Harmeny Pentland Runners
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Harmeny Pentland Runners |
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February
2009 Update
Time
for an update of news and results. First
congratulations to ‘young Paul’ ie
Paul Houston who won the Buchlyvie 10K –see his report below. And also to ‘fast Boab’ ie Bob Turner who was 2nd in the Jack
Crawford 10k and 1st with a pb in the
Runners Council – Minutes of meeting in
January are on the Harmeny website.
Frank
is running for MACS a charity for visually impaired children
You
have a forum to chat to other members about finding lifts to races, info from Frank and
the Runners Council, nights out and anything else.
February
Bog n Burn – Ian Morrice
We
should all meet at 10:00 at the Scot Mid car park in
For
those who may require a lift, can I suggest that you arrange with someone and meet at
09:30 at BHS Balerno. This will give you ample time to get to the start on time.
The
route will be 10.5 miles and is a very scenic one with a mix of off road paths, smooth
tracks and some tarmac.Normal running shoes will be ok for this route. The
route will marked with the same style of markings as the last B and B, green duct tape,
green arrowed signs and some green paint markers.
The
route takes us along through the old town of S Queensferry along the waterfront past the
old ferry and under the Rail Bridge and joins the shore Road/path taking you past a Castle
and a large Scottish Baronial House and ends at the old ferrymans cottage opposite Cramond
village. You then make your way to the Edinburgh Gate which is situated near to the
Cramond Brig pub. We then run alongside the main road for a short distance then head off
road passing various derelict farms and passing by the tank farm. We will then join the
old railway route finally picking up a smooth surface track back to the Scot Mid car park.
Note
that the usual easy-run and intermediate groups runs are still on at BHS as normal.
Reports:
Paul’s
report on his winning run at Buchlyvie:
I
decided the week before the race to give this a go as I had to miss the Dunfermline XC on
the 18th. Not knowing what to expect, other than what I thought would be a nice flat
course, I headed to Buchlyvie with the weather expected to be dry and partly cloudy. For
the most part it was, apart from the short-sharp downpour half an hour before the race,
which turned ever so briefly to hail as soon as I stepped out the car for my warm up!
Already thoroughly drenched, I headed to the community centre to pick up my number and
bumped into Kirsty and Ian. We exchanged our 'good lucks and headed to the start line,
which was a very low-key tarmac line across a quiet cul-de-sac. I decided for a change to
start at the very front of the pack as opposed to my normal mid-pack position. I thought
I'd probably be a bit out of my depth as there were some very mean looking runners up
there but the first 400 metres were all downhill so I wanted to get a good run at this
rather than my usual (accidental) practice of starting off quick in the middle of a pack
and inevitably catching someone's heel or almost falling flat on my face!
The race started at a rather frantic pace with a Cambuslang runner, a Shettleston runner,
an 'unattached' and myself slightly breaking away. The Cambuslang runner quickly started
pushing a 5:20-5:30 pace and, although I still felt ok, I was worried that I was going far
too quick. I settled into third place behind the 'unattached' and watched the Cambuslang
runner seemingly glide further and further away. Around mile 2, I was feeling that I could
push the pace a bit instead of sheltering from the slight headwind behind the unattached
runner, so I pushed on into second. By that time we had run onto the disused railway line
which resembled a very wet and muddy rutted 4x4 trail!
Once we had hit the mud, the conditions didn't seem to favour the Cambuslang runner, and
we managed to close the gap over about half a mile. The unattached runner and myself then
put in a little burst to overtake him. At this point, about 2.5 miles in, I was in the
lead. This briefly sent me into a wave of panic! 'I must be going too fast...I'm going to
pay for this' I thought. But I still felt ok so I continued at the pace that had been set,
with the unattached runner sticking tightly to my shadow.
The panic lasted for another half a mile until we turned around and headed back down the
track. At this point I found out that the unattached runner and myself had created a gap
of about 4-5 seconds. I later discovered from Kirsty that there were various assortments
of jelly beans and sweets laid out at the turnaround point. In my panic, I had completely
overlooked these (not like me at all when it comes to sweets!). With hindsight, it was
probably for the best!
At mile 4 it started to really hurt. The unattached runner was still right on my tail and
I was sure that he was waiting to get back onto the tarmac to make his move. But, I also
started thinking for the first time 'perhaps I could actually do this!'. I slowed ever so
slightly to see what the other runner would do. He didn't overtake me and I was sure then
that he was waiting until half a mile down the road when we hit the tarmac again. So I
maintained the slower pace to try to save some energy. The course hit a 90 degree turn
where the mud met the tarmac and, as soon as my first foot touched the tarmac, I put in
what I had planned to be a 100m burst. For the first time, I didn't hear the other runner
heavy breathing behind me and this gave me a big boost, I kicked on at that pace and
gritted my teeth to maintain it up the big hill that was so nice the other way at the
start! It was a very tough 300-400m uphill at the very end of the race.
I turned into the school for the final 50m and saw the finishing line. I was filled with
panic yet again as I was still sure that I couldn't possibly win and that someone was
going to come past me at the last minute. But no-one did, I put in a final sprint and
crossed the line in 34:55 on my watch. I was in a state of shock for the rest of the day!
I got my photo taken for the local paper and was awarded a very nice home-made mug and my
choice of a mounted print from a local artist. Kirsty and Ian kindly waited with me in the
hall afterwards for the delayed prize-giving, which started when pretty much every one had
left!, but the whole day was fantastic. The race and course was great and was very well
organized and marshalled. The views on the outward leg to the snow-covered mountains to
the north were amazing. I would definitely recommend this race, but then I would, wouldn't
I!
Buchlyvie 10K, 24th January 2009:
1st Paul Houston
34:55
Bob
Turner in
When
we arrived at the car park outside the Burrell Collection there were a few lycra clad
skinny folks, so we knew we were in the right place. I set off for a recce of the
course and a warm up. By the time I got back the full organising committee and the
81 runners that would start the race were all congregating around the start area.
With
no number to put on I got stripped and ready for the start. It was then that I felt
the bitterly cold wind and after a little briefing we were off. A small group of us
(about 4) set off at a pace that was just short of a sprint and I was worried about
blowing up after 200m. Fortunately the lad at the front slowed it down.
However this was too slow and myself and a youngster from Glasgow Uni took the
lead. We shared the lead and the wind all the way around the course until the last
100 metres where I tried to get my old bones to move a little quicker. To my
surprise they moved quicker than the
The
Parkrun Time Trials are fantastic and the idea is simple: You register on their
website (www.parkrun.com), turn up on the morning of the race
(and that can be any of the parkrun races throughout the
If
Anyway
enough gloating. The race is organised by Springburn Harriers and there was a very
good turn out considering the inclement weather forecast of battering winds and heavy
rain. The start is directly opposite the Bishopbriggs leisuredome and meanders
around the housing estate before picking up a trail along the side of the Forth-Clyde
canal. Once on here it was very difficult to overtake so my recce before hand came
in useful as I slotted into third spot. After about 2km we crossed the first bridge
and picked up the canal tow path. It was good to get onto some more solid ground
with traction, however the wind was blowing in our faces now. The lad in the lead,
and eventual winner of the race, was now 50 meters in front of us. The lad in
second and I shared 2nd place for the next 5-6kms to give each other a breather from the
wind. This was a tough part of the race. We then crossed another bridge and back onto the
mud and puddle infested side. By this point I was past caring about having wet feet
and just ploughed through the mud.
At
about the 8K mark my wind breaker mate started to slow, so I took the opportunity to take
2nd spot for the last mile or so and crossed the line 33:43, the conditions definitely
taking their toll on any fast times. The
£40 prize money will come in useful though as my, once white, hilly twin skin socks
are now a very drab shade of grey, despite their boil wash!
Well it wasn't quite snowing but the clouds were certainly there and the cold breeze off
the sea set the scene for a real winters day down at Portobello for the Promathon. In
other words a great day for being chased by dogs and avoiding small children in
prams (or dog poo in Kirsty's case) down on the beach, whilst nursing a hangover of
marathon (note the running simile) proportions (and maybe a small exaggeration) with next
to no sleep (think I'm laying it on a bit thick?). Nothing like a little New Years self
flagelation to stir the soul (damn missed a sea related pun there, should have used
sole..) and justify the previous nights self indulgence.
Anyway it was a good a day and a remarkably flat, fast out and back 4mile course - felt
considerably longer than 4 miles but that might have something to do with my befuddled
senses wanting to know what the hell I was playing at... Apparently an all time record
field turned up (277 runners) to take in the salty breeze and good
company!
Thanks to Tom and Pauline for the lift and listening to my moans about potential
anti-peristaltic movements, results are as below:
Paul Thompson 26:19 106
Tom White 26:50 117
Ian Smith 27:39
137
Kirst Stoddart 33:20 239
Pauline White 36:09 262
The day started bright and sunny and full of optimism as news came through that roadworks
on the
left plenty of time!
As usual, the children, Joseph, Cameron, Alison, Olivia and Melissa were completely
unphased by events, took the mud and hills in their stride and did Harmeny proud.
As the dark, snowy, storm clouds started to gather the men went off in search of warmth
while I prepared to line up with Lorna, Bev, Kerry and Fiona for the ladies race. The race
stared at 1.55 pm and the snow started at 1.56 pm!
The 6k Ladies course started off relatively flat but extremely muddy on a mixture of muddy
grass, muddy track, muddy ditches and a bit of muddy tarmac. There were a couple of short,
steep hills which were very slippy. The red and white tape wasn't exactly sufficient to
hang onto either to pull yourself up. I briefly saw the back of Bev, Kerry and Fiona at
the start of the race and tried to run at the same pace as Lorna in the hope of closing
the time gap from previous races. She coped far better than me on the second hill (ie she
kept running while I huffed, puffed and slipped to a slow scramble) and I lost her after
that along with any will to get a decent time. It was just about survival now!
After nearly 2 laps of this, the course veered off around a field which was cruelly
cordoned off so we could not use the path but were forced onto the furrows which I'm sure
had been newly ploughed that morning. We were given just enough distance to allow our
shoes to become fully encased in heavy, wet mud before being presented with the final hill
which was probably only 100m but felt like 1000m.
By the time I finished the race, the men had started their's but I was cheered over the
line by the girls who were by that time just starting to smile again as the euphoria of
completing another cross-country set in.
Kerry cruised round in a cool 28 min 18 sec. Bev was shortly behind that, followed closely
by Fiona and Lorna. I actually thought they had recorded my time wrong according to my
Garmin until I realised that I had been going so slow in places that the Auto Pause had
kicked in and I was in fact a minute slower than I thought!
I disappeared quickly after that in search of heat, coffee (not beer!) and my daughter but
came back up to see the finish of the men's race.
Paul finished first with Gavin close on his heels followed by Tom, Darren and Neil. I did
hear someone comment about Paul's recovery from injury with the words "Well, Paul's
definitely back then" muttered. They all looked in shock at the end and I have to
take my hat off to the men. Cross-Country racing is the one thing where I do not care
about equality between the sexes. They had to endure 8.6k which included twice round that
field!
I swore afterwards that I would never, ever do another cross-country and I still stick by that. But.... looking back it can
be quite enjoyable in a sadistic kind of way and it is an easily forgotten pain so maybe
next year again. Well done everybody!
Great
Winter Run 5k 10 Jan 09
272 Bev Dodgson
23.21
300 Willie Cummings 23.36
547 Lorna Broadhurst 25.42
750 Gordon Miller
27.25
1641 Caroline Miller
35.53
Jack
Crawford 10k
17 Jan 09
347 Runners
2 Robert
Turner
33.43
261 Alan Price
51.15
East
League
Ladies
70
Runners
19 Kerry Scott
28.18
60 Bev Dodgson
34.12
64 Fiona
Donaldson
34.47
65 Lorna
Broadhurst 35.04
66 Kirsty
Stoddart
36.34
Men
186
Runners
101 Paul Thompson
41.02
105 Gavin Orr
41.31
126 Tom White
43.37
139 Darren Cavaroli
44.33
185 Neil Wilson
57.49
Buchlyvie
10k 24 Jan 09
200
Runners
1 Paul
Houston
34.54
65 Ian Smith
47.24
140 Kirsty Stoddart 53.04
1 Robert
Turner
16.21
Forfar
Multi Terrain Half 1 Feb 09 143 Runners
5 Paul
Houston
1.21.07
41 Iain Morrice
1.37.29
45 Paul Thompson
1.38.18
99 Ian May
1.52.42
117 Gavin Orr
1.59.02
125 Chris Morgan
2.01.12
Club Handicap Races 2009
Remember, ….
We award trophies for M & F club handicap winners
Results are based on performances relative to handicap target time, so everyone has an
equal chance of winning, and
You have to be “in it to win it”.
Current handicaps are on the web-site. If you’d to take part and don’t have a
handicap target, get in touch with Ian May.
March
21st
Heriot
Watt 5k
April 4th
April 5th
May
Penicuik
10k
June
Peebles
(Beltane) 10k
August
Scottish
Gas 10k and 5k
Club
Handicap
September
October
Jedburgh
½
November
Cross-country
Trackwork sessions
Sat 21 Feb Scottish national
x country championships
Sun 1 March Arbroath Footers 10 mile Ladies
Only race.
Sun 1 March Lasswade 10 miles
Sat 7 Mar Edin uni hare & hounds 5 mile see
http://haries.eusu.ed.ac.uk
Sun 8 March Inverness Half
Sat 21 Mar Heriot Watt 5K – www.entrycentral.com
or enter on day is still spaces
Sat 21 March
Mighty deerstalker (http://deerstalker.cmsdevsite.com/default.asp)
Sat 21 march Newtonmore 10 mile race (email newtonmore10@live.co.uk)
Sun 29 Mar Grangemouth 10k
Sat 4 April
Sun 5 April Edinburgh half marathon
Sun
5 Apr Heaven & Hell
half marathon (Venue
: Stormont Hall,
Sun
19 Apr Lochaber
Sun 19 Apr Gala Harriers 10k and 3k fun run
Sat 25 Apr Balmoral 10k 5k 2.5k and 1.5k
Sun 26 April Angus half marathon (at www.eventfull.biz)
Sun
3 May BUPa Edinburgh 10k
See
the club website for more local races coming up this year. http://www.harmenyac.org.uk/prunners/events.htm
Anne &
Bob