Saturday 23 March 2013

NATIONAL YOUNG ATHLETES ROAD RACE

Sunday 17th March saw 7 Harriers competing in the National Young Athletes Road Race Championship held at Heriot Watt University Riccarton campus near Edinburgh.

The first to compete were the Under 13 quartet of Girls Megan Anderson, Helen Anderson, Louise Brown and Claire MacMillan.  The field of 82 girls ran the big loop of 2.8K route within the grounds of Riccarton campus and all showed their consistency and strength in running over long distances.  First home was Megan Anderson (63) in a time of 13:13, followed by Louise Brown (73) who is finding her form again  in 13:48, then Helen Anderson (77) with a time of 14:32 and Claire MacMillan (79) with a time of 15:13.  Even though Helen finished the race she was our first casualty and ended up at the first aid tent with a sore leg.

This race was won by Erin Wallace of Giffnock North in 10:33 and Emma Lawton of Giffnock North (2nd claim Calderglen) was 6th in 11:07.

Next up was  Morgan Beaton in the Under 15 Girls race covering 4.5k making her race debut for the club. Unfortunately due to straining her leg Morgan pulled out after 1½ laps of 2 so no time for Morgan but hopefully she will be fit again for the next race.  Well done Morgan for trying.

This race was won by Gillian Black of VP-Glasgow AC in 16:11.
Finally we had 2 Under 15 Boys Craig Stewart & Drew Gordon running who ran the 4.5k route which consisted of 1 small loop and 1 big loop.  In the field of 48 Craig placed 35 with a time of 18:50 and Drew was our final casualty of the day after been hit in the shins at the start could not complete the race.

This race was won by Ben Greenwood of Perth Strathtay Harriers in 14:44.

All casualties recovered and were back at training on Wednesday past.

Friday 15 March 2013

EKSC Race Night, Saturday 4th May @ 7.30pm

The Sports Club are holding a Race Night on Saturday 4th May 7.30 pm till 1.00 am.

The aim of the night is to raise funds for the Sports Club and to have good time.

The other Club sections ie. Cricket, Tennis, Rugby etc. will all be taking part.

As a section we would like to see a good turn out from the Harriers.
Firstly to have a good time and secondly to show to the other sections that we are a part of the club. 

The Harriers have been given Race 4 to Sponsor.
There are 8 runners in the race and each horse costs £5 to sponsor.
The individuals who decide to sponsor a horse get to choose the Horses Name.

Tickets are on sale now at £5 a head. This includes wait for it, Pakora, Raffle and Games.

Tickets can be bought from the bar in the Sports Club.

Friday 1 March 2013

NATIONAL XC FALKIRK 2013

A late report but none the less an important one as it was the Scottish National Cross Country Championships on Saturday 23rd February in Callendar Park, Falkirk.  We were greeted with great weather and conditions on foot for running a challenging course.

We had a small team out for this year’s race but a team that is big on motivation to run and do their best for Calderglen Harriers and importantly there own belief in their ability, so well done to the Under 13 team of athletes Megan Anderson, Helen Anderson, Louise Brown and Claire MacMillan and solo Under 15 Boy Drew Gordon for representing the club.

First off were the under 13 Girls quartet of Helen, Megan, Louise and Claire amongst the field of 127 runners doing 1 lap of 3.2k.  First Harriers in were twin sisters Helen & Megan.  Megan was leading for most of the course but sister Helen put in a strong challenge towards the end with powered turbo finish.  I think Megan still just edged Helen however they were awarded equal times of 17:59.  This was 25 second pb for Megan and a massive 1:34 minute pb for Helen.  Returning from injury, Louise ran a steady race and completed the course in 18:53 which was 14 seconds down on last year. Claire MacMillan made her debut at this event and although seemed overwhelmed on the day she completed the course in 20:02.

Our only Under 15 boy running 4k course was Drew Gordon in his first year in this age category.  This was a big step for Drew as you need be very much strong and fast to compete in this age group over such an unforgiving course.  However Drew displayed his commitment and determination throughout the course with debut time of 20:24.

A big thank you goes to the best tent team erectors i.e. the Mums & Dads for putting up the tent this year while I  looked in supervising type way!  If there was a medal or a trophy for this event I know who would win!

Any of the other young athletes that are interested in competing in these type of events please feel free to ask any of the coaches (Frances, Richard or John) how to get involved.  I would love to enter a big squad of Calderglen Harriers in the junior races as we are just as capable as any other club in Scotland to do well and win medals.

If you got the Olympic bug in 2012 then you too can train hard, listen to your coach and compete to get your rewards.  Remember the next big junior event that could come to Glasgow is the 2018 Youth Olympics.......wouldn’t it be great to qualify for team GB & NI and run in your home city with a home crowd cheering you on!