Like a Summer's Day in Autumn!

Sandy and Kay make a fast start

A week or so of reasonably dry weather provided close to the best conditions we have ever had in the last 15 years or so of competing in the National Cross Country Relay Championships in Cumbernauld. Once again, a record field had entered the the ladies' and men's events and this was visually obvious when the fields lined up on the start line. For the first time, the ladies' event was contested over 4 laps rather than the usual 3, just when we had managed to get 6 ladies signed up for the event for probably the first time ever! Never mind, one and half teams was still a great representation for the Harriers.

Julie Beveridge, our fastest woman

Our senior women A team comprised Kay Conneff on leg 1 (celebrating the anniversary of her first cross country race for the Harriers), Julie Beveridge on leg 2, Alison Lessells on leg 3 and Joanne McEvoy on leg 4, a very good and experienced team. Experience of the course and a further year of training benefited Kay considerably who smashed her course best by over a minute, finishing in 18:19. Julie has run this course many times before and coupled with her great, current form, stormed around the course in an excellent 16:14, around 40 seconds faster than in recent years and pulling the team back up from 49th to 34th position. Alison is gradually getting back to form and moved up to 30th position in 18:15. Joanne has also run this course many times before and also set one of her fastest ever times in 17:27 which brought the team up to 28th position out of a field of 40 complete teams. This was a great result for the Harriers in such a competitive field. A somewhat unwell Sandy Hayden was leading off our second team (but perhaps should not have been running). However, with plenty of encouragement from around the course Sandy ran well to finish in 20:29, handing over to Lorraine Buchanan who was also running here for the first time. Lorraine found this very hilly course tough going (at least that is what she said afterwards) however she looked strong, finishing in 22:26. Given that most of the 6 women running are relative newcomers and will improve considerably each year, we have the basis of a strong Calderglen team in years to come.

Eddie Reid near the start

For the men we had one full senior team of four, a partial team of two and two complete M50 teams of 3. Our senior A team was led off by Andrew Buchanan who was running here for only the second time. Andrew made a more cautious start than he did a few weeks ago at the West relays and consequently smashed his course best by 1:15 with a great time of 14:32. Andrew handed over to Jim Holmes who has run this course often enough for it to be a fitness benchmark. Despite feeling as though he was stuggling, Jim ran one of his fastest times ever, finishing only seconds outside his best in 16:33. Then (as I've said before this season) in-form Richard Lawton took over on leg 3 to set another major course best of 17:38, also over a minute faster than last year. Paul Rooney was on the 4th leg, running here for the first time and finding the last leg a bit lonely as it usually is. Pault ran around 17:42 (final official results not yet out yet) which puts him in a very tightly packed group of Harriers (take note for Monday and Thursday when the packs are decided!).

Stuart Waugh moves through the field

Our incomplete team consisted of Gordon McInally on leg 1 handing over to Russell Couper. Gordon was here for the first time but is an experienced enough runner, pacing it well to finish in 18:59. Meanwhile Russell ran an absolute stormer, setting his fastest time since 2006 to finish in 20:27! This was obvious from the way he finished the last 200 m loop, where he really was shifting. Well done Russell. Sub-20 next year I hope.

Jim Holmes strides out on leg 2.

As always, we were well represented in the men's masters age groups. This time we fielded two strong M50 teams (3 per team). Eddie Reid made a welcome comeback to the short, fast cross country racing with an excellent 16:25 which the record books will show is most probably his fastest time on this course and placed us 15th in the M50 race. I had been suffering from a cold and had missed a few sessions earlier in the week so wasn't even sure until I arrived at the course if I would run or not, still suffering from a light head. So I decided to go very cautiously on leg 2, particularly at the start and see how I felt. I've never run leg 2 before, usually running a 4th leg which is always quite spread out. However on leg 2 there were plenty to chase and this was very helpful as I was encouraged to be able to make good progress through the field without going at a crazy pace. It was a bit frustrating not to feel good enough to push really hard in the final half but the result was a consistent pace throughout and a strong sprint past a few more as I approached the line to finish in 14:25 which is the fastest time I have on record by 5 or 6 seconds (starting from 2002 on this course). I also had the breath to give Jim Holmes a brief hello on the way past in the final 500 m which does not often happen.

Richard Lawton breaks away from his pursuers

A scan of the M50 results shows what I thought though, as several of those M50's who I had been well in front of two weeks ago at Kilmacolm were well in front of me today. So definitely more to come if I can get healthy again. This brought the team up to 10th place. Billy Buchanan was feeling the pressure of taking over from me but he had nothing to worry about as he stormed around in 17:21, maintaining 10th position.

Andy Henderson makes a welcome return to form

Our second M50 team was led off by Stuart Waugh who is coming back to great form. Stuart finished in 18:02 in 17th position which is only just over a minute down on the time he ran 12 years ago on this course! Remarkable. Andy Henderson is also well experienced on this course but illness last year had set him back a bit. However, now he is definitely back, running a great 16:58, only 13 seconds down on his time from 3 years ago. Kenny Leinster completed this team who all were coming back from some sort of series of injuries or illnesses and here again we saw great signs of improvement with Kenny running a strong 17:45 (which is faster than Kenny's only previous run on this course in 2012), keeping the team in a very comfortable 16th position.

Billy Buchanan does not look under pressure

Well done to all on a day we will be lucky to see again at Cumbernauld with such perfect conditions for running. However it wasn't just the conditions and all the Harriers are to be congratulated on the efforts they have put in over the past months with a sequence of very hard sessions which are hopefully paying off now. Thanks also to our many supporters and photographers around the course, including Sandra, Maud and Mark. Photographs from Joanne, Kenny Phillips and me are in this album.
Alan

National XC Relay Teams

Teams for Saturday's race are listed here. Further details in Russell's post below. Note that cars are leaving the Sports Club at 11:30 if you need a lift. Parking and changing is at Cumbernauld High School as per usual. The race is chip timed so arrive in plenty time to get your number and chip from Russell who will be on the course.
Alan

NATIONAL XC RELAY

Cars leaving Sports Club at 11:30 for those needing a lift. 

We have 3 male and 1 M50 team entered and 2 ladies teams entered.
Ladies start at 1.20pm and run 4 legs.
Men start at 2.45pm and also run 4 legs or 3 for the M50 team
Parking is at Cumbernauld High School a little more than a mile from the course.
I will be at registration at the course from 12.30pm to hand out numbers and timing chips.
Please arrive early as I have my warmup to do too.

Those entered to run are  J Beveridge, S Hayden, J McEvoy, A Lessells, K Conneff and L Buchanan.

R Couper, A Derrick, R Lawton, G McInally, M Saez, A Henderson, A Buchanan, E Reid, J Holmes, S Waugh, B Buchanan, P Rooney and K Leinster.

There are 2 places available in the ladies and mens teams.
If anyone can no longer make it please let myself or Alan know ASAP.
Also if anyone from the reserve list wants to run let us know ASAP

Reserves are  K Allen, A Crooks, M Goldsmith, F Maxwell and R Kelly.

C Banks, M Duthie, K Harvey, D Herbertson, M Howell, P Marshall, J McBride, A McLellan, J Mearns, G Mullen, S Phimister, I Rae, G Ramage, D Searil, J Shields, H Simpson, C Steven, G Stewart and D Watt

Teams running order will be posted Friday night.

NATIONAL SHORT COURSE XC

The short course xc has moved venue this year to King George V playing fields in Renfrew.
Date is Sat 5th Nov
Its the usual format of 4k in a straight race.
Cost is £6.50 and should be paid in advance
Ladies start at 12.10 with men at 12.35
I need names by Thursday 20th Oct
If you wish entered leave your name HERE.
Those already registered are listed HERE.

Quiz Night this Friday

Jim Holmes' mum has organised a charity quiz night in the British Legion, East Kilbride this Friday 21st October at 7:30pm. The Harriers are very welcome having participated in previous years. Cost is £5 per head, pay at the door. Lets get a few teams in.
Alan

Great Scottish Run postscript

Some of you may have read Stephen's GSR report last week and noticed Mary's rather (very!) slow time and, like me, wondered what had happened to her. I finally got round to contacting her tonight only to find that she was one of the many victims of the Pollok Park speedbumps. I had heard quite a few people on the day talking about how they had seen or heard runners crashing to the ground at one of the frequent tarmac lumps within the park never thinking for a minute that one of our clubmates had also succumbed. The silent policemen certainly did their job by preventing our Mary from running at all for a while as she received medical attention. Big brave Terry Butcher himself would have been proud of Mary's head bandage, as you can see from the photo below.

Shamelessly blagged from the official website!

I'm sure the club will join me in congratulating Mary on finishing the race despite her injuries (knees and ribs too) and also for one of the most stirring finish line photos ever published on the blog. Wishing you all the best with your recovery Mary, from the achilles injury too, and hope to see you back at the club very soon.

West XC Relay - Race Report

Joanne McEvoy drives on to the finish on Leg 2.

Kilmacolm continued its 100% record of providing fine weather for the West District Cross Country Relay Championship on Saturday. Cross country is so much more enjoyable when the weather is fine, particularly when its a relay with lots of hanging about waiting to run.

The course is over two laps, mainly around pitches but with enough elevation changes on steep banks to buckle the legs if you go too crazy with the pace. The going was definitely firm and only the lowest lying and narrowest part of the course was slightly squidgy underfoot, especially by the time the senior men's race came around. Nothing to complain about though.

Julie Beveridge powers out at the start of her second lap.

We had 4 teams out this week; one ladies' team and 3 men's teams (minus one runner). We have so much depth in the ladies this year that we can put a different team out every week and this week was no exception! One of these weeks we will have all the ladies out and more ladies' teams than men's. Undoubtedly still tired from last week's Great Scottish Run, Julie Beveridge was on leg 1, establishing the team in 14th place in a time of 16:17, our fastest lady of the day. Joanne McEvoy is running well right now and truly enjoying her running. The proof of this was in the performance, with Joanne moving the team up to 12th position in a time of 16:55. Sandy Hayden was running her first ever cross country race on leg 3 and found it a really enjoyable experience, especially as the spikes were more comfortable on her feet than regular road shoes! Sandy brought the team home in 16th position in 20:27.

Fine form from Sandy Hayden

We had a two and three quarter men's teams out. Our vets team was led out by Alan Derrick, who despite another worrying dizzy spell at half way, hung on to 8th place in the masters (40+) team competition with a time of 13:55. I was delighted with this as it was 45 seconds faster than two years ago (admittedly I had just driven from the airport having stepped off a plane from the USA that time). More importantly it was 2nd fastest M50 time with only Bobby Quinn faster (by 48 seconds). Probably the closest I have ever been to him in a race. Jim Holmes was fired up for this one on leg 2 and having completed a really good warm-up, ran an excellent 16:16, again on tired legs after last weekend's half. This placed the team 14th. Stuart Waugh is really coming back into good form now and was let off the leash on leg 3 where he recorded 4th fastest M65 time of the day in 17:31. Finally, Mark Saez who was the youngster of the team and running on this course for the second time, recorded a time of 15:14 to bring us home in 15th position, an excellent result in a very competitive masters field.

Andrew Buchanan led off our senior team. After a fast initial start, Andrew faded a little on lap 2 to finish in a fine 14:31. Andy handed over to in-form Richard Lawton (although also tired after the GSR) who recorded a steady 17:20, only 11 seconds down on 2 years ago. This was Billy Buchanan's first short race for a while and as Billy is only really getting back to form after a series of injuries his time of 17:09 was impressive, particularly so as it was 3rd fastest M65 time. If only Billy realised how good he is! Finally, Gordon McInally was running this course for the first time and definitely justified his place in the team with a fine 17:58, culminating in an impressive 200m sprint away from a Dumbarton AAC runner who had been tracking him for the final lap.

Our incomplete team was led off by Kenny Leinster who was worried that he had not regained enough fitness after a long injury lay off through the summer. However, he need not have worried as Kenny returned with an impressive 17:01. Russell Couper took over on leg 2 and continues to show improved form compared to recent years, finishing in 20:38, some 34 seconds faster than two years ago. Martin Howell was on leg 3, although this was his second race of the day, having competed in the Tollcross parkrun in the morning! Martin ran an excellent 16:10 and surely would have been a minute faster on fresh legs.

A great day for the Harriers where even with reduced numbers we put up a strong showing. It was particularly pleasing to see us figure strongly in the M50 and M65 rankings and to see a very competitive and improving ladies' team out. Thanks to Kay Coneff for travelling through to support and for the shouts around the course. A link to the provisional results is in the post below.
Alan