ALLOA HALF MARATHON

8 Harriers made their way to Alloa for the 31st Alloa half today.
It wasn't as cold in Alloa as it was when we left snowy East Kilbride but was still a day to keep wrapped up. Ian Hughes making one of his few GP appearances was 1st Harrier home 1:22:32.
Behind him their was a close tussle going on with Andy Henderson and Eddie Reid with times 1:29:43 for Andy and 1:30:00 for Eddie. Next in was John McBride running a great race in 1:43:55 narrowly beating an out of sorts David Herbertson 1:43:59. Hugh Simpson was next with a good solid run 1:49:57. Good considering he felt the need to wear a jacket and leggings. Russell Couper was next in with his fastest half marathon for 7 years and 17.31 quicker than last year but a little miffed he couldn't find a few more seconds 2:00:04. Next in and making her debut in the half marathon for Calderglen was Ruth Kelly who must surely have been closing me down 2:01:22.
These are chip times although the gun times have the same finishing order.
Orginisation was a lot better this year with no big queues for numbers and chips.
Next week is the next race in the GP with the Grangemouth 10k and we have a lot more entered for this so hope everyone can get over the various illnesses and injuries and see a big Calderglen turnout.
Alan will update the GP and Club Championship when he gets a chance but by my reckoning Eddie has taken the lead in the male GP with Stephen Reilly still leading the Championship. In the Ladies there will be no change with Joanne McEvoy leading the GP and tying with Karen Allen in the Championship. Wait for the updates to confirm this.

Mondays training

Conditions permitting we will be running on the golf course tonight.
Please bring appropriate footwear to run road or golf course.

EKSC Race Night, Saturday 4th May @ 7.30pm

The Sports Club are holding a Race Night on Saturday 4th May 
7.30 pm till 1.00 am. 

The aim of the night is to raise funds for the Sports Club and to have good time.
The other Club sections ie. Cricket, Tennis, Rugby etc. will all be taking part.

As a section we would like to see a good turn out from the Harriers.
Firstly to have a good time and secondly to show to the other sections that we are a part of the club.  

The Harriers have been given Race 4 to Sponsor.
There are 8 runners in the race and each horse costs £5 to sponsor.
The individuals who decide to sponsor a horse get to choose the Horses Name.

Tickets are on sale now at £5 a head. This includes wait for it, Pakora, Raffle and Games.

See Frances with regard to the tickets.

NAVIGATION COURSE FOR HILL RUNNERS

On the Scottish Athletics website there is a course on "Navigation for hill runners".
Its on 6th & 7th April to be held at Hillend Edinburgh.
Thought this might be of interest to a couple of our members.

National 6 + 4 Stage Relay

The 6 + 4 stage relay will take place on Sunday 31st March at Livingston.
Start time is noon.
Cost is £3.50 per head
I need the names by Wed 13th March.
Usual format teams of 4 for ladies and 6 for men.
If you want entered please leave your name HERE.
A list of those already entered are HERE.
Alternativly see me at the Club.

Russell

Lasswade 10 Mile Race

A race report from Richard Lawton:
As this is the first winter season since 2010 that have been training & running well, I have wanted to do the Lasswade 10 mile race for a few years as it is a not so common distance for competitive road racing and the timing was right. However, suffering all day on Saturday with sinusitis feeling pretty lousy is not ideal race
preparation. So after getting my kit ready and directions I hoped for a good night sleep and be fit for the race. So feeling fresh I left EK this morning for the 52 mile journey to the village of Rosewell, just south of Edinburgh to take part in this very hilly race. As I was not 100% sure where I was going I took my phone with Sat Nav and still managed to get lost (don’t put me, Kenny or Billy in orienteering race
history doesn't favour our navigation skills!)

Finally getting there in plenty of time (90 mins to spare) did some race preparation reading the paper in the car. The race started promptly at 12pm with a slight uphill before it leveled off. You then drop steeply into Roslin Glen, which is then followed by a 1 in 5 climb out of the glen. The first 5 or 6 mile followed this
theme. The last 4 miles (that's if anything is left in the tank) you can stride out a bit.

My target time was sub 80 and my actual time was 82:56. I was hoping for pb today but that was not to be. I can recommend the buffet that Lasswade AC put on with a wide range of sandwiches, homebaking, scones with cream & jam, chocolate biscuits, cakes and the list goes on. The race is even worth doing just for the buffet!

Well done to Richard on adding another worthwhile race to his CV.
Alan

Glasgow University Road Race

The rescheduled Uni 5 mile road race took place today and was much the better for the fine, early Spring weather compared to the usual November date. Although the field was perhaps a little smaller than usual (and the course a little shorter, just under the 5 miles) the Harriers were out in force with 14 taking part.  The conditions were fantastic for running with temperatures in double figures and only a light breeze.

This is a relatively local race for Andrew McCaffery so he was able to warm up by running to the race and this seemed to do the trick as he had a fine run, finishing in 24th position in 29:30. Stephen Reilly has not been able to train much due to shin splints but all the same was second harrier to finish, crossing the line in 31:35. In one of those "I told you so" moments, Stephen Phimister went snow boarding at Xscape on Friday night and took a heavy tumble. He therefore started the race with some pain in his ribs, adding further strength to the argument that snow sports and running are rarely well matched activities. Nevertheless, Stephen had a good run, storming down the finishing straight to finish in 31:42.

David Herbertson was another fast finisher, really powering across the line in 32:31. Andy Henderson was not far behind, finishing in 32:52 with Jim Holmes hot on his heels in 32:56. An under the weather Eddie Reid had considered stopping after the first lap but decided to just keep going and crossed the line in 33:16, only just holding off Karen Allen, who was delighted with her time of 33:20. Joanne McEvoy paced the race well, running strongly from start to finish, recording a time of 34:14. Frances has been struggling with a non-running injury over the past week and has missed some training so was not as fast as usual, finishing in 35:53. John McBride is benefiting from lots of shorter races and was able to demonstrate a real change of pace in the final few hundred metres, to finish in 36:28. Hugh Simpson was definitely not out on a meet and greet tour today and put a very strong effort in, being pushed all the way to the line, which he crossed in 37:07. It looked like Alison Lessells would be able to draw upon her 400m track speed to overhaul Hugh but it was not to be today as she finished seconds behind Hugh in 37:12. Russell Couper was having a happier run today than he had at the National, finishing in 43:13.

An intense month of Grand Prix racing on the roads is coming up. As it stands now, Joanne has stretched her lead in the Grand Prix and is now tied for the lead of the Scratch Championship with Karen. Meanwhile Andrew McCaffery has leapfrogged into the lead of the men's Grand Prix whilst Stephen Reilly retains the lead in the Scratch Championship. Well done to all. More photos available here.
Alan