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

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 😜

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.