Ultras, championships and highland games!

The club was represented in a variety of events over the weekend. Peter Halpin took part in the 40 miles ClydeStride race which started at Partick Railway Station and followed the Clyde Cycle path out to the Falls of Lanark. His Achilles started to bug him after just over two miles and then he had trouble with his calf after ten and in the end just trailed in (his words) in eight hours. At the Scottish Championships at a wind blown Pitreavie (the head wind was up to 5.5 metres at times) the distance runners found turning into the finiahing straigh like battering into a brick wall. The sprinters had a bad time so Johnathan Farrell maybe had something to thank his injured knee for! Peter Bowman, who seems to have just got taller by quite a bit these days, was only two seconds behind the winner of his heat of the 800 metres when he finished in 2:01. The times are an indication of just what the weather was like for the runners. Then at Thornton Highland Games Tony Dolan was third in the 800 metres and also in the 1600 metres. Two good weekends on the circuit - once he sees the pay packets for the throwers, he'll probably start to bulk up a bit! The Games are good fun, you learn your trade in many ways there and the handicaps make for good hard races for everyone in the field. I am really surprised that more athletes don't make use of them even as preparation for other races whether track championships or, at the end of the season, as preps for the short relays in October. We used to do the 3000 metres team races + the 1600 metres handicaps in August and September to speed us up for the McAndrews and the County Relays as well. It also gets you around the country ................ but this is turning into a travelogue so I'll stop there - well done to all who competed at the weekend!

Assorted Results, Comments and Gossip

One of the best performances of the summer by a club member had to be Prasad Prasad's Sunday run at Keswick last week. It was the weekend of the Commonwealth Hill Running Championships and he had been selected for the uphill only race on the Friday. In the past it had been possible for athletes to run in both races (ie uphill only and up and downhill) and this year some of the women were lucky enough to get both. Prasad ran in his race and finished a disappointing 20th to be only fourth Scot to finish. Like all runners however he likes to make a point to selectors (remember an unselected Phil Dolan in the combined open and international at Bellahouston Park in the 70's? He beat all the Scots plus Brendan Foster!) and turned out in the Open up and down on Sunday. This was over the same course as the international had been the day before. With legs a bit dead from the previoous race he was in the first three on the way up losing ground on the flat and picking up on the climbs. On the last climb he felt that he was out of it but came back strongly and was within 25 seconds of the leader on the descent, caught the leader with half a mile to go and sat in for a 10 second breather before kicking past and finishing fast round the park at the finish. His time was faster than any of the Scottish times from the official international race! Had he been in the team, they might have got bronze instead of nothing at all.

Johnathan Farrell had a goodish summer going round the Games with the Luss meeting being the highspot in terms of number of events, points won and of course, dosh! The official placings are now out and he finds himself in sixth place in the Open up to 200 metres section with 23 points. He can be pleased with that - the only club member taking part in many meetings during the season he did the club proud and represented us with distinction. Whatever happened to the others that were in the same generation - guys like Craig Graham, Anton Russell and David Brown?

It was also good to see Frank McGowan turning out in the race at Knightswood and then again in the George Cummings race at Kilbarchan at the weekend. It is a pity that he had to return to Spain on Monday but he has said that he will try to get back again for the West Districts. If we managed to get Fearless Frank and Peerless Prasad out together it would give us an excellent start to a good team performance. The team was eleventh in the Kilbarchan race and all members contributed to the success of the team.

Johnathan Goes To Crieff

Having finished his Championship season, Johnathan Farrell travelled to Crieff on Sunday for the Highland Games. On a fine day he won the 90 metres handicap off a mark of 6.25 metres but was unfortunately out of the medals in the 200. The Chieftain on the day was Allan Wells, Olympic 100 metres champion in Moscow in 1980. He got to meet his hero who had brought his full set of Olympic and Commonwealth medals with him but, as he said to Johnathan, no one wants to see the silver ones!
Johnathan is off to Gateshead this weekend for the Tartan Games and then the following Sunday it is the last Track League match of the season at Grangemouth.

Weekend Races

This weekend there are several events on where you can see club members participating. The Under 17 and Under 15 Scottish Championships are on at Grangemouth on Sunday and no doubt many of Phil's finest will be taking part as well as some of the young sprint and field events competitors. Who would I expect to see in action? Well Peter Bowman and Tony Dolan for a start, possibly Claire Reid, Cameron MacLeod, Anton Russell and Andrew Cusick as well. Also on Sunday Johnathan Farrell is competing at Crieff Highland Games and Prasad is off to the North of England for the Commonwealth Trials. Best of luck to them all!
Finally Donald tells me that Graeme Reid is running in the last Track League match at Grangemouth on 30th August.

More Strathallan and a Book

I omitted from the comments on the Strathallan Meeting last week the fact that Anton Russell took part in the Long and Triple Jump competitions: his placings are still not known but it is good to see him in only his second competition of the year. Lewis Wood, the star Under 15 throws expert, took part in the wrestling championships and took third place: it would be a brave boy who took him on, I can tell you!
The 'Rangers 1972:the gallant pioneers' is now available and 'flying off the shelves'. The club has almost four pages in the final chapter as well as several mentions in the course of the book.
I have another book and will cover it separately tomorrow in my next blog.

Last Weekend - Next Weekend

The popular Strathallan Gathering was held on Sunday in Bridge of Allan and we had two athletes in action. Tony Dolan took part in the 400 metres and 800 metres races where he was sixth. For future reference - there are handicap races for Juniors (ie U16) at 90 metres, 200, 400 and 800 plus long jump and triple jump. Money prizes for them all plus the Bastable Trophy for the best Youth at the meeting: the club has won it three times with Douglas McDonald in the 70's and David McAusland and Mark Govan in the 90's. In the Senior events, Johnathan Farrell was on the track no less than five times for two races. Heat, Cross Ties and Final of the 90 metres saw him finish second in 10 seconds. Running from a 6 metre mark he was beaten by the man off 7 metres on the slightly uphill straight. In the 200 metres he was fourth in the final after qualifying easily from his Heat.
This coming weekend is the big one for young athletes. National Championships for the Under 20 and Under 23 age groups is on on Saturday with the Junior 3 x 800 and 4 x 400 relays both being ncorporated into the meeting. The following weekend the Under 17 and Under 15 Championships are taking place along with the Under 13 Superteams competition.

It keeps getting better ..............

If Prasad had a good weekend, Johnathan Farrell was at least as good and more versatile. Johnathan went to Luss on Sunday and had a very very good day indeed. He started by winning the 90 metres off scratch, he was third in the 200 metres off scratch, fourth in the 400 metres off scratch, second in both local and open Long Jump events with 5.24. second in the open triple jump with 10.78 metres, third in the open High Jump and second in the local High Jump and won a lot of money in the process. He was also presented with the Jay Scott Trophy for the athlete who had accumulated most points in track and field events. Jay Scott was a top class Highland Games athlete who married a star of the Scottish theatre and who with his brother founded the Hotel on Inchmurrin Island in Loch Lomond. As a point of interest, in the days when the club did things in style, we once took Jock Semple out to dinner at the Inchmurrin Hotel. Well done indeed, Johnathan.

Two days, four wins, two records

It was a good weekend for Prasad on the hills. First of all he ran in and won the Aonach Mhor uphill only race and set a new record by no less than one minute. Considering how often this has been run and the quality of the guys who have taken part, it was a very good run indeed. There was a wee heart stopping moment for the timekeepers when the gondola taking them up the hill stopped for a bit...............but it started in time for them to get to the finish. Then on Saturday it was a bit of a 'homer' when he went to the Lochearnhead Highland Games. He won the 880 yards then the one mile (Prize money of 2 x £10) before winning the hill race 20 seconds inside the record. Another £65. But forget the dosh, the two records mean that he now has the Callander Crags Winter Record as well as the summer record for the same race; the Ben Sheann record, the Blairgowrie Hill Race record, the Aonach Mor summer record and the Lochearnhead record. He has won the Ben Ledi race but they don't keep records for that one! Training is clearly going well but when asked if he kept a record of training he said that the only record he keeps is of ascents of Ben Ledi in training - he's going for 100 in the year. Anyone game for 100 ascents of Duncolm in a year? Has anyone done that (Bobby or Jim Shields? Ian Donald? Ian Murphy?)

Highland Games

Why don't we see more club runners at the Highland Games and Gatherings around the country these days? This weekend there is the two day Callander Games, the one day meets at Airth, Lochearnhead and Luss and if you want to go further there is a two day Gathering in Edinburgh and another at Halkirk. The prize money is good but the main reasons are to do with enjoyment. You get around the country - last week was Balloch, next week it is Strathallan and there re others all round the country. You can try different events [most have either a road race (like Strathallan) or a short hill race (like Alva and Lochearnhead)] as well as a series of handicapped track races over 800, 1500 and usually 1600 as well. You also need to vary your training and racing - this is an ideal way to do it. All ages are able to compete, men and women are in the same races and usually there is a fair or showground as well. It is a great day out and you can round it off with a meal away from the usual places. Dad can run on the roads, the youngsters can compete in their own events and everyone can have a good time. I remember Cyril and family at a meeting where Cyril won the Men's race, wife Noreen won the women's race, daughter Moira won the girls event and Pat, his other daughter who had asthma, won the beauty contest! Then there are all the stories attached to the meetings - John Maclachlan at Strathallan lying flat out after the two miles team race with his head protruding over the white line on to the track just as the cyclists were starting their race: almost beheaded by bicycle wheel! Maureen McChesney or one of her team mates hitting the relay baton from the corner flag which was in place for another event and dropping it to see the team disqualified. Emmet Farrell of Maryhill returning from the road race at Babcock's Sports only to see the Orange Walk passing in front of the entrance to Moorcroft Park: he waited for a gap and nicked through but was severely beaten about the head and body for breaking the line. A total disgrace.
So come on, do a couple of Games to get your handicap up then win some money. And give you your family a good day out into the bargain.

Some results

From what I hear the fields for most events over the festive season were poor. Apparently there were a couple of bugs going the rounds which affected Christmas for some of the younger members, However we had some athletes in action. Nearest to home was Rachel Busby in the Kelvin Hall Open Graded Meeting on the 28th where she clocked 2:54.47 for the 800 metres and was second in her Heat. A good start for the New Year. In Edinburgh on the same day, Johnathan Farrell won through his Heat of the 90 metres but unfortunately failed to get from the semi finals to the final. In professional racing it is only six runners per final and with the winners of the three semis plus the three fastest losers he just failed to make it. He also failed to get through in the 120 metres race, However he is still training harder than he has ever done and the target is a good season in summer. He is wise enough to realise that no one races at their best for the whole twelve months of the year. I hear that Prasad won the Tinto Duathlon against a small field of runners but that has yet to be confirmed.

Races

I'll have some comments about racing through to the National Championships in Falkirk on 21st February but several members will be in action over the holiday period. Prasad is taking part in the Tinto Duathlon on Saturday, 27th December but the snag is that it's at 11:00 am. Still, it's a good day out with plenty of exercise guaranteed while watching the race on Tinto Hill and its beautiful surroundings. Then Johnathan Farrell is competing in the New Year's Sprint at Musselburgh Racecourse on Sunday 28th and, with any luck, on Monday, 29th. The event starts at 11:00 am on the Saturday and has races at every distance from 90 metres to 3200 metres. The races are all handicap races and this is Johnathan's third year in the event. Off 7.5 metres, the 'Edinburgh Evening News' rated him as the main contender a couple of weeks ago but two things say that we should be careful. First is the handicapping: you never know what will be the result of races where starts range from 6 metres to 25 metres over 90 metres! Second is the way of organising the cross ties. The runners are organised in races roughly corresponding with their ability and often the top eight runners are in the same heat. Two years ago he was beaten in his heat by less than a metre and had the second fastest time of the day but failed to make the next round because only the winners go through.

Anyway both events are held in pleasant surroundings, you can have a bit of exercise at each, you can support a club runner and generally have a good day out.

If that's not enough exercise for you, well they say that a simple kiss uses up three calories. 67 of them mean that you can eat a doughnut and not put on weight. So if you do the kissing and don't eat the doughnut, you've lost 200 or so calories! have a good Christmas and New Year and do what Spencer Davies says - "Keep on Running."

Oban Highland Games

We only had one representative at the Oban Highland Games. Johnathan Farrell had a busy afternoon competing in four events. In the scratch 100 metres he was first in the Heat and fourth in the Final The standard was high with Allan Stuart, Alistair Strange and William Watson all running in all the races. In the scratch 150 metres, he was fourth in the Final - there were no Heats - and he improved on this to be third in the 400 metres. In the 100 metres handicap where he was running from a mark of 3.5 metres he won his Heat and was again fourth in the Final. The weather was good for the duration of the meetng but it was a hard day's work for the Under 20 runner who is starting at Heriot Watt University in two weeks time.

Strathallan Meeting

Strathallan is one of the best highland gatherings in the country and this year it was a good one with fine warm weather. Ian Robertson was handicapped out of it in the men's 800 metres and there was a similar story in the 1600 metres where he performed a bit better and finished much higher up the field. Both runs should see a better deal from the handicapper next time round. Johnathan Farrell ran well in the Open 90 metres but with a top prize of £600 a lot of the top guns were out. He qualified for the cross ties but finished third with only two to go through to the Final. He then ran in the Invitation 90 metres where he was second and took part in the Long Jump and 200 metres races. Under 17 athlete Anton Russell earned some folding money in the Long Jump and the Triple Jump while younger brother Kris also competed in both jumps. Kris had won the Under 13 Long Jump at Linwood on Wednesday with a superb 4.90 metres.

Luss Highland Games and comments on handicapping

Johnathan ran at the Luss Games on Sunday and competed in seven events. In the open 90 metres he ran from handicap of 3 metres and finished fourth in the Final, in the Invitation 90 metres he was off 4 metres and finished third, in the 200 metres he was off 7 metres and finished fifth, in the 400 he was fifth off 12 metres and then in the field events he was third in both the Long Jump and High Jump with a fourth in the Triple Jump to finish his day's work. Seven on Sunday and three on Saturday - 10 events in two days is not bad for one weekend - even Bobby Young hasn't done that many!

Handicapping has always been a difficult one for the Games officials with so many athletes in so many age categories with some competing maybe twice a season and others over a hundred times. It does seem strange that Johnathan had a mark of 23 metres for the 200 at Airth (Scotland's oldest Games) but only 7 metres at Luss. At Airth he was conceding starts of up to 26 metres in 90. The longer distance races see some funny things such as the back marker starting apparently ahead of the limit man. This because the track at some venues is less than 400 metres and the front man is off more than that. eg the track at Airth was 320 metres round, the back marker in the 3200 was off 20 metres and the limit man had a start of 540 metres! In the 800 the back marker was off 50 metres with the limit man having a distance of 185 metres. It all adds to the fun of the day with pipe bands, highland dancers, wrestlers and heavy athletes all taking part.

Airth

Johnathan Farrell had a slightly less profitable day than usual at Airth Highland Games held just outside Falkirk. The holder of the trophy for the 90 metres, he won his Heat very comfortably before being eliminated in the cross tie (the semi final for those not in the know about professional games!) in a blanket finish with only two to go to the Final. Then in the 200 metres, he got through the Heat with ease before finishing fourth in the Final. Both were pay days but not what he has been getting recently. One up to the handicapper - in the 90 metres he was conceding starts up to 30 metres! Next week, Strathallan.

In the old days - and for some clubs it is still the case - the road runners like Phil and myself used to start preparing for the short relays in October (the McAndrew, the County, District and Nationals) by doing the 3000 metres races at Highland Games starting with the Strathallan Meeting (shorter and faster) and maybe doing the 1500 handicap later at the same meeting.

Games coming up include Strathallan next Sunday and Perth the following weekend.