December Update

Runner council – next meeting is on Tuesday 13 Jan 2009, Riccarton Arms, Currie, 7:30 – please come along and join in everyone is welcome . Your ideas and suggestions will help to make the club work for everyone.

 New membership year: The Harmeny membership year runs from 1 Oct – 30 Sep and memberships for 08/09 have been flowing in steadily, but if you haven’t paid yet now is the time to do so. A membership form can be downloaded from http://www.harmenyac.org.uk/Mship_form.doc , Remember, club members get a 10% discount at Run & Become, Dalry Rd on running gear (excluding sale items).

Memberships subscriptions received and processed as at 2 December are shown below, so if your name is NOT on the list and you’re continuing to participate please get that form filled and that chequebook out! (Apologies to anyone who’s submitted since 2 Dec)

 Harmeny                                           Harmeny & Pentland Tri
Nia                  BALL                             Catherine             BARR
April                BIRRELL                        Wendy                BEARDMORE
Carol               BLAMIRE                       Karin                    BONE
Lorna              BROADHURST               Norma                  BONE
Janis               BROWN                         Lindsey                BOYLE
Beverley         DODGSON                     Hugh                    CHALMERS
Fiona              DONALDSON                 Gail                    CROSBIE
Lynda              DUNCAN                        Ailsa                    DOCHERTY
Alan                FLEMING                       Anne                    DOUGLAS
Katrina            FLEMING                       Alexandra             GORDON
Janis               GRAHAM                       Richard                GRAY
Lynne              HAMPSON                     Sybil                    GRAY
Alex                HILTON                          Tristan                 JARECKYJ
Marie              JOHNSTON                    Alan                     KERR
Ann                 LAIDLAW                       Ian                       MAY
Margie             LEITCH                          Mo                       MAY
Morag             LEITCH                          Verity                   MISSEN
Sandra            LITHGOW                       Helen                   ROBINSON
Lynne              McBRIDE                       Nicola                  ROSS
Ian                  McBRIDE                       Elaine                  SANDEMAN
Peter               McGAVIGAN                  Kerry                   SCOTT
Doreen            McINTEE                        Shona                  STEWART
Helena           MACKAY                       Kenny                  TINDALL
Timothy           MAY                              Frank                   TOOLEY
Lindsey           MIDDLETON                   Pentland Tri     
Caroline          MILLER                          Beverley               CHRISTY
Gordon            MILLER                          Graham                TAIT
Chris               MORGAN                      Stephanie             TAYLOR
Martyn            OAKLEY                                          
Gavin              ORR                                                       
Gillian             PAGE                                                     
Jonathan        PAGE                                                     
Allan               PRICE                                                     
Rhoda             ROSS                                                     
Catherine        RUTTER                                                  
Elaine             SCOTT                                                    
Ruth                SHERING                                                
Ian                  SMITH                                                     
Breige             STEWART                                               
Kirsty              STODDARD                                             
Helen              STURROCK                                             
Roy                 STURROCK                                             
David               SYME                                                     
Paul               THOMPSON                                            
Louise             TINDALL                                                  
Robert             TURNER                                                 
Margot            WARD                                                    
Pauline            WHITE                                                    
Thomas           WHITE                                                    

 Other reminder: Scottish Athletics operate a separate registration Scheme. Membership of Athletics Scotland is required far anyone competing in regional or national championships 9and entry to road races cast £2 less than unregistered civilians). Members who do wish to register should do so directly with Scottish Athletics.

London marathon places

5 club members put their names forward for the 3 club places.   However Janis Brown is going to run via a charity place for the Teenage Cancer trust – so  we hope that many club members will help Janis with  donations.  The 3 names drawn out the hat were Hugh Chalmers ( who once  told me he would never do a marathon – now heading for a ‘good for age time’ on his 2^nd London run), Beverly Dodgson and Alex Gordon.  Good luck with the training – and Wendy Beardmore is the reserve.

Harmeny tops

Norma Bone has a full stock of Harmeny and Triathlete t-shirts and vests - ideal for Christmas pressies! Please contact her to order and you can try on  before you buy to get the right size.  

Also in case you don’t know:

 Run & Become annual sale starts 3^rd December – good for Xmas presents

Boxing day run – all welcome: Annual Xmas run on Boxing day – 10am probably at BHS but Iain Morrice is devising a route so that the not-so-fast runners can do a shorter loop and the ‘faster’ runners a longer one, and  we all end up at the same place to enjoy Martin and Norma’s mince pies and mulled wine again this year.

Running during Christmas Holidays: We don’t stop, so normal meeting times at Balerno HS (Mon, Wed & Sun) should continue as usual, but check with your jogleader if there’s any groups not catered for.

 Running timetable – reminder

Sunday morning at 10.00 am Balerno HS Car Park:
Monday morning at 9.30pm Malleny Park (Currie Rugby club) Car Park
Monday evening at 7:00pm Balerno HS Car Park
Wednesday evening at 7.00pm  Balerno HS Car Park
Thursday evening at Craishill Sport centre Livingston 7pm(until lights are fixed at  Saughton Track):  Harmeny AC track sessions for endurance runners. 6.30 - 7.30.  Anyone who wants to  try out a bit of track work to increase their speed (whether you’re a fast or slower runner) is welcome.
Friday morning at 9.00pm Malleny Park (Currie Rugby club) Car Park

Congratulations: Margie Leitch have recently had babies – no details but hope both are doing well and hope to see Margie running soon.

 Club Social event: January 17^th in Balerno Bowling club – ceilidh/quiz night – put date on your diaries, more details  about tickets etc will be sent out soon. 

Reports ( only a few this month you’ll be glad to know)

 Paul Thompson on his first race back after injury!

I've never considered x-country as anything other than evil, to be endured and never spoken about (never quite sure how Tom convinces me to come back every year, though the promise of a pint afterwards might have something to do with it). Anyway, the only reason I can say I actually enjoyed this one was because it was my first time back after 3 months of staring at my reflection in the mirror at the gym, and what a joy - not the reflection, the chance to run again! Had plenty of training in preparation too - one 4m run at 10min mile pace and 4.5m run at 11min mile pace ....
 
Before I get all misty eyed, I suppose I ought to write about the actual race. It was one of those cold days (aren't they any other way when it comes to x-country) with a bitter (but not twisted, I could add cruel but I might be over doing the adjectives) wind that made it uncomfortable for us follicaly challenged men. Though it had rained, and allegedly snowed according to Bev, the previous day for once the course wasn't one long mud bath, the footing was firm and easy to run on.
 
The "girls", as usual, got the easy run. A 6k walk in the park - barely worth the trip out (write on my gravestone "one word too many")!!! Kerry cruised round with Bev chasing after, though she may have regretted the fried lunch, with Kirsty and Lorna making a great effort not to far behind - barely any distance between these last two until Kirsty got a stitch (might have had the same lunch as Bev?) and dropped off towards the end. It was great to see them all finish with a smile, though this might have been mistaken for a grimace if you didn't know better, after all the hardwork they had put in.
 
As for the guys, well we had three laps instead of two which meant traversing lung buster hill 3 times (4 for me as young Paul insisted we do it in our "warm up" run). Well' I'd promised the Physio I'd take it easy at the back and jog round and start at the back I did. Unfortunately it sort of went wrong after that. I got carried away and started pushing my way up the pack. Amazingly I caught up with Tom and provided him with some vital encouragement ("you slowing down old man?") and later on caught up with Gavin who then passed me on the last lap - his fried lunch obviously providing an essential boost when he needed it. Though definitely feeling tired on the last lap I was surprised to see Ian (Morrice) not to far in front and Gavin rapidly catching him up. Unsurprisingly, the only time I saw young Paul and Alan (Kerr) was at the finish where I was glad to come to incoherent halt, feeling slightly the worse for wear but still standing. All in all a great effort by all there!
 
To cap off the day some of us nipped into the pub for a quick carbo load. The only way to do x-country.....!
 
Note from following day - everything is stiff, perhaps should have run at the back after all...! Now having written this I'm hoping no-one knows who my Physio is as I don't fancy being used as a voodoo doll again. However, no regrets about running, thoroughly enjoyed being back out. Hope to see more of you there next time.

 David Syme reports - I ran the Buchlyvie Half on Sunday 16 Nov.  A small field of 270 or so, an "out and back" course mostly on the bed of the old railway line to Aberfoyle, and with a couple of soggy laps of the sports field at the end.  Well run, nice people and a beautiful morning.  I did 2 hrs 2 mins 54 secs, so am reasonably pleased.
 
Other Results                                                                                      

Lasswade Cross Country 2 Nov 08  77 Runners
45 Gavin Orr              47.30

 Templeton 10 Mile  2 Nov   302 Runners
63 Iain Morrice          1.09.23
211 Alan Price             1.26.15

Glen Clova Half Marathon 8 Nov 08
54 Iain Morrice          1.32.51
57 Gavin Orr               1.33.12
67 Richard Grey        1.34.33
130 Ian May                1.44.40
138 Verity Missen     1.45.39

Braids Ladies X/C  15 Nov 08  101 Runners
33 Kerry Scott                       21.36
91 Kirsty Stoddart                25.59
92 Lorna Broadhurst             25.59
101 Norma Bone                      28.36

 Braids Mens X/C  15 Nov 08  202 Runners
134 Iain Morrice          43.08
164 Tom White             45.09
183 Robert McCauley  47.42

East Dist X/C Ladies Race 22 Nov 08  79 Runners
25 Kerry Scott                       25.16
60 Bev Dodgson                      28.53
73 Lorna Broadhurst             30.59
74 Kirsty Stoddart                32.10

 East Dist X/C Mens Race 22 Nov 08  204 Runners
48 Paul Houston        33.20
107 Alan Kerr             37.02
111 Iain Morrice         37.33
112 Gavin Orr              37.33
117 Paul Thompson    37.58
143 Tom White           39.34

Strathaven 10k 23Nov 08  290 Runners
2 Robert Turner        32.24
88 Iain Smith              44.11

Entry form for races:  Please put in “Harmeny” for the club as it:

(a) makes it easier to find everyone on result websites,
(b) when race organisers calculate club trophies based on first “nn” finishers from a club, it means they can readily identify everyone from a club.
(c) it’s our official club name

 “C&B News” Trophies: Last year we started awarding  a trophy to the Male and Female who have improved the most over the last year – these trophies were bought courtesy of the Currie & Balerno News. We will be awarding these in January for most improved in 2008.                                                                                       

Future races

 Bratislava marathon & half marathon 29^th March 2009 http://www.bratislavamarathon.com/en/?k=13

 A few members have entered this half marathon next year – cheap Ryanair flights are available from Edinburgh  and accommodation and meals etc should be relatively cheap I expect.  Anyone interested?

 Sun 21 Dec     Queens Drive X-C races (Holyrood Park – Entry on Day)
28 / 29 Dec   New Year Sprint Meeting
New Years Day           Portobello Promethon (4 Miles)
Sat 10 Jan     Great Winter Run, Holyrood park
Sun 1 Feb       Forfar  multi terrain half marathon
Sat 21 Feb     Scottish national x country championships Falkirk
 Sun 1 March   Arbroath Footers 10 mile Ladies Only race.
Sun 1 March   Lasswade 10 miles
Sun 8 March  Inverness Half Marathon
Sat 21 March             Mighty deerstalker (http://deerstalker.cmsdevsite.com/default.asp)
Sun 29 Mar    Grangemouth 10k
Sun 5 Apr       Heaven & Hell half marathon (Venue : Stormont Hall, Perth aerodrome, Scone, Perthshire  Course : scenic, country roads,13.1 miles - testing climbs, flat & downhill – speak to Iain Morrice)

 See the club website for more local races coming up this & next 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

 Best wishes to all for the festive season and Happy running in 2009