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.