No Lack of Effort!

All the finish line photos from the 6/4 stage relays at Livingston are now available here.

Heaven & Hell Half Marathon

With a name like that this race could only be located in Scotland where the scenery and weather are able to create both heaven and hell simultaneously. Ian Hughes competed in this race for the third time on Sunday where I'm guessing the warm conditions and the tough course made it more like hell than heaven. However Ian ran a course best finishing in 1:30:28, 11th overall and 2nd M40. Ian also points out that his time at the recent Alloa Half Marathon (1:25:51) also qualifies as a Bronze M40 standard. The only reason I didn't mention this in the previous report was because I didn't realise Ian was a Vet yet!

Well done to Ian and thanks for the race report. If anyone does races, any races, then please e-mail me a race report, as long or as short as you like, so that we can record on the Blog everything that the Harriers get up to.

Alan

Tom Scott and Strathclyde Park parkrun

Scotland, another weekend and so another season. This weekend it was Summer in Strathclyde Park. Seven Harriers lined up in scorching conditions today to compete with around 200 runners in the Tom Scott 10 Mile Road Race.

The course makes good use of the inner and outer perimeter roads/paths to squeeze 10 miles into approximately two and a half laps of the loch. Congestion was a problem as the runners weaved their way around maw, paw and the weans (and the dug) all out to enjoy the surprise summer weather. Perhaps the runners did not enjoy the conditions quite so much as there was no shade to be had and no cooling breeze. However, this didn't seem to matter to the first two across the line (T WOLDEMICKAEL of Shettleston Harriers and N RENAULT of Edinburgh AC) who finished seconds apart in the fast times of 48:46 and 48:53 respectively.

For the Harriers, Stuart Waugh was first across the line in a time of 68:00, a substantial M60 Gold performance standard. However Stuart did not have it all his own way as Brian McDougall caught and passed Stuart around the 8 mile mark only to lose out as Stuart regathered. However, Brian improved his 10-mile pb by a very significant 2 minutes, recording a time of 68:22. Jim Holmes was never far behind Stuart and Brian but got himself boxed in at the start and never managed to close the gap. Jim recorded a time of 68:58. Frances Maxwell ran strongly throughout, finishing in 72:56 and achieving an F45 Bronze performance standard. John McBride was next in recording a time of 78:14, within the sights of Richard Lawton who recorded a time of 79:35. Finally, the heat is not to Russell Couper's liking and inevitably he struggled in today's conditions. However, he did it and was satisfied to finish if not happy with the time of 98:44.

The full race results are here and a gallery of photos is here.

The same venue hosted the inaugural Strathclyde parkrun 5k race on Saturday morning. Jamie McMonagle made his return to racing after a long absence with a time of 19:46, well down on his usual but Jamie recognises that he is at least back on the comeback trail and hopes to show a steady improvement in the coming weeks.

Well done to all who were out racing over the weekend.

Alan

10 Mile PB Opportunity - Tom Scott

The forthcoming Tom Scott Road Race on Sunday 11th April (11am start) should provide an excellent opportunity to set a 10-mile qualifying time or PB for this seasons performance award scheme. Entries will be accepted on the day for a fee of £10. Postal entries are effectively closed. Further details are available here.

National Road Relays - Medallists Again!

For the second year in a row our veteran men's team clinched the bronze medal in the Scottish National 6-Stage Road Relay at Livingston today. Despite several regular team members being absent due to injury and holidays and several of the team being on the way back from injury and illness, those who ran coped admirably with the pressure.

Jim Holmes was advised at training on Thursday that he was selected to make his début in the first veteran team and by all accounts he did not sleep a wink between then and race day. The pressure increased when he found out he was on the first 3.1 mile leg and wasn't helped by several of his team mates trying to boost his confidence with the words "No pressure but.........".

However the extra adrenalin that comes with that level of expectation really does make a difference and Jim got us off to a great start running the leg 40 seconds faster than he has ever done before to record a time of 19:44. The experience of multi championship winning M60, Charlie McDougall was called upon for leg 2, the 5.85 mile leg, pulling us through the field to finish in 35:33. Charlie handed over to the club's other veteran champion M60, Stuart Waugh for the next 3.1 mile leg. Stuart has been injured recently but came through last week's Grangemouth 10k in good shape and so proved himself fit for the team. At the finish it was clear that Stuart had driven himself hard but he was disappointed with the lack of sharpness resulting from his recent lay off. Stuart recorded a very respectable time of 20:40. Eddie Reid is in very good shape at the moment and is a regular in the vets team so had no problems recording his fastest ever time on the long leg to finish in 36:06 and a few more places higher up. Alan Derrick was another of the walking wounded, having only been back light training for two weeks after a 7 week calf injury. In fact, all the recent physiotherapy and massage treatment on the injured calf meant that this was the only part of his legs that did not hurt during the 3.1 mile leg, recording a time of 18:21, by no means anywhere near his best time but glad to be back racing. Completing the team, Davy Watt made his first competitive outing of the year having been weakened by a lingering virus since early January. Incredibly Dave ran 10 seconds faster than last year and pulled in a further 7 places to finish in 33:02, 26th overall and third masters team.

Adding a tinge of disappointment, at the end of the race we were convinced we were in 2nd place having carefully counted and timed the gap to each veteran team (to be identified by a "large and clear V on their numbers" according to the race regulations) at the end of each stage. However this rule must only have been loosely applied as we were surprised to find Cambuslang being called up for the silver medal ahead of us, none of us having seen a V on any of their team's numbers. The time gap to Cambuslang was large enough for it not to have mattered whether we knew they were a vets team or not but had the gap been less than 30 seconds we would have been justifiably aggrieved, some of our recently injured runners having held back a little on the basis that the gap to the leader was too big to close and for fear of further injury. This does not detract from the achievement of the team and it was particularly pleasing to see stalwarts of the club Jim Holmes and Stuart Waugh receiving their first ever National Championship medals.

The club was well represented by a further one and a half men's teams and three quarters of a women's team. Mary Goldsmith got the ladies off to a good start recording a time of 23:25, only seconds outside last year's time. Frances Maxwell found the long leg to her liking, recording a time of 42:08, a full 2 minutes faster than her last appearance on this leg. Finally Genevieve Freeman made a rare but much appreciated appearance on the third leg on the first of 3 races she was tackling this Easter weekend (1 running and 2 cycling races). Genevieve was typically disappointed with her time of 23:38 but ran the whole leg solo, a tough thing to do on a twisty course when you are not running short races often.

Blair Matthew made his eagerly anticipated return to Calderglen team action after an absence of 3 or 4 years and did not disappoint. Blair ran our fastest short leg of the day, leading out the B team finishing in 16th position in 17:06. A few more races and some speed endurance sessions and Blair will be right back at the sharp end. As a relative beginner, Brian McDougall had the unusual experience of leading out his father Charlie on the second leg courtesy of the 2:39 start that Blair gave him. Brian responded well to the challenge recording a time of 39:01, only being caught by Charlie with a mile to go. George Stewart was coaxed out to race and put in a solid performance, recording a time of 21:27, showing that he is on the way back to possible selection for future vets teams. David Herbertson was assigned the next long leg and made up a couple of places to finish in 39:09. David Wardrope was given a shorter leg and was pleased with his time of 21:39. Finally Graham Lindsay had the long lonely last leg, completing that in 42:22.

Colin Banks got the C team off to a very fast start before curbing his enthusiasm to finish in 22:14. Russell Couper does not usually do the long leg here and struggled a little in the latter stages, finishing in 51:51. Finally Chas Steven completed the team with a time of 25:09 for the short leg.

Very well done to all who competed and thanks to the many Calderglen supporters and photographers around the course. The event clearly demonstrated the strong team spirit in the club and emphasises why the relays have always been a key part of the club's race programme.

Click here for further photographs from Scot.

Alan

National 6/4 Stage Arrangements

The 6-stage teams and running order are listed here. We have to declare the teams and running order by 11:30 am at the latest. If you are listed in a team and cannot make it, then please endeavour to let me or Russell know by 11am Saturday morning at the latest. We cannot re-arrange the teams once they are declared, this being a National Championship there is no flexibility in the rules.

If you need a lift, then a group of at least 7 are meeting at the Sports Club to leave at 10am sharp. The race starts at 1200, the men and women starting together.

There has been a course modification due to the last footbridge just before the finishing straight being closed for repair. This detour involves a circuit of the Livingston FC car park to keep the distance up and then approaching the finish via the main road pavement from behind the outgoing runners. Further details and course maps are available on the Scottish Athletics web site.

Alan

Update on the Trossachs Training Camp

Along with lots of running this year we have secured a Sport Psychologist to deliver two workshops.

Session 1: Performance Profiling. Which should look at 'the areas of improvement' and
Session 2: Goal Setting

The training camp is open to a maximum of 32 runners which includes a number of places reserved for non-members of Calderglen Harriers. Under the expert guidance of UK Athletics qualified coaches, the weekend will consist of a number of coaching sessions (both running and classroom based) over the Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday morning and will take advantage of the picturesque trails by Loch Venacher and the nearby Trossachs area.

The dates for your diary are from the afternoon of Friday 17th September to around lunchtime on Sunday 19th September 2010. As always we will be based at the Trossachs Backpackers Hostel near Callander in Perthshire.

Deposits of £20 required to secure your place.

The cost of the weekend will be approximately £50 per person. This includes:
• Two nights (Fri/Sat) dormitory accommodation in the hostel
• Breakfast (Sat/Sun), lunch (Sat/Sun) and dinner (Fri/Sat)
• Technical T-shirt souvenir
• Full coaching program

Cheques should be made payable to ‘Calderglen Harriers’. Completed forms can be sent to me (Genevieve) at; ATHelite, 58 Cadzow St, Hamilton, ML3 6DS

Please be aware that the actual cost of the weekend has yet to be confirmed but will be around the fifty pound mark.

We fully expect this wonderful weekend to fill up quickly so don't miss out and get your deposit in quickly.