Harmeny AGM, 30 Sep

Another year ends, and another year begins… The main points to note:

Club Treasurer: Lorna Broadhurst is taking over from Paul McIntosh as Club Treasurer.
Paul has been club treasurer since 2002 and prior to that was the team manager for our teams in the Young Athletes League and Edinburgh & District Athletics League.  Paul is also a qualified Timekeeper and regularly officiates at events in Edinburgh. In recognition of his support for the club Paul was awarded the position of honorary vice-president.

Annual Membership fees for 2008/09: We agreed to reduce the annual membership fees for Adults by £3.00, and to charge for club kit (vests and running T-shirts) “at cost”. (The prices quoted are believed to be correct but please check with Norma when she makes it back to the UK.)

Membership Form: An updated membership form (Word Document) for the new membership year 08/09 can now be downloaded from the club website .

Family Discounts: Adult members with two or more children joining should be aware of the family discount. We charge full membership for the first 2 members of a family (eg mum + child 1) and only £7 for additional children.

Newly qualified jogleaders
Congratulations to Janis Brown, Mo May and Carol Blamire who have joined the ranks of our jogScotland registered jogleaders after attending the recent course at Broxburn. All will have opportunities to put those new skills to good use over the next few weeks!

Pentland Runners Council
All welcome to the next Runners Council Meeting Thurs 16th Oct in Riccarton Arms Pub Currie  at 7.30 pm

Iain Morrice asked me to pass on this  website: http://www.ythanchallenge.org.uk/index.htm if anyone is interested please contact Iain on 07703106187  or iain.morrice@openreach.co.uk

Race results

Meadows 5k  3 Sept 08   122 Runners
8 Paul Houston           17.07
55 Gavin Orr               20.29
58 Andreas Wilhelm 20.44 

Meadows 2 Mile  10 Sept 08  74 Runners
34 Gavin Orr               12.23

 Stirling 10k 14 Sept 08  859 Runners
210 Tom White                       43.03
251 Bev Dodgson                    44.14
473 Johnathan Page              50.07
680 Pauline White                  57.32

 Cumbernauld 10k  14 Sept 08
275 Jill Cox                58.17

Two Breweries  27 Sept 08   176 Runners
58 Stephan Knupfer 3.39.55
125 Tom White           4.21.06

 Linlithgow 10k  21 Sept 08   505 Runners

                                                      Race time       Handicap      Difference   New                                                                                                                     

Alan                KERR                       40:52               40:00             +0:52              40:15
Ian                  MAY                       47:25               45:15              +2:10               45:45
Bob                  DOUGLAS              52:31               49:00             +3:31               49:45
Ian                  MCBRIDE               1:02:12             59:00             +3:12               59:45                                                                                                                     

Bev                   DODGSON           45:18               44:45             +0:33              44:45
Nia                   BALL                       50:22               50:00             +0:22              50:00
Lorna              BROADHURST     52:31               54:00             -1:29               52:45
Audrey           ANDERSON         57:07               58:00             -0:53              57:15

Male winner   Alan Kerr
Female winner    Lorna Broadhurst

 HANDICAPPER’S MUSINGS
Not too much to report this month.  However, I must apologise for not having the trophies presented for the Scottish Gas 10k but we are currently waiting for some additional trophies to arrive!  
Congratulations to Lorna and Alan for winning the handicap at Linlithgow – it is particularly pleasing to see someone with one of the lower handicaps win!  We have two events left – the Aviemore half marathon and one of the East District Cross Country races – which one is yet to be decided. 
We will need to decide next years handicap events later this year – if you have an event you would like to see as one of next years events let me know.

Report from Iain Morrice.
Stefan and myself competed in the DRAM Dundee Running Adventure Marathon) unfortunately our Harmeny Relay team were unable to make the event

This is blog from the Home page for the DRAM "Fancy a DRAM with a difference - a 26.2 mile rough and ready marathon course along the city's popular Green Circular cycleway. Taking in parkland, wooded areas, and a lengthy stretch along the northern banks of the River Tay, the route's mix of terrain has the potential to make for an adventurous day out.
Throw in obligatory tagging at checkpoints (at 8.5 and 17 miles) and the occasional traffic-crossing hotspot and it's unlikely the undulating course will suit your traditional competitive clock-watchers. Most though, are sure to enjoy the excuse to take a momentary breather and soak up the view"

This was really a hard Marathon, the description of adventure was certainly very appropriate. The route went through the Forest area around Camperdown park and through the Templeton Woods . It then continue on roads, pavements, lots of stairs up and down and underpasses. The route was a good one and took us out as far as Monifeith and back into Broughty Ferry along the lovely sandy beaches that skirt the River Tay. The last 5 miles were into a very strong head wind ( Stefan advised me to tuck in behind him), I said that was a bloody waste of time, he is so thin!!!. The sun came out for the last 5 miles ,it was really hot, we both struggled in with times as follows.

 Stefan Knupfer, Currie, Male Senior, 03:44:03 , position 22, 10th Senior
 Iain Morrice, Balerno, Male SuperVet, 03:44:18 , position 23, 3rd Sup VET.

Brief report from Kenny about the Loch Ness Marathon - 3.26.19, 171/1402 finishers.
 
Short report is 'Lovely day, great race, tough course, well organised, highly recommended, 26 x 8 minute miles, pleased with that.'
 

News from Andrew Neilson in  Dubai -

All's good here - Have settled into an apartment now. 42nd floor overlooking the beach and the palm which is pretty cool. Sharing with a guy called Saurabh who is engaged to an Irish girl who is still living in Ireland and working for KPMG, studying for her chartered accountancy exams. touch wood we get on well although he's a bit anal about cleanliness. Still it's nice to have someone to run around and clean up my mess!  Been jet ski-ing, checking out  the local drinking establishments and generally trying to find my feet. Everything re phone's, bank a/c, apartment, gym etc all sorted now - only outstanding thing is to get a car which I can't do until I get my Labour ID card. A bit frustrating as that is one of the things I'm most looking forward to. Not sure whether to go for a fast car or a 4x4 - petrol cost isn't even a consideration here which is a nice change. I'm thinking a super sonic car may be more me but a v8 defender also looks, and sounds the dogs b…..!

The running season seems to be getting underway here now and have become aware of a 10k series in Dubai, half marathon in Abu Dhabi and half marathon in Dubai so now that I've become a bit more acclimatised and can cover 10k without having to stop, quite looking forward to getting some races again. There's a Dubai marathon in January if you fancy that one! That said, I can't imagine it will be particularly scenic.

Ian May  on the BOG AND BURN RUNS
It is unusual to report on one of the club runs as opposed to a race but Iain Morrice’s Bog and Burns are something a little different to the normal training runs.  On the last Sunday each month Iain takes us to places many of us have never been before.  You need to be prepared for mud, stream crossings, heather and hills!  And I almost forgot to mention that you need to add 50% to Iain’s estimates of distance – perhaps Balerno miles are different to those that are used elsewhere.  If you haven’t been on one and you are a fairly capable runner you should give it a try.   There are plenty of stops in order for the slower runners to catch up and if you don’t fancy the entire route there are plenty of options to shorten the route – or in the case of there and back routes you can turn round early. 

Most participants have commented on the fact that they have been to bits of the Pentlands that they hadn’t previously known existed.

As with all the club runs safety is of paramount importance so whether you are going the whole way or will be cutting off, please let Iain etc know when setting off.

So if you haven’t tried a Bog and Burn why not come along to the next one and have a go – I hope to be there but I haven’t got a clue as to where we are likely to go!

 London Marathon
The club gets a small allocation of places in the London marathon. Last year it was three (up on previous years), but the organisers had mucked up a wee bit before it was sorted, so I don’t know how many it will be this year.

In previous years priority has gone to those who had entered the public ballot for places but not been successful, and any places left over were drawn in our own mini-ballot amongst those who registered a desire. So:

If you were unsuccessful in the public ballot, please get in touch (we have one already).

If you didn’t enter the public ballot, but would like to be considered for a place, likewise please get in touch (again, I’ve had one request). 

Speed Breaks
Those who “enjoy” Thursday night track sessions or the Monday evening fartlek/hill/speed work might be allowed a couple of weeks off as I (Bob) am away Thus 9 / 16 and Mons 13 / 20 Oct. Normal punishment sessions recommence Thu 23 / Mon 27 Oct. The Mons nights are still a bit of an experiment, as will be some of the rep-routes earmarked for winter training, so the opportunity is there for anyone looking for a more intense, structured session.

 Next Coffee & Cake
The last Coffee & Cake run to the Gyle ended with us sitting in the sunshine on the balcony at the Gyle enjoying the well-earned refreshments.

A potential date for the next C&C trot is the first Sunday in December (7^th). I don’t think we need a place with a balcony.

Future races:
Sun 19 Oct     Jedburgh half marathon
Sun 19 Oct     Aviemore Half marathon
Sat 8th Nov   Glen Clova half marathon

 See the club website for more races coming up this year.

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

Monthly Club Handicap
Remaining events for the club handicap medals are-

Sun 19 Oct     Aviemore Half
And a cross country run to be decided

Next month we’ll have reports from Amsterdam and Chicago – injuries permitting.!