Giffnock North AAC Schools Cross Country Races 2011




start line between tree and flag pole



As the cross country season continues a number of Calderglen Harrier young athletes were out on Sunday representing their schools at the annual Giffnock North AAC Schools Cross Country Races in Rouken Glen Park. The heavy rain and high winds from the day & night before left a quagmire of mud around the course and the start/finish area progressively got worse after each age group race.

The youngest athlete of the day was Emma Lawton, representing Kirktonholme Primary, who lined up with 81 runners in the girls Primary 6 race and put in commanding performance in this 1K cross country course seemingly gliding over the mud.  Emma established herself in first place as soon as the race started and maintained a good strong progressive lead to her closet rival around the whole course to win in a time of 4.57.  Second place runner’s time was 5.36 and third place recorded 5.37.

Next up was the Primary 7 Girls and Boys with Kate Kane representing Kirktonholme Primary.  After running Lanarkshire XC recovering from a cold and now clearly over her cold, Kate showed her true competiveness and came out fighting today finishing  19^th in a field of 67 with a time of 6:03.

Mark McKenzie was representing his school Mossneuk in the Primary 7 boys’ race. This was a race Mark wasn’t looking forward to after feeling disappointed with his performance last year he was unsure how he would go...no need to worry after a year training with the Harriers.  Mark quickly established himself in the leading pack and maintained his performance around the course with a final push at the end winning the race in a time of 4:49.

Newcomer to the Harriers, Jay Lawrie was also representing Mossneuk in the boys Primary 7 race and produced a time of 5:35, placing him 25^th in a field of 55.

Emma with gold medal

Last but not least another newcomer to the Harriers, Megan Anderson was representing Duncanrig High School in the S1/2 Girls race.  This is Megan’s first year with the Harriers and is showing great enthusiasm and mental toughness doing the cross country races which will help to develop her running showing dividends in the better weather next year.  Again another top 20 performer, Megan completed the course in (5.55) finishing 17^th out of 41 runners. There is more to come from Megan in the West District XC Championships in Irvine.

Well done to all for taking part in the races and especially to Emma & Mark for first class performances in their age group races.  A great XC day for all the athletes in the mud!

Calderglen Harriers Junior 1K Cross Country Race

Calderglen Country Park was the venue for Calderglen Harriers Junior 1k race on Wednesday 16^th November.  Instead of their usual training session 27 children from the under 9 section of the Harriers were there to race. 

The 1k course took them round the cricket pitch and up onto the first rugby pitch and then back down the hill and round the cricket pitch to finish in front of the Sports Club to loud cheers from all the parents and volunteers.   The night was a great success with some encouraging times set by the children. Their enthusiasm was extremely rewarding for all the parents and coaches in attendance.   The children received a certificate on completion of the course together with a little goody bag.   This was a first for the Harriers and as the night was such a great success the coaches have decided to repeat the race again in April.  This will now be a regular event on the junior calendar.     

Thank you to Frances  Maxwell, Club President & Coach for junior section, for the report.

LANARKSHIRE XC CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011

The mild November weather conditions at Drumpellier Park in Coatbridge this year provided excellent cross country racing conditions for the 11 Young Calderglen Harrier athletes who were out and all competing to high standards so it was a great sight to see the Harrier vest / yellow t-shirts amongst the many other Lanarkshire club colours. Well done to all the young athletes who took part in Saturday's races.

The race organisers, Lanarkshire Amateur Athletic Association (LAAA), changed the start of the race to near the bridge end meaning all athletes were running up hill initially however it didn’t deter the Harriers.

First to go was the Under 11 Girls event with Emma Lawton and this was her last year as an under 11, so she was determined to finish in 1st place to match her 1 race number. When the race started Emma made a push to the front and was quickly running joint lead with Dion Ingram from Motherwell AC.   It was a neck and neck race with, each taking turns leading but it was Emma who took the final lead on the last downhill and stretched a big enough gap to take 1st place comfortably in time of 3.25 (improving on her 3rd position and time by 2 seconds from 2010).

Next up was the Under 11 Boys with debuts from Finlay Dickson (16^th place) and Joseph Fegan (20^th place).  Despite being a fast road runner, the cross country race terrain provided a challenge for Finlay however he dug in and gave a great effort with a time of 4.04. Joseph was our youngest runner who put in a good steady pace to finish the race in 4.56.

Megan (11.31, 28th), Kate (11.33, 29th) and Louise (11.35, 30th) all continued their progress from the Lanarkshire Relay Championship in October with Anna (11.51, 33rd) debuting in cross country for the Harriers and all pulled out good solid performances.  Kate did particularly as she is still recovering from cold.   For the u13 boys, Harrier stalwart Drew Gordon (17^th place) continued with a consistent steady performance in his second year as u13, recording a time of 11.08 (slightly slower than last year’s time of 11.02, (I blame the hill start)) and new boy Allan Woodhouse did very well moving up the field in the u13 race to come 4^th position overall with a time of 9.16 (only 4 seconds away from 3^rd place. The 3^rd place runner’s time was 9.12). Good going considering it is his brother & sister are Harrier members not him! (Get this boy a registration form)

The final race the Harriers had young athletes competing was the u15 boys where John Woodhouse ran the bigger course with a good strong consistent pace achieving a time of 13.07 just outside the top ten in 11^th place. Craig Stewart joined him in this race and stepped up to the 3.7K route this being his first year in the u15 age group and achieved a time of 14.50, (19^th place).  Well done to Craig for continuing to do well and progressing through the age groups. 

On behalf of the Calderglen Harriers, I would like to thank all the young athletes and supporting parents / carers for making this another successful event. A lot of the young athletes this was their first time doing this event or cross country so hopefully valuable experience was gained by all which hopefully will lead us to continued future successes.

A full set of results will be available soon on the Scottish Athletics web site under fixtures.

LANARKSHIRE XC CHAMPIONSHIPS (Drumpellier Park, Coatbridge)

The Calderglen Harrier team for this XC Championships are:

Under 11s':  Emma Lawton, Lewis Barclay, Finlay Dickson, Joseph Fegan

Under 13s': Megan Anderson, Drew Gordon, Louise Brown, Kate Kane, Allan Woodhouse, Anna Fegan

Under 15s': Paul Mullen, Andrew McGurk, Craig Stewart, John Woodhouse

Declarations are at the Townhead Community Centre, Townhead Rd, Coatbridge ML5 2HT and maps of the courses hopefully will be available there.  I will declare all Calderglen Harrier athletes, pick up the race numbers and meet you near the start of the races at the bridge. The course is opposite St Ambrose High School, Blair Road, Coatbridge, ML5 2EW. 

The first race, u11 Girls, starts at 12pm so if anyone wants to do a walk of the course they are running I suggest you be there for 11am.  Plan also to do a warm up and get your race number from me.

On the day please remember

Ø  Safety pins for pinning your number on your vest or yellow training t-shirt

Ø  Calderglen Harrier black & amber vest or yellow training t-shirt - one of these is essential (phone if you need to buy one)

Ø  Layers in case it's cold and waterproofs in case of wet weather

Ø  Wellies or spare shoes if planning to walk the course

Ø  Food and drink for after your race

Ø  Spikes if you have them

Please tell me before Sat if you can’t make it or even early Sat AM.

See all on Saturday,

Richard

 

WEST DISTRICT XC CHAMPIONSHIPS (Irvine Royal Academy)

I have received confirmation from Scottish Athletics that the above event will be held at the Irvine Royal Academy (postcode KA12 8SJ) and the date remains the same Saturday 10th December 2011.  From the earlier note I put on the blog about this PLEASE NOTE there has been a change in some of the start times for the races.  Details are as follows:

Age Group Start Time Distance
Under 13 Girls 12 noon 3,200 metres
Under 13 Boys 12.15.pm 3,200 metres
Under 15 Girls and Under 17 Women 12.30 pm 4,400 metres

Under 15 Boys 12.50 pm 4,400 metres
Senior / Junior Women (U20) 1.05pm 6,400 metres
Under 17 Boys 1.35 pm 6,400 metres
Senior / Junior Men (U20) 1.05pm 10, 000 metres

If you intend taking part in this race give your name and Scottish Athletics number to Richard Lawton by Wednesday 23rd November at training at the latest. 

In accordance with regulations all athletes in the Under 13 age category upwards must be registered with Scottish Athletics. Ages as at 31 August / 1 September 2011. 

PLEASE NOTE:  Club vests (black & amber with vertical strip) for this event are compulsory. They can be bought for £12 however the junior section have a number of vests that can be borrowed but these are only 30" chest. If you need to buy a vest please see me on Wednesday with money so I can organise the purchase.

LANARKSHIRE XC CHAMPIONSHIPS (Drumpellier Park, Coatbridge) TIMES

As promised here are the race start times for the above event on Saturday 19 November. 

Event	Time	Age group	Distance	Entry Fee
Race 1	12:00	U11 Girls	1200m (1 small lap)	£1
Race 2	12:10	U11 Boys	1200m (1 small lap)	£1
Race 3	12:20	U13 Girls	2500m (1 large lap)	£1
Race 4	12:40	U13 Boys	2500m (1 large lap)	£1
Race 5	12:55	U15 Girls	3700m (1 small + 1 large lap)	£2
Race 5	12:55	U15 Boys	3700m (1 small + 1 large lap)	£2
Race 6	13:15	U17 M	5000m (2 large laps)	£2
Race 6	13:15	U17 F	5000m (2 large laps)	£2
Race 6	13:15	Sen Ladies	5000m (2 large laps)	£3
Race 7	13:45	Sen Men	10000m ( 4 large laps)	£3

WEDNESDAY 16TH NOVEMBER TRAINING - 1K race

This is a reminder for all young athletes who are coached by Francis Maxwell and Susan Pryce.

Francis and Susan have organised a 1K race to take place on Wednesday 16th November at Calderglen Country Park. Please arrive at ususal location East Kilbride Sport Club for 6:30pm and the race will be starting prompt for 6:45pm. Numbers will be handed out next week to ensure prompt race start.  We will have marshals and official time keepers for the race. 

At the end each child will receive a certificate with their finishing time and a little goody bag.

Any queries on this event please see either Francis or Susan at training next week.