April Update

At least two club  1sts this month – Jonathon Carpenter won the heaven & hell half marathon and Norma and Purdie ( her dog not husband)  won their age group in a Canix run – not sure  if it’s the dog’s or the runner’s age that counts? And well done to Jonathon again – 3^rd in Edinburgh half marathon on Sunday.

London marathon

Good luck to everyone running London, enjoy yourselves and hope someone, especially if you’ve got a club place can write a report for the next newsletter. And also to any other marathon runners over the next few months – please send a story about your run!

Club jackets

Get in touch with Norma if you want to buy a Harmeny jacket

Monthly Club Handicap

Musings from the handicapper – Ian May

This year’s handicap events have started and the results for the first one, Dunbar 10k, are in the Newsletter. If you haven’t got a handicap and require one please let me know – I will need an estimate of your time preferably a 10k or 5k time.

We try to make the awards on a Wednesday evening before we run.  I appreciate that some of the winners may not make it to receive their trophy so I try to get it to them by some means.  However I have failed with a number of last years trophies and I still have the following.  I will bring them with me on a Wednesday and Sunday so I would be grateful if you can either collect or get some one to collect for you.

The trophies to be claimed are

2009 Edinburgh ½ Marathon Jane Mole

2009 Jedburgh ½ Marathon Elaine Franklin and Frank Tooley

X country Jan 2010 Margie Leitch and David Gibson

Handicap races for 2010 have been decided -  Handicaps are updated regularly during the season according to performances (in handicaps).

Dunbar 10k - April

Chris Hoy 1/2 Marathon April

Best 5k Parkrun in May

Musselburgh 10k July

Best 5k Parkrun AugustSeptember?

Scottish Gas 5K and 10K August

Club Wol Pursuit Handicap, August

Jedburgh 1/2 Marathon & 10k October

Cross Country November

WOL Club Handicap August

                                                               DUNBAR 10K                                       

                                                Race timeHandicap          Time under / over        

Jonathon PAGE                     0:44:10  0:47:45              0:03:35                     

Ian            SMITH                 0:45:11   0:46:00              0:00:49                     

Alan           PRICE                    0:50:00  0:52:30              0:02:30                     

Willie        CUMMINGS        0:52:07  0:46:15                               0:05:52    

Roy            STURROCK          0:59:40  1:02:45               0:03:05                     

Alan          FLEMMING         1:00:58  1:01:30                0:00:32                     

Margie      LEITCH                 0:44:24  0:46:00              0:01:36                      

Lorna        BROADHURST    0:46:41   0:48:15               0:01:34                      

Amanda    PENNYCOTT        0:48:14  1:08:00               0:19:46                      

Nicola       FREEDMAN         0:49:34  0:52:00              0:02:26                     

Angela      NICHOLSON      1:02:29  1:09:30               0:07:01                      

Ann           LAIDLAW           1:06:36  1:01:30                                0:05:06    

Katrina     FLEMMING         1:10:28                                                                 

Pauline      ROSS                    1:14:17                                                                 

Mens winner              Jonathon Page                                                                

Womens winner         Amanda Pennycott                                                         

JogScotland groups

We are hoping to start a new beginner group soon so if anyone knows any beginners ( ie those who  cannot jog for 10 minutes)  please let them know or ask them  to get in touch with us.  And there’s a jogleader course in Edinburgh on 5^th June see jogscotland website  or let us know if anyone interested.

Reports –Alan Price on 2 races

21 Feb Kirkintilloch 12.5 96/158, 65m 11s

 Second time at this race - all up and down with no flat bits, and I enjoyed it so much the first time that I had to come back (and will again). This time out and back rather than loop because of the icy roads; may have been even harder than last time, or at least that's my excuse for being 4 seconds slower than 2 years ago. The two steepest hills were on the way back, made worse by running down them first in the knowledge that they had to be climbed later. The route is entirely scenic country lanes, a bit like Haddington half once you're out of town with twice as many hills of similar steepness, and as at Haddington starts you as it means to continue with a steep climb in the first few hundred metres. But it also ends with that hill in reverse for a very quick finish. And it's a small club-organised race, like all the best ones. Thoroughly recommended. Try it.

7/3 Westzipfellauf 127/204, 1h 52m 57s

My first half of the year, my first (and certainly last) guest appearance and one even Tom wouldn't find. Since I had to be in Holland Saturday morning I did what comes naturally and looked for a half marathon on the Sunday. Couldn't find one in Holland but http://www.halb-marathon.de/ lists hundreds in Germany - 14 on 7/3 alone! So a 2 1/2 hour train ride Saturday afternoon, Saturday night in Sittard on the German border, a 10 minute taxi ride Sunday morning and I arrived to pay my 7.50 euros (!!! - including T-shirt, now the proudest in my 13 year old son's pyjama collection) to be greeted - "from Schottland!!" and given free entry and an interview with the mayor. Picture below with the organiser. The race was flat, apart from one village and a highway bridge, through manicured Dutch and German countryside. Only the street names told you which country - no visible borders. Freezing cold - ran in 3 T-shirts, tights gloves and beanie and needed all of it. I thought I ran fairly well  - mainly overtaking from about 5 miles onwards and at steady pace, although it hurt more than usual, strangely from the downhill after the bridge at 17 k onwards. For all that I finished almost 8 minutes behind a 9 month old, pushed round by her parents in her buggy - a PB of 1 45 before you're one and slept through most of it! No goody bag, but the T-shirt and as many highly nutritious harvest rolls as you wanted. Followed by a 3 mile walk back to the station in Holland and the train and plane home. Might head to Germany again in October if I can face another marathon after Edinburgh - good value, and very helpful organisations.

And Iain reports on

21st Allendale Challenge Marathon.10th April.
This challenge is organsied by the North Tyne Search and Rescue Team and is an event to raise funds for that service. It started life as a walk and was opened up last year to runners. This year there were 750 walkers and 90 runners.
The area is near to the town of Hexham in Northumberland and the scenery is great and the people are lovely and friendly.
The walkers start at 8am and the runners at 10am, the distance is 26.2 miles with ascents of approx 5000ft, a tough challenge for both walkers and runners.
The route is really interesting and starts and finishes in the village of Allendale.You climb up various hills and tracks/paths and in one area of approx 6 miles you have to make do with heather and peat bogs. There are no defined routes in the 6 miles so you have to plot your own course, the terrain is really tough. Twice I ended up in spagnam moss beds upto my knees and got stuck!!!.
You have to carry full survival gear due to the extremes of the area and the isolation of some of the places you cross, you also need some moderate navigational skills as the 8 check points are know by their OS references. These check points are manned by the Rescue services and checks are made at each point.
The scenery is fantastic and very varied and I would defo do it again. The weather this year was fabulous and warm and just right for running with a nice cool breeze at the top of each hill.
It only costs £15.00 to enter and you get at the finish a certificate of completion, a meal  voucher and a great breathable running top.
I travelled down with 3 Carnethy long distance ( 100 mile) runners and they were the ones who told me about this challenge. They were using it as a training run!!!!!.
I was pleased with my result as all went according to plan. I ate well and hydrated well ( I drank 4 bottles of water) yet I only normally use 2 in a road marathon. My time was 4 hours 54 minutes and I was placed 12th runner and I managed to beat 2 of the Carnethy guys and the other one was only 2 minutes ahead of me. If I pushed a wee bit harder I could have got into the top ten ( maybe next year).
Now looking forward to the Cape Wrath Challenge Marathon next month. YIPEE.
 
Anyone wanting more details about the above event then feel free to give me a shout. Iain Morrice

And Norma on her winning run with Purdie!

Canix running

At long last Purdey and I have joined the Canix group for a couple of runs.  Firstly Easter weekend in Keilder Forest and secondly, Glentress.

Keilder held 3 events repeated on both Saturday and Sunday.  Bikejoring, where your dog runs infront of the bike, 7k.  A childrens 2k run and the main race of 5-6k.  This was a supberb track of mixed surfaces.  A good bog n’ burn route.  Hills and plenty of mud.  Iain M missed a good route he could have chosen himself!  And to finish off, a weekends camping at the forest campsite!

Bikejoring is mental!  The bikes were clocking speeds of about 19mph downhill, with the dogs managing to stay well in front! 

Glentress was a much harder race.  We started at the top carpark – stupidly I thought we were at the top of the hill!  Then we ran up more... on hard stoney surfaces.  Much hotter weather too.  But hey, no mud!   Unbelieveably we won the first prize for our age group!  And I was very proud that we managed to run up all the hills.

For all events the dogs are of all sizes and varieties.  Big, small, pedigree and mixed breeds.  The dog that won the bikejoring on both days was a very small mixed breed terrier.  But there was umpteem terriers and labs, plus rottweillers, a Rhodesian Ridgeback Spaniels and so on.   Great fun and hopefully a few more envents to come to Scotland soon. 

Race results

Smokies 10 Mile 7 March                               311 Ran

31      Chris Morgan                             1.16.30 

33     Carol Blamire                             1.16.58  1^st in her age group –

37     Lorna Broadhurst                     1.18.13  

50     Kirsty Stoddart                        1.21.20 

76     Mo May                                      1.24.32 

116    Monica Evans                             1.29.55 

197    Janis Graham                            1.36.33 

199    Norma Bone                               1.36.40 

225   Pauline White                            1.38.21 

262   Gail Crosbie                               1.43.38 

298   Pauline Ross                               1.55.38 

Lasswade 10 Mile 7 March                             332 Ran

25     Peter Kadobinskyj                    1.00.54 

137    Gary Connelly                            1.14.57  Men 11th Team

139    Tom White                                1.14.57  Ladies 4th Team

180    Jonathon Page                          1.18.45 

216    Fiona Donaldson                        1.22.09 

219    Amanda Pennycott                   1.22.31 

231    Rochelle Vita                             1.24.27 

277   Elaine Franklin                          1.30.33 

293   Shona Stewart                          1.32.38 

323   Derek Stewart                          1.43.20 

Parkrun 5k 13 March Cramond                       181 Ran

13      Bill Murphy                                18.49     pb

35     Colin Barber                              19.59    

40     Keiran Morgan                           20.16    

50     Ian Smith                                  21.04    

51      Jonathon Page                          21.10      pb

63     Chris Morgan                             21.45     pb

114    Shona Stewart                          25.45    

Gartmore 6 14 March                                      132 Ran

32     Keiran Morgan                           42.48    

Parkrun 5k Cramond 20 March                      172 Ran

31      Colin Barber                              19.45    

61      Alison Broadhurst                    22.11      pb

62     Lorna Broadhurst                     22.12     pb

71      Graham Tait                              22.40    

Newtonmore 10 Mile 20 March                     93 Ran

33     Gary Connelly                            1.11.46  

Alloa Half Marathon 21 March                     977 Ran

9        Jonathon Carpenter                 1.14.52 

112    Tom Matko                                1.26.28 

249   Darren Cavaroli                         1.34.15 

458   Nicola Nash                               1.44.24 

474   Gavin Orr                                   1.45.07 

571    Kirsty Stoddart                        1.50.10 

585   Alan Price                                  1.50.36 

586   Nicola Freedman                      1.50.43 

Parkrun 5k Cramond 27 March                      218 Ran

8        Bill Murphy                                18.46     pb

37     Colin Barber                              20.28    

71      Graham Tait                              22.35    

90     Amanda Pennycott                   23.48    

Grangemouth 10k 28th March                      650 Ran

222   Jonathon Page                          44.53    

251    Chris Morgan                             45.51    

287   Lorna Broadhurst                     46.59    

417    Bev Dodgson                              52.38    

454   Kirsty Stoddart                        54.24    

An Resek 10 Mile Cornwall 28 March            450 Ran

284   David Syme                               1.34.30 

Dunbar 10k 3 April                                          279 Ran

80     Jonathon Page                          44.10    

82     Margie Leitch                            44.24    

93     Ian Smith                                  45.11     

111     Lorna Broadhurst                     46.41    

129    Amanda Pennycott                   48.14    

145    Nicola Freedman                      49.34    

148    Alan Price                                  50.00    

173    Willie Cummings                        52.07    

243   Roy Sturrock                             59.40    

250   Alan Flemming                           1.00.58 

257   Angela Nicholson                      1.02.29 

270   Ann Laidlaw                               1.06.36 

277   Katrina Fleming                         1.10.28 

279     Pauline Ross                               1.14.17  

Just to add the reason Pauline was 279^th was after getting to the top of the hill at 5 miles she stopped to help a runner who had collapsed and along with another nurse runner stayed as he gradually turned a bit grey!  till the ambulance came- then had to carry on with the sweeper bike at her heels to the end – she was very worried there would be no sandwiches and cake left but not a problem as Dunbar do plenty food for everyone – anyway well done Pauline it’s good to know harmeny has a good Samaritan!

Parkrun 5k Cramond 10 April                          204 Ran

47     Keiran Morgan                           19.50     pb

86     Graham Tait                              21.58     pb

105    Alan Price                                  23.01     pb

119    Norma Bone                               23.49     pb

Gala 10k 11 April                                              125 Ran

83     Jamie Dow                                 47.57    

Heaven And Hell Half 11 April                      196 Ran

1        Johnathon Carpenter              1.16.23 

18      Tony Makto                               1.34.00 

126    Fionna Ross                                1.56.04 

2010 Race Dates – but check websites in case I’ve got any wrong

Sat  24 Apr Balmoral 10k 5k 2.5k and 1.5k

Sat 24 April Highland Fling

Sun 25 april Balfron 10K

Sun  2 May BUPa Edinburgh 10k

Sat 1 May Edinburgh to North Berwick road race

Sun 2 May Edinburgh BUPA 10K

Sat 8 May Penicuik 10K

Sun 9 May Women’s Glasgow 10K

Marie curie whole hog balfron http://www.mariecurie.org.uk/inyourarea/scotland/Whole+Hog+Challenge.htm

Sat 15 May Loch Leven Half marathon

Sun 16 May Monklands Half marathon

Sun 23 May Edinburgh marathon and relay

Mon 24 May Rigg Race ( Balerno gala)

As we are staging it, we need a squad of helpers to marshall the course and manage registration etc, so please get in touch if you are able to help out.

Sun 30 May dunblane hydro 7.5 mile race

Wed 2 June Auld Toon 10K Dunfermline

Sun 5 June haddington 5 mile race

Wed 9 June Corstorphine AAC 5 mile race

Fri 11 June Black rock 5 Kinghorn

Sun 13 June Dechmont 10k and also a funrun

Sun 13 June Dunfermline half

Thur 17 June Portobello 4 mile race

29 June Jogscotland 5k challenges INverleith park

MHFS 10k for Men 2010 - June 20th, 10:00hrs, Bellahouston Park, Glasgow

30^th May www.urbanathlon.org.uk

See the club website for more local races coming up this year. http://www.harmenyac.org.uk/prunners/events.htm

The full Scottish Athletics fixture list for the season is at http://www.scottishathletics.org.uk

And for hill runs see

http://www.shr.uk.com/Calendar.aspx or speak to Iain Morrice.

And an email from runners world ( not sure if too late to enter now?) -

As you may be aware, a group of us on the runnersworld forums have taken it upon ourselves to organise a relay race round the coast of Great Britain.

We are doing well filling in a lot of the legs but really need help finding people to run some of the stages between Tobermory and Ullapool on the West Coast of Scotland.  We did anticipate this being a challenge, as one of the most remote areas in the UK, but we do hope that the opportunity to run through some of the world's finest coast will outweigh that.  The relay should be in the area around 6th to 12th June.

The stages for the west coast leg can be found here: http://www.coastersgb.co.uk/routepage.php?sid=5    Do get in touch if you would like any further information.  Iain Moore