Edinburgh Marathon Update: Scanning through the results from the Edinburgh Marathon I've found eighteen  folk who are club members or who have been along to a few jogging sessions  (plus a couple of guys from my old keep-fit class masquerading as runners).

Individual performances:
188 Richard Sharp    03:25:41 Over 45
593 Andreas Wilhelm   03:50:59
1372 Bill Stobie    04:24:04 Over 40

Relay Teams:
72 Standard Life Team 2   03:29:36
David Gibson, Gordon Mackie, Fiona Mayfield, Teresa Cleary.

254 Balerno Beauties   03:53:07
Jennifer Boyle, Lesley Barr, Catherine Barr, Janice Carruthers

319 Balerno Babes    03:59:01
Anne Douglas, Marian Smith, Carol Blamire, Lindsey Boyle.

473 Road Bobs   04:16:02
Alex Somerville, Sheena Davidson, Norma Bone, Jenny Britton

436 No Spring Chickens   04:10:28
Elaine Scott, Susan Tooley, Peter Mcgavigan, Katrina Fleming.

509 Friends Of Harmeny   04:21:58
Ray Wyper, Bill Miller, Hugh Chalmers, Malcolm Ogilvie.

703 Royal College Of Physicians  05:19:00
Emer Allan, Kenny Reid, Gail Crosbie, Elaine Tait.

Some Marathon  experiences....
The weather got the better of Richard who got to 18 miles in only 02:07:30  but then the heat along the front took its toll and cramp set in.

There wasn't much between the Beauties and the Babes, timewise......

Lindsey parked about a mile from the relay leg 3 / leg 4 changeover point and had to run along the course to get to her start. But she was
encouraged  all the way by spectators with "..not far to go...". It was probably the  longest warm-up done by any of the runners before the race ... but those who  come along to the track sessions know what a real warm-up is like...

After all the hassles of getting a team together, Norma probably found her  nine mile stint (leg 3) an easy run. So much so that she kept on running and completed the rest of the course, ending up doing 16 miles. Show's how easy it is when the pressure is off.

I got a panic phone call a couple of nights before the race from Malcolm Ogilvie, team organiser (& chief fundraiser) for Friends of Harmeny
School,  who had lost two of his runners and was desperately seeking stand-ins. Well done to Hugh for filling one of the slots, but marks off FoHS for providing their runners with black T-shirts!

It did please Peter somewhat that, for once, he finished ahead of Hugh...

Dumfries, Scottish Masters Track & Field Championships 13 June:   Everyone who suffered in the heat during the marathon will be pleased to
hear that because of the sunshine I didn't have to work too hard warming up for my races in the Scottish Masters. Jings, just as well ... a 50%
increase on my normal distance meant a whole 100 metres to run! It was over in 13.6s.   The ultra-distance of 200m was such a daunting prospect I had to lie in the shade as part of my warm-up. When drawn in lane 1, (tight bends don't suit bionic knees!) my race plan was clear, amble to half-way then start running. It was over in 27.84s. A whole 41.44 seconds in the sunshine ... I can feel sympathy oozing from the marathoners......

Balerno > Ratho Adventure Centre 20 June: Alex and the all four of the "Beauties" joined a contingent of ten folk who did the Balerno - Ratho
Adventure Centre social run. Well done to Iain for finding a route through bits of countryside that most of the runners had never seen before. We  reckon the total distance is about 18.5 - 19 km. The run was followed by a very enjoyable (and inexpensive) lunch.

Edinburgh Seven Hills 27 June: Having got fit for the Marathon, Bill Stobie was in fine fettle for the Edinburgh Seven Hills challenge. Bill had
conservatively targeted a time of between 2:30 and 2:45 as his previous best  was 3:21. He was more than pleasantly surprised with a time of 2:17:33 - a PB by over an hour and a fourth place in the challenge. Next year it's the race.

Loch Leven Half Marathon, 22 May 2004
134 01:36:54 669 Andreas Wilhelm
178 01:39:42 620 Thomas White
448 02:04:52 301 Beverley Dodgson
496 02:18:41 308 Pauline White
521 runners

Dechmont Law Trail Run on 30 May: David Syme was the only runner from   Harmeny/Pentland Runners to enter the Dechmont Law Trail Run on 30 May.  David reports it as "a very pleasant woodland course, well-organised, and I recommend it to club members, as it is on our doorstep".  David ran a pretty  respectable 53 mins 53 secs.

Oasis Mile Relay - 8 June
David Gibson & Philip Purves raced in the Oasis mile relay, unfortunately, the "mile" was cut short by a bit because someone had locked a gate. The distance was  probably about 1530m. Philip got fastest individual time with a 4:45 and David came in at 5:10.

Social Trip to Glen Clova for the Half-Marathon:  Following Iain's run last year, we've decided this would make a good event
for a social weekend (travel on Friday, run on Saturday, ceilidh on Saturday  night, recover Sunday). The Glen Clova Half is still not in the fixture
list. Last year it was held on Sat 8 Nov, and if it goes ahead I'd expect it  to be Sat 7 Nov, so pencil that date in the diary.

New jogscotland beginner's Group: We have now started a beginners group on Sunday mornings (10.00 am at Balerno HS car park). As the girls themselves will confirm, this is a programme of walking & short spells of easy jogging, which gradually increases over the weeks. This course will run until the middle / end October, so pass the word out to anyone you know who keeps intending to start running - the earlier they start the easier it is. As a jogscotland course, there is a £15 pound fee to Scottish athletics for jogscotland membership (which includes some goodies) plus a £15 instruction fee (paid to Harmeny AC).

We only run formal jogleader-led programmes for beginners, as we would expect everyone to progress to a standard where they can join the existing groups. We also try to ensure that all newcomers who are past the beginner stage have someone to run with. With numbers at all ability levels  increasing we could do with a few more qualified jogleaders. There will be courses over the autumn and winter, so if anyone would like to step forward, please get in touch.