CHRISTMAS FUN RUN 2012





Over 18 junior Harriers took part in the 2012 Calderglen Harriers Christmas Fun Run.  This year the popular costume was a Onesies (think a baby gro for teenagers & adults), we had a pirate, Santa’s helpers and an Olympic Torch.  Most of the runners tackled 2 laps of the Christmas Handicap route covering 1.5 miles (2.4k) in perfect running conditions.

This year 3 of our junior Harriers took on the seniors and did the full 4 mile course which consisted of 5 laps. The brave Harriers were Craig Stewart, Alistair Crawford and Emma Lawton.  All 3 did brilliant in the first attempt at this distance with Emma Lawton becoming the youngest ever winner of the Christmas handicap.  Emma’s time was the 4th fastest time overall (26:51), Alistair’s time was 27:13 and Craig was 29:23.

Well done to all and a big thanks to all the supporters.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

I would like to draw your attention to a few key items.  There as follows:

Annual Club Christmas Handicap race incorporating a Kids fun run - is on this Sunday 16 December, starting at 11am so be there for 10.30am (fancy dress is optional)

NO weekly £1 fees are due between 1st December 2012 to 31st March 2013 but still register your name with Sarah so we know you have attended

Last training session of 2012 is Wednesday 12 December 2012 and return on Wednesday 9 January 2013.
See you all on Wednesday,

Richard

CLUB CHRISTMAS FUN RUN

On Sunday 16th December the Calderglen Harriers will be holding their annual Christmas Handicap Race at 11am (be there for 10.30am) which incorporates a fun run for the junior section.  The young athletes will do either 1 or 2 laps of the course and festive fancy dress is optional .  Previous years the costumes have been Santas, the Hulk, a Ghostbuster, Christmas fairy and even Nuns.

Race Details

Senior Harriers: Run 5 laps, which is 3.75 miles or 6k

Junior Harriers: Run 1 lap,which is 0.75 miles or 1.2k (under 9s & 11s)

Hopefully some of the older more able junior runners will consider doing the the 5 laps and challenge the "old" seniors.  If the older more able junior runners wish to take up the challenge let me know by Wed 12th December.

As from previous years the race will be in cold conditions. So if you fancy joining us in this festive running event please come along and you may even get a treat at the end...........



Dont' be shy to dress up!



WEST DISTRICT XC 2012

As usual this time of year the weather is always challenging however after a week of minus figures the Junior Harriers were faced with milder racing conditions in Greenock this afternoon.  With a few call offs, 4 die hard Harriers took part to test themselves against the rest of the young athletes within the West of Scotland.

The first race of the day was the Under 13 Girls who had the luxury of being the first runners on the course so parts of the course were still firmer on foot and less muddy.  The Under 13 Girls were represented by sisters Megan & Helen Anderson and Louise Brown.

In a field of 77 runners all the girls did really well to complete the 3.2k course and maintained good form throughout. The course was flat but not a fast course with deep & shallow soggy sections and some still icy sections.

My predication of Helen being the first Harrier home was correct and a great improvement for Helen as last year she was the last home amongst her peers.  Helen’s time was 15:54 followed by a close battle at the back of the pack between Megan & Louise.  Towards the end Megan was leading and Louise put in a challenge to beat her.  Megan was 67^th and Louise 69^th but they were both awarded the same time of 16:14.

Well done Helen for biggest improver!

The next Harrier up was u15 boys where Drew Gordon ran the race for the first time in this age category and stepped up to the bigger 4k route in a field of 55 runners and achieved a time of 21:04.  Well done to Drew for continuing to do well.

Well done to all on a fantastic effort on a tough course.

Richard

CLUB DANCE ARRANGEMENTS

This Saturday is the Harriers dinner/dance at the Sports Club. Could everyone be seated by 6:30pm when dinner will be served. If there are any special dietary requirements, then please contact Frances or me asap. If you can, please bring a prize for the raffle.

Finally, bring your dancing rather than running legs. Richard

HARRIERS CHRISTMAS DINNER DANCE

Calderglen's social event of the year (Parents Only) takes place on the evening of Saturday 8th December at the Sports Club from 6:30pm. A two course dinner will be served followed by the entertainment, a DJ this year, for the price of only £7.50 per person. The main course is home made steak pie and there is a vegetarian option.  If you have any other specific dietary requirements please let me know ASAP.

If you want to buy tickets please see myself or Frances on Wednesday club nights and we will arrange to get the tickets.  You can buy as many tickets as you want all Harriers, families and friends welcome. Richard.

LANARKSHIRE XC CHAMPIONSHIPS 2012

Drumpellier Park in Coatbridge was host again to this annual head to head cross country race which is an excellent preparation for the West District XC on 8th December and the National XC in Falkirk in February.  My persistence has paid off on this occasion and we had a record number of 20 Calderglen Harrier athletes who were out and all competing to high standards mixing it up with the other Lanarkshire clubs.

Even though we were outside of any medal contention there were still some strong competitive performances and good signs that athletes’ training is improving their race performance.

First to go was the Under 11 Boys with event debuts from Marc McQuade (17th, 4.11), Luca Pacitti (24th, 4.26), Chris Brady (32nd, 4.45) and Joseph Fegan (34th place, 6.36). 

The hardcore under 13 female runners were in force with Megan Anderson (12.08, 21st), Helen Anderson (12.08, 22nd), Louise Brown (12.14, 23rd), Claire McMillan (24th, 12.26) and Anna Fegan (13.12, 25th).  Well done girls!

For the u13 boys Allan Woodhouse was in good form running alongside with the Lanarkshire elite Ronhill Cambuslang Harriers and getting in between Cumbernauld runners finishing a credible 6th in 9.37.  Almost a minute down, Kevin McGurk continues his winter season racing and achieving a time of 10.40 & 17th place. Brilliant!

For the u15 boys, Harrier stalwart Drew Gordon (23rd place) only in his second race as 1st year u15 recorded a time of 16.34 in a tough field as the winning time was 11.54. Craig Stewart joined him in this race and being his second year in the u15 age group showed and he achieved a time of 14.01, (16th place), 49 second pb from last year.  Well done to Drew & Craig for continuing to do well and progressing through the age groups.  The senior Harriers are watching!

We had 2 of our under 17 runners out today. Paul Mullen was home first in 20.54, 16th place and Andrew McGurk came home in 18th place in a time of 21.32.  Great 5k times on cross country terrain.

A few of our 2nd claim runners were out competing for their 1st claim clubs today.  First up was Abbie Kirwan in the u11 girls race who came 18th with a time of 4.22 representing EKAC.  Also for the same club Jessica Hagan did the u13 girls race in 11.46, 16th overall. 

On behalf of the Calderglen Harriers, I would like to thank John Mullen for being the Team Manager on the day, all the young athletes for turning out to do the race, Linda McGurk & Barry Gordon for volunteering their services to Lanarkshire Amateur Athletic Association (LAAA) and all the supporting parents / carers for making this another successful event.

WEST DISTRICT XC CHAMPIONSHIPS 2012 - (Race No.5)

UPDATE: 09/11/12

Confirmed location : Ravenscraig Sports Centre,GREENOCK, PA16 0JE

Confirmed Race start times: see below

The date of the race is Saturday 8th December.

Details are as follows:

RACE	RACE STARTS	DISTANCE
Under 13 Girls	11.30	3,200 metres
Under 13 Boys	11.45	3,200     “
Under 15 Girls	12.00	4,000    "
Under 15 Boys	12.20	4,000    "
Under 17 & Under 20 Women	12.40	5,000    "
Senior Women	1.00	6,400    "
Under 17 & Under 20 Men	1.30	6,400    " 8,000    "
Sen/Jun Men	2.00	10,000   "

If you intend taking part in this race give your name and Scottish Athletics number to Richard Lawton by Wednesday 21st November at training at the latest. 

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 - (Race No.4)

This event will take place on Saturday 17 November at Drumpellier Park in Coatbridge (enter the park from Blair Road, opposite St Ambrose High School, Blair Road  Coatbridge, ML5 2EW). All the races are "head to head" and not relays like the recent race. Ages as at 31 August /
1 September 2012. Details are as follows:

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

Age groups are u11 (9 & 10 yrs), u13 (11 & 12 yrs), u15 (13 & 14 yrs), u17 (15 & 16 yrs) and everybody else is Senior.

If you intend taking part in this race give your name to Richard Lawton by Wednesday 14 November at training at the latest or by email.

Parkrun 5k - Strathclyde Park & Pollok Park Glasgow

I would like to recommend for our older athletes in the u13/u15/u17/u20 age groups who are looking to improve their race times, do a new activity in their training or just to have a regular time trial through the winter on a officially measured course a company called Parkrun organises a free 5k race in Pollok Park & Strathclyde Park every Saturday morning starting at 09:30. The only entry requirement is that you fill in the simple on-line entry form before 6pm on the Friday night before the race. There is no on-the-day entry.

This is a popular social running fixture in the running calendar since 2009 and many people from complete beginners to experienced club runners take part.  Many of the senior Calderglen Harriers have done both events on a regular basis to help improve their running, and I include myself.  Already some of the young athletes have done both Parkruns in Pollok Park & Strathclyde Park.

Any young athlete under 11 can do it but Parkrun state you need to run with an adult.  So encourage / challenge your Mums & Dads to take part in it as it is event for all.

Pollok Park 5k start line is on the road in front of the Burrell Collection/Burrell Car Park. Please follow the directions on the above web site link for parking instructions though. The Strathclyde Park 5k the start line is down from the boat house.

More Info see links below

Glasgow Parkrun: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/glasgow/

Strathclyde Parkrun: http://www.parkrun.org.uk/strathclyde/home

Please let me know if you take up the Parkrun challenge.

Richard

NATIONAL XC RELAYS CHAMPIONSHIPS REPORT

Absent from this event in 2011 the Calderglen Harrier Young Athletes returned to this annual event and for a change it was sunnier but a cold day at Cumbernauld for the 2012 National Cross Country Relays Championships. There was 8 Young Harriers in action on Saturday and most of them debuting at this tough cross country event. 
 

 

The girls fielded 2 incomplete teams with Louise Brown (2nd year u13) leading off for the A team and completing the 1st leg in 13:40.  Kate Kane took the 2nd leg and recorded the fastest young female Harrier time of the day in 13:27.  The B team (official results state C team) was started by Anna Fegan (2nd year u13) only in her 2nd competitive race for the Harriers and finished her leg in 14:46.  Then Claire MacMillan (2nd year u13) took on the second leg and brought the team home in a time of 14:11.
 

The winning club in this race was Giffnock North’s A team with a total time of 31:16 and leg times of 10:21 (u13), 10:20 (u15) and 10:35 (u17).
 

In the second race of the day were the Young Male athletes running the same 2.5k course.  On this occasion we had 1 complete team and 1 incomplete team.  First up for the A team was Jack Houston (under 13) made his cross country debut (difficult course to start on) and finished in 12:37, taking over was Drew Gordon who last did this course in 2010 as an u13 and he did himself proud as u15 now by completing his leg in 13.03, a course best by 16 seconds and the final leg was done by Craig Stewart (under 15) who ran 11:44 with his new spikes!  Total running time was 37:24.
 

Following on from his good cross country form displayed at the West District, Kevin McGurk had a team to himself and he completed his leg in 11:33. This was the fastest young male Harrier time of the day.
 

The winning club in this race was Inverclyde AC A team with a total time of 27:11 and leg times of 9:15 (u13), 9:31 (u15) and 8:25 (u17).
 

Emma Lawton, now running 2nd claim for the Harriers, had an impressive debut performance over the tough 2.5k course, finished an impressive 9th in the 1st leg in a time of 10:59 and was 9th fastest u13 female out of 25.  The Giffnock North C team had a total running time of 33:27 and leg times of 10:59 (u13), 11:08 (u15) and 11:20 (u17) achieving 10th team overall out of 67 complete teams.  Well done to Emma who is coming on leaps and bounds with every race.
 

Once again many thanks to the parents of the young athletes for supporting the club at this event. 
 

Next race is the Lanarkshire Cross Country Championships on Saturday 17th November in Coatbridge.

TRAINING CANCELLED-Wed 17th & 31st October

Please note due to the school October week and Halloween all coaches have decided to cancel training on Wednesday  17th & 31st October.

Next Training night is  Wednesday 7th November @ 6.30pm

Lanarkshire Road Relay Championships Report

Saturday 20^th October was the 2012 Lanarkshire Road Relay Championships held at its usual venue of Drumpellier Park, Coatbridge. There was a small number the club's young athletes at this annual event.

First off were the under 11 boys team running the 1.2k course with Joseph Fegan running the first leg in a time of 6:08.  Liam Wood took over and ran 5:10 while on the third leg Marc McQuade finished on 5:35 giving a total time of 16:53 and 6^th team out of 7 complete teams.  The winning club in this race was Ronhill Cambuslang Harriers with a total time of 14:36 and leg times of 4:45, 5:03 and 4:48.

In the second race of the day we had 2 incomplete girl teams however the 4 girls were undeterred by this and Helen Anderson (Under 13) ran the first leg along with her sister Megan (Under 13) and completed the 2k course in 8:44 and Megan did her leg in 8:32.  Helen handed over to Kate Kane (Under 13) who ran an excellent 8:09 and this concluded their race.  Megan passed over to the newest member of the girl’s squad Anna Fegan (Under 13) who finished in 8:43. The winning club in this race was again Ronhill Cambuslang Harriers with a total time of 21:35 and leg times of 7:23, 6:56 and 7:16.

The third race of the day was the boys under 13 with another incomplete team however the only member Kevin McGurk ran his 2.4k leg in 10:01.  The fastest leg of the day in this race was 8:49 (Ronhill Cambuslang Harriers runner).

The final race of the day was the under 15 boys running the same 2.4k course.  Our sole Harrier was Craig Stewart who ran 9.23 and which was 10^th fastest time in his age group. The winning club in this race was Law with a total time of 24:47 and leg times of 8:06, 8:29 & 8:12.

Once again many thanks to the parents/carers of the young athletes for supporting the club at this event.  Special thanks to John Mullen for being the Team Manager and for Mary Anderson (Megan & Helen’s Mum) and Brian Stewart (Craig’s Dad) for kindly volunteering to be our 2 volunteers that we had to supply to help with operating the event.

Next race is the National Cross Country Relays in Cumbernauld on Sat 27^th October.

WEST DISTRICT XC RELAY REPORT

After the heavy rain on Thursday and the rain showers getting lighter towards race day on Saturday, we were left with near perfect conditions for the first cross country race of the winter season with a course thick of mud that couldn’t be dodged.  7 young Harriers took part to test themselves against the rest of the young athletes within the West of Scotland.

For the first leg we had 3 incomplete teams of Helen Anderson (12.47), Kate Kane (12.51) & Claire MacMillan (13.14) all running good times on a hard course and the surprise of the day was Helen being the first Harrier back in her leg and the fastest female Harrier of the day.  A great run from Helen despite falling over a hidden tree stump.

Next up was the second leg runners of Megan Anderson (13.16) and Louise Brown (12.54).  Megan took over from Kate and Louise from Claire.  Helen was the only one in the C team and unfortunately we had no 3^rd leg runners to compete fully. So come all the under 15 runners give racing a try and you might just surprise yourself that you like it!

The next race was the boys and we initially had a full team but Andrew McGurk pulled out due to straining a tendon at football practice, get better soon Andrew.  However we had his younger sibling Kevin running the first leg and he managed the course in 11.39, placed 36 out 52 runners.  Kevin was the fastest male Harrier of the day.  For the second leg and final for the Harrier boys was Craig Stewart who is a second year u15 boy in a field of 49 runners and achieved a time of 11.51 (38^th place).  Well done to Craig for continuing to do well. Hopefully with the purchase of spikes we will see an even quicker time for him at the National XC in Cumbernauld.

On a personal note I feel need to mention Emma's performance.  After heavy thought Emma is now running 1st claim for Giffnock North in cross country but is still very much apart of the Harriers and with the support and encouragement of the Harriers over the last 5 years have developed her running ability to which my wife & I are greatful. So even though she had a Giffnock North vest on her DNA is Harrier colours...Black & Amber with veritical strip.  Emma was a 1st leg runner in the C team and achieved a time of 10.30mins, 4th place in her leg and the C team was 6th overall.

On behalf of the Calderglen Harriers, I would like to thank all the young athletes and parents for making this another successful event. For some 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 future successes.

If you are in 11 yrs + you will be in either the u13/u15/u17/u20 age groups.  We are just as good and capable as any other running club.  Please think twice about competing for the Harriers – WE NEED YOU – to help complete these teams.  

National XC Relay, Cumbernauld - (Race No.3)

This is the 3rd race of the season and the competition details are:

Registration is at Cumbernauld High School (South Kildrum Ring Road, G67 2UF) where all young athletes should report at 11am for relay team selection to take place. The park is approximately 1 mile from the school. Please arrive at the school in good time as car parking is very limited. The girls race start at 12.30 pm and the boys at 1.05 pm.

Venue: Cumbernauld Park
Date: Saturday 27th October 2012

All races are Teams of 3 athletes except the Senior/Junior Men which is a team 4 athletes

Race                           Age Group         Race Start         Laps
Young Females             u13/15/u17         12.30pm             3 x 2,500 metres
Young Males                u13/15/u17         1.05pm               3 x 2,500 metres Senior/Junior Women                              1.40pm               3 x 4,000 metres
Senior/Junior Men                                   2.40pm               4 x 4,000 metres

Deadline for entries are Wednesday 10th October.  Please let me know at training, by email or if your Coach is John then let him know and he will inform me.

Event Notes

Please note that the Young Athletes races will allow clubs to have a slightly more flexible format for age groups on each lap.

1st LAP Under 13, 2nd LAP Under 15 OR Under 13 and 3rd LAP Under 17 OR Under 15

Those wishing to run remember must be current members of the Scottish Athletics Membership Scheme.  Any members, new or exisitng, unsure of what this is please ask your Coach or myself for information.

All Young Athletes must wear their club colours running vest - these can be purchased from the club for £12.  Please see Richard on this matter.

Thank you for your attention.
Richard