Why not in Clydebank?

It is usually true that for a cross country runner, to have the race on his/her own patch is an advantage to the athlete and the club. We used to hold many, many races in Clydebank including the County Relays and Championships with great frequency. I'm not sure why it is not still the case - we had the dreadful course at Kirkintilloch to run on for a couple of years (and we mught be back there again) and at the weekend we had the trail at Maryhill which was not a good course for young runners just getting involved in the sport. Why not hold it in Clydebank again? If the response is that the changing accommodation is too far away, well it wouldn't be much further than the course at Gartconner Primary in Kirkintilloch is from the changing at Kirkintilloch High School which is particularly difficult for the young athletes after their race on a bad day! There is time to get a bid in for next year, I suspect that the DAAA would be happy for a new course to be on offer and we could maybe gain a medal or three as a result. The club committee could put it on their agenda and come up with a suitable course and then our representatives on the Dunbartonshire Committee could put it forward at the next meeting of their committee.

Cross Country Looms - Good!

The cross country and winter road running season is not far away and with the short relays starting with the George Cummings Race at Kilbarchan it is maybe time to look ahead. We used to start to get ready for the relays at the Strathallan Gathering at the start of August by running in the three miles team race (other meetings had two mile races but they had to be different) and maybe the mile as well. The guys who ran the half mile and mile used it as a step up towards the winter and the road runners usually saw it as an initial sharpener. It was followed by Bute and then Cowal at the end of the month where it was a two miles team race plus the handicap mile. The fact that Cowal no longer has athletics is a shame - it was a great meeting with huge crowds to run in front of. But the principle remains the same: if you want a good season, winter or summer, it pays to prepare before it is sprung upon you.

There is a good case for the club captain, vice captain, coach or whoever is organising Tuesday and Thursday training to start sharpening the guys and gals for the relays and impressing upon them the importance of the events for the club and for their own development. There are weekly 5K races in Glasgow at the Parkruns where many club runners - Kath Scott, Yvonne Green, Bobby Young, Roisin McShea and others - have already raced this summer. It would be good to see a really large group of the main men and women out in that event in September - other than the week of the Great Scottish Run of course. The week before wouldn't harm your chances in the longer runs, the week after would also be good as it leads straight in to the winter relays. It wouldn't affect your training for the remainder of the week - there should be two effort sessions every week anyway and one of them should be at about 5K pace, if it is in rep form then the total distance could even be 6 or 6.5K.
Were the club to have people like Kath, Ann, Pamela, Marina, Gerry, Gary, Ian, John, Bobby, Ryan etc available for all or even just the championship relays then we would perform better than in most recent years. A genuine reachable target would be to win the County Relays.
So come on folks - at least 6 runs a week including two effort sessions and race every week you can!

BARF

Did you know that the Iranian word for snow is barf? You didn't know that on 5th June 1971 Clydesdale Harriers was second in the 5000 metres team race at Airdrie Highland Game - Phil - 6th, Doug Gemmell - 9th, BMcA - 15th, J Tonner - nowhere. How did I know that? Well I have been sorting through James P Shields's papers. He was not a great runner but a very good club member from the mid 1930's until tha late 1990's when he became ill. He was treasurer and secretary for many, many years, one of Scottish Athletics best officials and administrators and did the club great credit. He worked in Singer's factory and when they opened the factory in India he was sent there - then to Pakistan - then to Iran and when he came back, they demoted him. He went on to work for Barr and Strouds. A super guy in every way.
What prompts the old man saying "They're not so good as they used to be in my young day?" Well, they're not! The club helped organise or organised the Schools International Cross Country Championships, the World Cross Country Championships and the Scottish Veterans Internationals in a spell of four years. Can you see us doing that now? We organised the West Districts and the Dunbartonshire Cross Country Championships all through the 60's 70's and 80's. Now we don't organise any cc event. Why don't we? Lack of admin ability? No way. Peter, Jim, Phil, Yvonne, John and company are all easily capable of organising a championship using officials from outwith the club. Lack of will? Probably. Holding even tha County Relays or Championships would be a start. How can we do it next year? Don't say "We can't because....................." it is always easy to find reasons why not; the REAL question is "How can we organise the County Championships?" After all it is always easier to run on your own home trail. Why should Clydesdale always be the ones to travel? How can we do it at home?

County Relays - Past!

With the County Relays this week end at Posties Park, it is kind of interesting to look back a couple of years. We have probably won the championships - certainly the senior men's race - more than any other club in the county since they were started in the 1940's.

In 2003 - five years ago - the Under 13 Girls won their race with Leanne Meldrum, Aimee Pratt and Nicola Angus being the runners involved. The boys team of Johnathan Farrell, David Brown and Craig Graham were second to West Dunbarton and the Senior Men were also second with Brian Gallagher (14:12), Michael Diver (13:52), Mark Rudzinski (13:04) and John Hanratty (14:25) making up the team. The second team of Derrek Halpin, John McArthur, Bobby Young and Pete Cartwright was seventh with the third team of Robert Allison, Douglas McDonald, Brian Edridge and Peter Rudzinski, thirteenth. The fourth team was sixteenth and included Peter Halpin, Cliff Brown, Gerry Kane and Steve Pitt of Dumbarton who made up the team.

Ten years ago in 1998, the relays were run on the Braidfield Farm course - much heavier than the Garscube trails used five years later. The local papers only printed the Senior Men's results so that is all I have to hand. The team won with James Austin (15:07) handed over a 20 second lead to Allan Adams (14:25) who stetched it to over 90 seconds. Then Billy Jenkins went off the trail adding about 600 yards to the distance and slowed to (17:56) but still gave Ian Murphy a lead. Ian ran a time of 14:22 to extend the lead and give the club victory. The Vicky Parl protest on the grounds that Jenkins had run too far thus rendering CH liable to disqualification cut no ice with the judges and the medals were awarded. The second team of John Hanratty (4th), Jim Shields (6th), Bobby Young (the fastest M50 time of the day) and Brian Edridge was seventh. The third team of Cliff Brown, Robert Rosborough junior, Robert Rosborough senior and Peter Rudzinski was 11th and the fourth team of Lawrie Pearson, John McArthur, Phil Dolan and Charlie McIntosh was 13th.

This week we should see good performances in all age groups and if individuals can be picked out then Peter Bowman, Tony Dolan, David Brown among the boys and Diane Nicolson, Kirsty Alexander, Chloe Wright and Rachel Busby should be among the best of some very good girls competing.