British Masters XC Relay Teams

The Houston Road Relay yesterday was the trial for the men's M40 and women's F35 team for the British Masters. Following the trial, the team selections are as follows (trial time in brackets):

F35 Team
Frances Maxwell (18:28)
Sandra Reid (19:10)
Mary Goldsmith (19:25)

M40 Team
Davy Watt (14:04)
Alan Derrick (14:32)
Scot Hill (15:28)
Eddie Reid (15:47)
Alan Cullie (16:24)
George Stewart (17:00)

In both cases, our proposed reserves have evaportated, so we are in rather a shaky situation. As the Friday night hotel rooms are paid for and are non-refundable, it is vital that all those selected do participate.

Details of when we will depart on Friday afternoon will be decided later in the week.

The event venue is Berry Hill Park, Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. Directions from the North (M1) are as follows:
Leave at J29, take 2nd exit at roundabout on A617 to Mansfield, follow for approx 7 miles, from Town Centre leave on ring road signposted A60 Nottingham, after 1mile at a set of traffic lights turn left(sign posted Newark) onto Berry Hill Lane at mini roundabout turn right onto Litchfield Lane, Park is about 100yards on your left.

The W35 race starts at 12:30. The M40 race starts at 1:30.

Satellite image of race venue: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Berry+Hill+Park,+Mansfield&ie=UTF8&ll=53.129052,-1.176932&spn=0.006231,0.019226&t=h&z=16

Looks flat enough from above!!

MCANDREW ROAD RELAY RACE

The McAndrew road relay race will be this saturday 4th oct starting at 3pm
Alan will pick the teams as usual after training on thursday night
please leave your name as a comment on this blog if you wish to run on saturday
or see myself or alan on monday or thursday at training

For those members that are new to the club this year may i ask that you seriously consider entering these events as the club has a long history in them and would like the whole club to enjoy the experience of this type of event.( all you need is an SA no )

Houston Results

The Grand Prix season kicked off with a large and enthusiastic contingent of Harriers heading to Houston for the annual road relay. A ladies' team of 3 and three and a half men's teams (4 per team) made Calderglen one of the best represented clubs there. Unfortunately the start of the race coincided with the arrival of the rain making conditions not so great for those awaiting their turn to run. However it was fine for running.

Although the full, official results are not out yet, I have managed to gather the times for almost everyone. The men's times are here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p_aBIInrxrvPvJrlunTv2Wg&hl=en_GB

and the women's times here: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p_aBIInrxrvNfS65OzQQlSQ&hl=en_GB

Frances Maxwell was again our fastest lady over the 2.7 mile leg (18:28) whilst Sandra Reid made a fine debut on this course in an official time of 19:10. Mary Goldsmith ran an extremely impressive pb of 19:25, her first time under 20 minutes on this course.

The club fielded two veteran teams (M40+) and one and a half mixed team (seniors, vets and a junior). Young Ewan Murray made his debut running in a senior event and appeared to run well although his time is not known. At the other end of the age spectrum, Davy Watt was surely the fastest veteran over 40 in the event with an excellent time of 14:04. Davy's performance launched the club's veteran "A" team (Davy Watt, Scot Hill, Alan Derrick and Eddie Reid) on their way to first veteran team, the club's first ever Vet Team victory in this event.

The club's B Vet Team (Jim Holmes, George Stewart, Alan Cullie and Gerry Mullen) were all very evenly matched, confirming the club's strength in depth in the veteran category (STOP PRESS - The official results show that the Calderglen Vets B team were second veteran team in the event. Well done!! Thanks to Scot for pointing this fact out).

Jamie McMonagle ran his best time for several years, confirming that he is on the way back. Also on the comeback trail, it was good to see Graham Allan return to the ranks of the Harriers after 18 months out with injury. David Herbertson set another huge pb whilst both Colin Banks and Russell Couper showed signs of improving form.

The Grand Prix positions after this first race are:

Men: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p_aBIInrxrvMYhyDPRDL5Ug&hl=en_GB
Women: http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p_aBIInrxrvNWEjkt38f0cA&hl=en_GB

Houston Relays

The start of the new Grand Prix season is upon us with the first event at the Houston Road Relays this Saturday (2:30pm start). My two week work trip in the frozen north has put paid to me being able to update the Grand Prix joker list (or do any runnning!!) for the start of the season, however as last year's rule change produced one of the closest finishes to the Grand Prix ever, we will stick to the same rules but with adjustments to the jokers on an individual basis based on last year's results. This new joker list will be available at Houston assuming I get back on time!

Please let Russell know if you are able to participate (about 2.25 miles per leg) or leave a comment (with your name) on this blog posting.

A reminder for all those who expressed an interest in the British Masters XC Relay championships, Houston is the trial for that, so please make sure you can attend Houston. The minibus and hotel are booked for Mansfield, so we need to guarantee that we have full men and ladies teams.

The Two Ferries 10 mile(...and a bit)

The annual Two Ferries Road Race attracted a fair number of the Harriers north to Trislaig, near Fort William. The 10.8 mile run, takes in the coast of Loch Linnhe, finishing at Corran, but this did not make it a flat course, as it had some steep climbs. The group of runners got the ferry across to Corran on Saturday morning where they were bussed up to Trislaig for the start of the race. Drizzle threatened heavy rains but it went away leaving perfect racing conditions.


Fourth overall and 1st vet (40+) was Scot Hill in 67:10 followed by Eddie Reid in 69:40 who finished 7th overall. Graham Lindsay stormed through the finish line in 75:40 while Frances Maxwell sped round in 78:09 taking the second female vet prize. Not far behind was George Ferguson in an impressive 80:30 while Sandra Reid rounded off the line up in 82:24. After the race some of the runners went for a paddle in the nearby loch but Eddie was the only one brave enough to go for a swim in what must have been freezing cold waters.


Now most athletes tend to rest the day after a hard race, but not Calderglen Harriers! On the Sunday, they proved their endurance once more by climbing ... Ben Nevis. Tired legs did not not stop the runners from taking on this mountain on which Irene Hill and Caroline Lindsay, who supported them the day before, joined them on the climb.


Well Done!!!

City of Stirling 2K Fun Run

Well done Junior Harrier Emma Lawton, age 7, for her impressive performance in the City of Stirling 2K fun run on Sunday 14th September. Emma finished 95th from a field of 350, which ranged from babies in prams to 15 years old. Emma’s time of 11:03 mins secured her joint 3rd place from the 47 runners in the under 8 girls category. Emma enjoyed taking part in the event and is already planning to improve her finishing position for next year.

Well done Emma!

XC RELAYS

THE CROSS COUNTRY SEASON IS UPON US AGAIN
Im now taking names for the west district xc relay to be held in IRVINE at the Royal Acadamy on 11th Oct. The cost of this race is £3.50 per head. Due to the pre entry nature of this i need names by 24th Sept so if you want entered please let me know at the club or by phone or leave a comment on this Blog

Im also taking names for the national xc relay to be held in CUMBERNAULD on the 25th Oct
The cost of this race is £4.00 per head. Again due to pre entry i need names by 8th Oct by the above methods

IF YOU LEAVE A COMMENT ON THE BLOG PLEASE STATE WHICH RACE OR RACES YOU WANT ENTERED FOR

Russell