd March

As this is a pre-Tom Scott 10-miler week, Monday's session is the last hardish session and Thursday is a pre-race run with strides. The session for Monday is at Carron Place and is 3 x 6 minutes at threshold with a 2 minute jog recovery, running around the circuit in an anti-clockwise direction. For the faster runners, threshold effort will be very close to 10-mile race effort assuming that 10-miles takes you about 1 hour plus or minus 5 minutes, whereas for the less fast runners it will be closer to a 10k race effort. So keep that in mind when doing the session (and also when doing the 10-mile race on Sunday).

Alan

West Highland Way Relay Weekend 2026 is Go!

As previously announced, the Harriers' West Highland Way Relay weekend is from Saturday 16th May (early morning start) through to Sunday 17th May (afternoon return) and will cost £125 per person, dinner, bed & breakfast, which includes a £7 contribution to the minibus cost, the balance being covered by the club. We stay the Saturday night at the Ben Nevis Hotel in Fort William.

For those new to the club we hire a 17 seater minibus and leave East Kilbride about 2 to 3am (pick-up time will be confirmed nearer the time once we have the participants list and can estimate an ETA in FW) on the Saturday morning and drive to Milngavie where Alan will allocate a section of the Way to be run by each person (although you can, if you wish, run with others on their legs). All but one of the legs are reasonably short and in any case we give the longer legs to the fastest runners such that we stand a chance of arriving in time for dinner. The plan is to arrive in Fort William early evening for a swim if there is time and dinner with some refreshments. Depending on the weather we may do an outdoor activity on the Sunday before arriving back in East Kilbride around 5pm. As places are limited it will be a first come first served basis upon giving Frances a deposit of £50 from Thursday 26th March at the Sports Club when entries will officially open. As Frances has to pay the hotel in full two weeks before the event, the balance of the payment is due by 1st May.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 19th March

Due to only having one team entered for the National Road Relays, the planned pre-race run will instead be a rep session. For those representing the club at the national relays, thank you and please do only the first half of the session.

The session is 12 x 400m at 10k race pace with a 30-second jog around or stand recovery (note that this is significantly less recovery than we have been taking when running these reps at 5k pace). As always, aim for consistency of time for each rep (unless there is a strong headwind/tailwind, in which case aim for consistency within the upwind legs and consistency within the downwind legs, averaging approximately your 10k pace across the upwind/downwind legs).

Alan

NATIONAL 6+4 STAGE RELAYS

 We have 1 male team entered for the 6 stage relay this Saturday 21st March

Race starts at 11.30 and i will register the team and have the numbers at the start by 11.00

Please arrive by 11.00 unless your on a later leg in which case please let me know your estimated arrival time.

Team and running order is below.

Leg 1  R Lawton,  leg 2  J Grant,  Leg 3  R Couper,  Leg 4  G Connelly,  Leg 5 C Banks,  Leg 6  K Leinster

P.S.   Can someone please take Colin through.

Russell

Club Training Monday 16th March

Monday's session is the Greenhills Rd 5 x 1600m rep session at 10k race pace. For this session, the recoveries are dependent on the pack and the time taken to run a mile with the recovery being approximately half the rep time. To make this work in a pack system, the recoveries imposed are as follows:

Pack A 3:00 minutes

Pack B 3:30 minutes

Pack C 4:00 minutes

Pack D

 4:30 minutesThe session once again starts at the top of Langlands Drive on Greenhills Rd and runs down the left side of the road on the pavement, turning left at Auldhouse roundabout and keeping left at the fingerposts towards the new houses. Jog around where you finished for the recovery. The next rep is the reverse of the first rep. As the reps swap between predominantly downhill and predominantly uphill, focus more on consistent effort rather than nailing 10k pace in both directions. The overall average pace of the reps in the session should be close to your realistic 10k pace though.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 12th March

Lost track of the day of the week, sorry for the delay in posting. Today's session is a long threshold fartlek around the 4 hills. As per usual on this session, increase to a threshold effort on all the hills, long and short, and run steady between the hills (steady is just slightly harder than full conversational pace). Decide within your packs when to start and finish each effort and make sure you regroup between efforts without actually stopping.

Alan

Club Training Monday 9th March

Monday's session is a post-race, easy run. Take the chance to have a very controlled aerobic run during which you should be capable of chatting at any time. Most of your non-club runs should be like this. The route is down to the Murray Roundabout and then along the Murray Rd onto Westwood Rd and eventually coming out at Parks showroom. Turn right and right again and back up the Queensway and Strathaven Rd to the club. Thursday's session will be a long threshold session.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 5th March

Thursday's session is a pre-race run with strides. The route is Mull to High Common Rd. Along to St Leonards Rd. Past Brancumhall and up to Calderwood Square. Down to the Whirlies and up the Kingsway back to the club. Fit in 6 x 50m accelerations to 10k pace this time. The strides should be on flat or downhill sections. Focus on running lightly and relaxed and carry that feeling forward into the Uni Road Race on Saturday.

Alan 

Club Training Monday 2nd March

It is always difficult to know how hard to train in the week between two races. However, with the Scally being a relatively short but all out 5k race, only a few days of recovery are required and it is more important to have an easier session on Thursday to conserve strength ahead of what is a hilly 5 mile race at Glasgow Uni's  Garscube sports complex on the coming Saturday. That's a long way of saying Monday's session is not a post-race run!

The session is 5 x 6 minutes at threshold (controlled discomfort) with a 2 minute jog recovery. For a change, the session is running laps at Carron Place in an anti-clockwise direction. This circuit provides a good mixture of slight uphill, flat and gentle downhill which gives good opportunities to work out what threshold effort should feel like; i.e. the effort stays the same but the pace reduces on uphills, increases on the flat and increases a bit more on the downhill. The objective is not to maintain a constant pace but to maintain a constant effort, in the same way that you would in a race. A few minutes in to each rep, the breathing should start to be uncomfortable and if asked, only a few words could be spoken. The effort will be something like 10 mile to half-marathon race effort and definitely not as hard as 5k effort for all those who ran so well at the Scally.

Alan

ALLAN SCALLY ROAD RELAYS

 Updated 15.31

Please be there for 11.30 at the latest

This Saturday were off to Glasgow Green for the Allan Scally road relays.

4 x 5k legs with a start time of Noon. The start is at the football centre end of the park but down by the Clyde. Note for those that have been before that the Start is about 100m downstream from the old Start.

Teams are as follows

Ladies A   1 Emma Carroll, 2Frances Ferguson,  3 Lorraine Buchanan,  4 Lisa Greer

Ladies B   1 Elaine Bell,  2  Louise Higgins   3+4 spare

MV40    1 Colin Banks,     2+3+4 spare  

MV50    1  Stephen Phimister,  2  Robert Gibson,  3  Gerry Connolly,   4 Gordon McInally

Sen M A    1   Andrew Higgins,  2 Scott Hair,  3   Jason Grant  4  Andrew Buchanan

Sen M B    1  James Nugent,  2  George Ferguson  3  Andrew Rycroft  4 Russell Couper

There is a few spare places if anyone else wants entered also if anyone can no longer make it please let me know asap as i need to go on and reregister the teams.

Russell

Club Training Thursday 26th February

Thursday's session is a pre-Scally run and is one of the usual, simple pre-race run routes with strides. The route is down the Queensway to KFC then along West Mains Rd and on to Lidl and back up Churchill Avenue and Strathaven Rd to the club.

From the Queensway fit in 6 x 50m gradual accelerations to 5k pace, hold that pace 10 seconds and then decelerate to an easy, conversational pace. Do these on flat or downhill sections of the run. Decide within your packs when to start each acceleration.

Alan

Renfrewshire Road Races - Greenock

Congratulations to Andrew and Charlotte Buchanan who won silver medals for non affiliated Renfrewshire clubs in the Renfrewshire Clubs Road Race Championships in Greenock on 8th Feb. Andrew was 2nd in the MV40 category in his 5 mile race and Charlotte 2nd in the U13 girls race.

 

National XC Championships

Luca MacArthur

 It was perfect running weather at Callander Park in Falkirk on Saturday for the National XC championships.  It was calm, about 10 degrees and dry/drizzly for the most part though there were a few heavy rain showers during the senior men’s race.

First up was Charlotte Buchanan in the U13 girls 3.4K race, Charlotte had a strong run finishing in 14:09 in 38th position from a field of 132. Luca MacArthur was next to run in the U13 boys 3.4K race. Luca also ran well finishing in 16:27. Our next junior athlete was Hamish Anderson in the U15 boys 4.3k race who also had a great run finishing in 15:36 in 30th place from 99. Well done to our 3 junior athletes.

Charlotte Buchanan

The senior ladies race was next up and there was a lot of interest in this one with Laura Muir taking part for the first time in 14 years. 10k is a step up in distance from her usual 1500m, however her class shone through to take the title by a 13 second margin with Scout Adkin in 2nd place. Laura also showed what a true role model she is taking time to sign Charlottes vest for her and answer questions before the race. Further back in the field, Alison, Frances, Claire and Lorraine were hoping not to be lapped by Laura on the 3 lap course. The sticky muddy section at the bottom of the first hill claimed Claire’s shoe on the first lap forcing her to stop to get it back on. Alison, Claire and Frances were delighted to get round the 2 laps before Laura came round to the finish. Alison was first harrier back in 51:06,
followed by Frances in 53:10 with Claire taking on a 10k cross country for the first time not far behind in 53:53. Lorraine Buchanan was glad to get to the finish and get a hard run in finishing in 67:36. 

The next race with harriers interest was the U20 ladies who had a 7.6k course, consisting of 1 short lap and 2long. Rachel McPhillips felt her hamstring tight on the way round, however still ran strongly to finish in 37:07.

Russells Shoe

The senior men’s race was next up, where we had 7 runners on the start line. Unfortunately Iain MacLean pulled out injured on the first lap. Jordan Stewart had a great run, cheered on by his dog in harriers colours, showing he’s back to his good form finishing the 10k race in 37:57. Jason Grant was the next harrier in finishing in 46:37, with Andrew Buchanan not too far behind in 47:30 then another short distance behind was Andrew Higgins in 48:16. Richard Lawton was running here for the first time in several years and finished in 56:40. Russell Couper was the star of the day, with his shoes falling apart on the 2nd lap he opted to take them off to stop them flapping about and ran the final lap barefoot! Not easy in the mud, with Russell falling 4 times on this lap. Never the less he battled to the finish, finishing in a time of 71:28. Well done Russell and team harriers!

Thanks to Louise, Alan, Kevin and Jordan’s girlfriend for coming along to support and Robert Pattinson for marshalling, your shouts at the far end of the course were much appreciated. Thanks also to Lorraine, Andrew B and Frances for coming for the first junior race and staying all day for the end of the senior men’s race as is a long day. And finally thanks to the bakers Frances and Andrew H for the home baking.

Club Training Monday 23rd February

Monday's session is a light session at Langlands Place with the aim of allowing those who ran at the National the chance to recover whilst also promoting a quicker, lighter cadence to get the neural system fired up before the Scally on Saturday where it looks like we will have a good turnout from the club.

The session is 10 x 200m at 3k to 5k pace with 200m jog recovery. Focus on good running form throughout the session. Don't strain, run fast and relaxed. Try to lock this feeling into your memory and replicate it during the Scally. i.e. don't strain, particularly the further into the race you are. You will find that if you focus on form and relaxing the more tired you feel, the faster and more efficiently you will run.

Thursday's session will also be a short pre-race run with strides.

Alan

NATIONAL 6+4 STAGE ROAD RELAY

This years 6+4 stage relay will again be held in Livingston on the 21st March.

This is a great day out supporting you club mates and seeing some of the top athletes in the country.

Start time is 11.30 for the men and 11.40 for the women.

Teams are 6 for men and 4 for women and legs are run with alternate distances of 3.15m and 5.8m.

If we have more names we will run partial teams too so everyone that wants to run can

Entrants MUST be members of Scottish Athletics as this is a National championship.

Cost is £7 per head and should be paid before race day.

Entrants must be born before 31/08/2008

I need names by Tuesday 3rd March.

If you wish entered please leave your name HERE. Those registered are listed HERE.

Club Training Thursday 19th February

Thursday's session is an easy pre-race run with strides. The route is Kingsway to Whirlies, East Mains Rd to West Mains Rd and KFC. Then Queensway back to the club. Within your packs fit in 6 x approx 100m accelerations to 5k race pace (accelerate over 50m and hold for 50m). Do these on downhill and flat sections starting the first one at Kingsway BP station.

Alan 

NATIONAL XC CHAMPIONSHIP

 This Saturday sees us at Callendar Park (Falkirk) for the National XC Championship

The following are entered

U/13 girls  11.00am    C Buchanan

U/13 Boys  11.16am    L MacArthur

U/15 Boys  11.53am    H Anderson

Sen Women  12.50    F Ferguson.  L Buchanan,  A Lessells and C McSorley

U/20 Women  13.55    R McPhillips

Sen Men     14.40     R Couper,  A Derrick,  A Buchanan.  G McInally,  R Pattinson,  J Grant,  A Higgins,  I MacLean,  J Stewart,  C Banks,  K Leinster   and  R Lawton.

Ladies should be there by 12.10 with the U/20 Ladies by 13.00 and Men by 14.00.

Juniors will be advised by there coaches.

Club Training Monday 16th February - Brancumhall

This is the last Brancumhall session of the season. However, if there issignificant snow cover, the session will be on the golf course instead. As this is the pre-National XC week, the session is shorter and lighter to allow recovery through the week.

I will leave it to the more experienced Harriers to judge if the conditions on Monday night are suitable for the golf course or not. If we are at Brancumhall, then the session is 6 x 1 lap at threshold with a 1 minute jog recovery. If we are at the golf course, then warm up with a 10 minute run on the usual golf course lap and then 6 x 3 minutes threshold on the golf course lap with a 1 minute jog recovery. Keep the threshold effort controlled and don't finish the session feeling you are on your last legs.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 12th February

Thursday's session is a fartlek on the 4-hills. On each uphill (decide what is a hill and what is not a hill within your packs, but note that there are more than 4 hills!) pick the effort up to threshold. In between the hills run easy, conversational pace.

Alan 

Club Training Monday 9th February

Monday's session is a longer session at 10k race pace. The session is 4 x 1600m with a recovery of approximately half the repetition time (which means that each pack will have a different recovery time). The recoveries are as follows:

Pack A 3:00 minutes

Pack B 3:30 minutes

Pack C 4:00 minutes

Pack D 4:30 minutes

The route starts at the roundabout on Greenhills Rd at the top of Langlands Drive (which is the road that leads down to Langlands Place). Run on the pavement on the left hand side of Greenhills Rd heading towards the Auldhouse roundabout. Turn left at the Auldhouse roundabout and keep left at the fingerposts. The 1600m should finish close to the new houses. Stop there and jog around during your recovery. The next rep is the reverse. Clearly, the even reps will be tougher than the odd reps due to climbing back up to Langlands Drive. Control your effort to be the same rather than trying to keep the same pace on the downhill and uphill reps.

Alan

THE ALLAN SCALLY ROAD RELAYS

The Allan Scally road relays will take place on Saturday 28th February in Glasgow Green.

Start time is Noon with teams of 4 running 5k each.

Cost is £11 per head and should be paid in advance.

Teams and running order will be posted on the Blog on the Friday 27th.

I need names by Tuesday 24th Feb.

This is a great team event run on a fast flat course so if your looking for a fast 5k with great company this is the one for you.

If you wish entered please leave your name HERE. Those registered are listed HERE.

Harriers Party Night - Saturday 14th February

Calderglen Harriers are hosting a disco/party night to hopefully raise some club funds on Saturday 14th February. Family/Friends welcome. U16s to be accompanied by adult. Tickets are £8 and can be paid in cash or transferred to the club bank account. Names should be left here:  

Responses can be viewed here

Also if club members are able to contribute something to the raffle it would be much appreciated.

PS Dont worry - Frances has booked the DJ and not Eddie 😜

Club Training Thursday 5th February

Thursday's session is at Langlands Place and is a progression of our 400m session. The progression is a reduction in the recovery between reps. So the session is 12 x 400m with a 50 second stand/jog around recovery. The pace is 5k pace. This does not seem like much of a reduction but after a few reps you will notice the lack of recovery. As always, aim for consistency of reps, with no more than a 1 second difference in time for each rep. If you find that you cannot maintain the pace you managed previously with the 1 minute recoveries, chances are you were going slightly too fast previously. Now is the time to make a slight adjustment to see where you are at in terms of 5k target pace.

Alan

Club Training Monday 2nd February - Brancumhall

Brancumhall session is intended to be a little lighter given the XC race on Saturday. The session is 4 x 2 laps at threshold with a 2 minute jog recovery. As threshold is not a specific pace but is a range of efforts, those who are a little fatigued from the race should run at the lower end of threshold effort which is just at the point where talking more than 3 or 4 words whilst running becomes difficult. Those who have not been racing can push a little harder into threshold where even a couple of words would be difficult.

Alan

SCOTTISH ATHLETICS MASTERS XC CHAMPIONSHIPS

 This Saturday were off to Tollcross Park for the Masters xc Championships.

Ladies and M65+ start at 13.00 and M40 to M60 start at 13.45

Please be there at least 30mins prior to your start time and i will have your numbers

Those running 6k are F Ferguson, A Lessells and K Leinster

Those running 8k are R Couper, A Buchanan, A Derrick, I MacLean, K McPhillips, R Pattinson, C Thomson.

Anyone that cant make it if you let me know asap so im not collecting numbers.

Russell

Club Training Thursday 29th January

Thursday's session is at Langlands Place (for those racing at the weekend, just do the session as as steady run without picking up the pace to rep pace, except for the 200m reps, which you should do).

The session is all at 5k pace and consists of 2 x 800m (1 minute jog/stand recoveries), 6 x 400m (1 minute jog/stand recoveries) and 4 x 200m (200m jog recoveries). 

Alan

Club Training Monday 26th January

With a good representation from the club at the SVHC road relays on Sunday in tough conditions, Monday's run is a recovery run. Still, its quite a hilly run to keep the focus on strength through the winter, although the pace should be easy. The route is down to the Murray Roundabout and then along the Murray and eventually turning left to the bottom of Lickprivick. Up Lickprivick to Greenhills Roundabout and then take the left turn down Greenhills Rd (following the footpaths by the flats parallel to Greenhills Rd until it joins the pavement beside the road. Keep going all the way to Strathaven Rd and back to the club. Take it very conversational, very low heart rate.

Alan

SVHC ROAD RELAY TEAMS

 The provisional teams for Sundays race are as follows Updated 23/01/26  23.02

Ladies A,  Leg 1   C Boyd,   Leg 2   F Ferguson,   Leg 3  A Lessells

Ladies B   Leg 1   N Dow,    Leg 2   L Greer,     Leg 3    K Mallin

Mens A     Leg 1  I MacLean,  Leg 2   J Grant,   Leg 3   A Higgins.   Leg 4   C Thomson.

Mens B    Leg 1  A Buchanan,  Leg 2  R Gibson,  Leg 3  K Leinster,   Leg 4  R Pattinson.

M50         Leg 1   M Howell,   Leg 2  R Couper,  Leg 3  G McInally,    Leg 4   Free.

I will register the teams and distribute the numbers.

1st leg starts at 11.00am so please try and be there for 10.15 for number distribution and warm ups.

Club Training Thursday 22nd January

Thursday's session is a threshold Thursday consisting of 1 x 12 minute effort, 4 minutes jog and then 8 minute effort. This is enough ahead of SVHC relay. The warm up is up Strathaven Rd to NEL roundabout, down to the Murray Roundabout and then onto the Queensway at the Town centre. The first rep starts here all the way down to KFC, turn right onto West Mains Rd, past the train station and on to Lidl. Turn right up Churchill Avenue and Strathaven Rd.

Be extremely careful on all road crossings. Do not charge across. Sacrafice the rep effort until the road is clear rather than taking any risks.

Alan 

NATIONAL XC CHAMPIONSHIP (FALKIRK)

This years National XC Championship will once again be held at Callendar Park in Falkirk on Saturday 21st Feb.

First race is U/13 girls at 11.00am up to Ladies at 12.50 and Men at 14.40

Distance is 10k for seniors.

Cost is £8 for juniors and £9.50 for U/20, Seniors and Masters.

Make sure your SA membership is up to date at the time of entry and the race date.

I need names by Tuesday 3rd Feb.

If you wish entered leave your name HERE. Those already registered are listed HERE.

West Cross Country League - Strathaven

 

Saturday was the first out of 2 west league cross country events where we had representation through the different age groups. It was great conditions for running, cold, not windy and not too muddy underfoot. The course was set in Kirkland Park in Strathaven which is set on a hill with the course mainly being either uphill or downhill, with not very many flat sections, however the hill wasn't anywhere near as bad as the Linn Park hill last year!

The first race we had harriers taking part in was the U13 boys race. Innes McMonegal and Luca MacArthur both gave a good account of themselves with Innes finishing in 12:32 in 34th place with Luca around a minute behind in 13:43 in 43rd place. The incomplete boys team finished in 13th out of 17. We had 3 U13 girls competing who also all gave a good account of themselves. Charlotte is getting back to full strength after her long injury lay off and was pleased with her run , finishing in 13th place in a time of 11:43. Nina McMonegal finished not too far behind in 30th place in a time of 12:43, depsite losing a shoe in one of the muddy patches and finishing the race in one shoe. Lucy Rooney completed the girls team finishing in 50th place in a time of 15:17. The girls team finished in 8th place out of 13. We had 2 harriers taking part in the U15 boys race. Finlay McMonegal had a strong run finishing in 9th place in a time of 12:35 with Robbie Rooney not too far behind in 13th place in a time of 13:06. The boys did well with Calderglen Harriers finishing as 2nd team out of 11. 

The senior harriers ran a combined race with males and females running together. There was some close contests throughout with the 2 Andrews (Buchanan and Higgins) resuming their battle for grand prix points. Kai Wheeler finished as first harrier in a time of 25:40. Martin MacDonald running his first cross country as a harrier wasn't too far behind finishing in 25:56. Iain Maclean was around a minute behind finishing in 26:49, with Jason not much further back in 27:16. Andrew Buchanan got the better of Andrew Higgins this time, finishing in 28:08 with Andrew H 6 seconds behind in 28:14. There was a few minutes before Alison finished in a time of 30:52. Richard Lawton was next to finish in 32:11. Despite thinking she'd never run a cross country again while running Decembers West District Championships, Jacqueline Balmer turned up again and ran strongly to finish in 34:01. Russell Couper completed our male entrants finishing in 39:33 and Lorraine Buchanan completed our female entrants (also running on her birthday - hope you enjoyed your wine and birthday cake later), finishing in a time of 40:19. Currently with some teams still to submit their results  the overall male team is sitting in 9th out of 24 teams, with the masters sitting in 6th from 13 teams. The female master steam are currently sitting in 3rd from 7 teams.

Thanks to Alan Derrick, Peter Moyes, Robert Pattinson, Susan and Heidi Grant and Charlotte Buchanan for  coming along to support. It was much appreciated, along with Marie Neil and Richard Stark from Strathaven and the EK marshalls there seemed to be support all the way round.

Lets see if we can get a good turn out for the 2nd and final league match at Balloch on the 7th February to keep these positions up.

 

Club Training Monday 19th January - Brancumhall

With many racing on Saturday and Sunday, the Brancumhall session is a lighter one this week. The session is 6 laps in total, alternating between one side of the quadrangle at 5k effort and one side jog recovery. The aim is to be light on your feet on the soft ground. For those who are not naturally light on their feet, this means focusing on a higher than your usual cadence, shorter strides, higher knees and landing on your forefoot with definitely no heel striking. You should find that this takes you across soft ground with much less effort than plodding.

Alan

SVHC ROAD RELAYS ( STRATHCLYDE PARK )

 The SVHC Road Relays will take place on Sunday 25th Jan at Strathclyde Park.

Teams of 3 for Ladies and 4 for Men. This event is for 35 and overs.

Start time is 11.00am. Cost is £7.50 per head and legs are 6k on an out and back course

We will enter part teams too if we dont have enough for full teams.

I need names by Thursday 22nd Jan.

If you wish entered please add your name HERE.  Those registered are listed HERE.

Club Training Thursday 15th January

Thursday's session is a run without reps! Instead the plan is to do the 4-hills as a relatively easy aerobic run. Just a constant, easy effort with the hills providing a slight increase in heart rate as and when they come. For this type of run, absolutely stick to your packs and feel the benefit of a session that is not leaving you on your knees.

Alan

West Cross-Country League - What is it and why we need you

For those new to the club or who have not participated in the West XC League before here are a few pointers as to why it is important to have you participate for your club, Calderglen Harriers.

Unlike any other race we do, the two races in the West XC League are team events only. There are no individual awards or positions. The winners are the clubs.

For the few years that the league has been in place, we have done well, especially given the relatively small size of our club. We have done well not because we have super fast, elite runners but because we were represented by many Harriers across the different male, female, age group and combined categories.

What do we need to do for Calderglen Harriers to place highly?

1. we need to have at least the maximum number of counters in each team in each category to avoid accumulating penalty points for incomplete teams. Senior teams have 4 counters per team; all other age groups have 3 counters per team. Scores are awarded by adding up the finishing positions of each member of a team (4 or 3 to count) and adding on any penalty points as explained in point 2. The lowest score wins.

2. we need to have more than the maximum counters per team running. Penalty point system has changed. Penalty points are the total number of participants in the race + 10 points. So every extra person we have above the maximum counters for a team puts a penalty point onto the score of each team for each person they are missing from a complete team. Full explanation here on the West XC League web site.

3. we need to have good attendance in both league match 1 in Strathaven and league match 2 in Balloch as the competition is a 2-race league.

4. for the reasons above (and as it is only 2 races this year), both races are in the Calderglen Grand Prix (see the newsletter sent out last week).

So, looking to see as many as possible of you in Strathaven on Saturday!

Alan

WEST LEAGUE XC #1 (STRATHAVEN)

To help us determine what teams are complete (and whether we need to encourage individuals to run to make complete teams), please leave your details here. The entries we have so far are listed here.

This Saturday is race #1 in the West league XC in Kirkland park Strathaven.

FU/11  11.30,    MU/11   11.45,   FU/13   12.00,   MU/13   12.20

U/15 combined  12.40,   U/17  comb   13.05,   U/20, Sen, Mast comb  13.40

This is not a pre entry and we only pay for those taking part on the day.

Make sure your SA number is up to date.

For those new to the club we all wear the same number which i will bring along to the event and distribute but to give me an idea of who im looking for let me know through a message on whatsapp nearer the end of the week or a text.

Cost im expecting to be the same as last year of £3 per runner.

Russell

Inter District Cross Country

 

Well done to Hamish Anderson who was selected to run for the West District at the Inter District Cross Country Championships at Alexandra Park on Saturday (after a strong run at the West District Cross Country back in December). Hamish had a great run finishing in 21st place from a field of 45, and just missed out as one of the 6 counters for the west team finishing as 7th out of  15 from the West team selected. Charlotte Buchanan also had a strong run in the U13 girls race finishing in 47th place from a field of 74. Well done to both Charlotte and Hamish for their great runs against top quality competitors.

Club Training Monday 12th January

Monday's session (was supposed to be last Thursday) is at the Langlands Place "track". The session is 12 x 400m at 5k pace with 1 minute stand/jog around recovery followed by 4 x 200m at 5k pace with 200m jog recovery. Hopefully the ice is completely gone, particularly from the Langlands Place road.

Thursday's session will be a longer, steady run without even a hint of a rep.

Alan

Club Training Thursday 8th January

This isn't the session I had planned but the forecast is showing sub-zero temperatures for tomorrow evening in EK, so black ice is probably going to restrict what we can do safely. Therefore the plan is hill reps at Avondale as they will be on the road which should be ice-free. It does mean taking extreme care when warming up to Avondale. I suggest a short warm-up cutting through the gap in the hedge at the NEL roundabout and running down Avondale on the road to the start of the reps. Start the reps on the pavement as usual if it is not icy. Otherwise, start the reps  on the road in single file, keeping close to the kerb until you have a clear view around the corner and up the hill.

The session is 10 x hill reps at 5k effort to the junction on the right at the top of the hill. Only the faster ones will do the full distance. When everyone else meets the faster ones on their jog down, turn around and jog down with them.

Alan

Club Training Monday 5th January - Brancumhall

Happy New Year! Monday's Brancumhall session will hopefully be much firmer under foot than last time if the sub-zero temperatures continue. The session is another threshold session to get the lungs and legs working a little bit after the holidays. Ease your way into this gradually if you have not run much over the past few weeks.

The session is 3 laps at threshold, 2 laps at threshold and 1 lap at threshold with 2 minutes jog recovery between each rep. Each lap starts where ever your 2 minute jog recovery finishes.

If the temperatures are still sub-zero, then be particularly careful running to and from Brancumhall in case there are icy patches on the pavements. Space out within your pack and make sure you give a shout to warn those behind if you spot and icy patch.

If there ends up being snow in EK, then the session will be on the golf course. In that case, do it as 12 minutes, 8 minutes and 4 minutes at threshold with 2 minute jog recoveries. Do this over a normal lap of the golf course (which I won't try to describe here, just make sure there is an experienced Harrier in your pack who knows the lap). Warm up with a 15 minute run on the golf course lap, starting your first effort where ever you are when the warm-up is finished.

Alan

MASTERS XC CHAMPIONSHIP ( TOLLCROSS )

This years Master XC will be held in Tollcross park on 31st Jan.

O/40 females and O/65 males will run 6k in the same race @ 13.00

O/40 males will run 8k @ 13.45

Cost is £9.50 each.

Remember to update your SA number if it expires before 31st Jan or it wont allow entry.

I need names by Tuesday 13th Jan.

If you wish entered please leave your name HERE. Those already registered are listed HERE.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

 On behalf of your committee may we wish you all the best for 2026. Last year we seen a lot of new members and as you start you first full year with us some things to consider. Theres lots of championship races now open to you and it would be great to see as many of you as possible testing yourself in these events. It doesnt matter if you think your not good enough. Your not alone as half the entrants worry about that too. Nobody expects you to keep up with potential Olympians but you test yourself against your peers and will benefit from the experience. This applies to our longer standing members too. Whatever you do we want to see you enjoy your running the most important part of this is attending training as it will reap rewards. Hope everyone has an injury free year with lots of PBs.