Wednesday 28 December 2011

Moorfoot Christmas Handicap 2011 - Junior Results

A great turn out of Moorfoot Juniors on the tough 2+ mile course (perhaps nearer 2.5 miles ?) by the Leithen Water - well done to all !

1st Jacob “the stroller” Adkin 19.20 (h’cap -3.00)
2nd Kobe “first there for a change” Stevens 20.15 (-2.35)
3rd Ruairidh “hack it up” Britton 20.40 (- 2.05)
4th= Mairi “tight laces” Wallace (1st girl) 21.45 (-1.10) and Euan “the red” Hood (-1.30)
6th Niamh “where’s the start” Shaw 22.36 (-1.00)
7th Eilidh “quick change” Davidson 23.11 (-0.10)
8th Craig “hi-vis” Angus 23.59 (-0.40)
9th Mhairi “the hare” Davidson 24.25 (0.00)
10th Rian “the All Black” Dougall 25.23 (-1.10)
11th Kazya “stop and admire the view” Stevens 29.54 (-0.40)

Win for Sarah at Ambleside

Sarah McCormack broke off from her festivities to do the Wansfell race today (above Ambleside) and came first lady - her first Lake District win. "Took a few tumbles but very graceful ones!"

Tuesday 27 December 2011

Moortfoot Mast Run 2011

Twelve runners this year for the 2011 Boxing Day run up Dunslair Heights to the radio mast. The weather was very kind compared to previous years, with a balmy 13C compared to previous years knee deep snow. A tail wind up the climb also helped before the long and fast descent back into Glentress and then back down Jenny's Brae. Great also to see some juniors and new faces joining us this year...perhaps enough intertest to organise some further long pack runs in the new year.

Route details here if you want to 're-live' the run...

Moorfoot Christmas Handicap Results 27th December

There was a good turn out for handicap today with 13 seniors and about the same number of juniors. Here are the results for the Seniors for the 3.1 mile rough, muddy and undulating course:
Name Elapsed Time Handicap Finish Order Scratch Time Scratch Order Pace (Min Miles)
Fiona Williams 10:42:54 1 00:28:24 12 00:09:10
Angela Wallace 10:44:41 2 00:33:41 13 00:10:52
Craig 10:45:07 3 00:23:07 5 00:07:27
Julia Connor 10:45:36 4 00:24:36 7 00:07:56
Russell Anderson 10:45:41 5 00:23:11 6 00:07:29
Darin Dougal 10:45:45 6 00:19:45 1 00:06:22
Kenny Davidson 10:45:56 7 00:22:26 3 00:07:14
Scout Adkin 10:45:57 8 00:22:57 4 00:07:24
Mike Lamont 10:46:40 9 00:28:10 10 00:09:05
Brian Hood 10:46:48 10 00:28:18 11 00:09:08
Eddie Balfour 10:47:36 11 00:25:06 8 00:08:06
Mick Warrington 10:48:05 12 00:28:05 9 00:09:04
Mike McGovern 10:48:09 13 00:22:09 2 00:07:09

The first home was Fiona Williams as she benefited from a very favourable handicap from me (her husband), so the Angela Wallace was awarded the win and took home the winner's chocolates!

Darin Dougal had a blistering run to record by far the fastest time and ducked under 20 minutes, with Mike Mc keeping up his own tradition with a wrong turn. And there were some good tussles over the course between Scout and Kenny; and Brian and Mike Lamont.

I will post the junior times when I get them, but see some of the photos below:


Mince pies, tea and snacks in our garden and conservatory after and a good catch up, but not many takers for my mulled wine, so I will enjoy it in my own time!

Maybe use the course for a double loop some time in the summer or autumn.
cheers
Colin

Saturday 17 December 2011

Christmas Handicap - 27th Dec - Innerleithen

First start at 10am on Tuesday 27th Dec, starting near the Cuddy Bridge here


The proposed route is shown below. Depending on the weather the start will be either from just by the Cuddy Bridge or at the Stones on Pirn Hill. The seniors route is 3miles / 5km and there will be a juniors route of 2 miles too. About half the route is on trails which are muddy and uneven in places - you will get wet feet! The other half is on forest road.



















Please let me know if you are planning to attend so I can try to work out handicaps.

For anyone running in fancy dress 30 seconds will be knocked of the handicap (or a minute depending on my discretion!).


Hope to see you there, but be aware if it is terrible conditions we may have to cancel. A decision will be made on Boxing day.

As Kenny mentioned mince pies and refreshments in our conservatory after but it isn't heated so bring a warm coat!

ho, ho, ho

Colin

email - (replace at with @)
colin.m.williams (at) talk21.com

Burnside, 52 Leithen Road
Innerleithen EH44 6HY

Simonside Cairns Race

I crossed the line yesterday [11-Dec] to do the Simonside Cairns Race. Ice had made the rocky path along the Simonside ridge dangerous so we ran an alternative route round the back of the ridge and back through forest tracks. This made it more of a trail than a hill race. Wooden boardwalks across the boggiest bits of the moor were slimy and treacherous - a guy fell in front of me and split his head open - I jumped over him and didn't lose much time. Shortly after half way the route went into a particularly dark bit of forest - you had to wait for the eyes to adjust to see the next marker - suddenly we ran into a hollow lit with christmas tree lights and the sound of Slade's Merry Christmas . Nobody there, was it a halucination? No the sound of the generator gave it away.

A good race in a nice part of England. Unlimited soup and coffee after plus a bottle for 2nd V50, not bad for the £5 entry.

Results here:
http://northumberlandfellrunners.co.uk/html/raceresults/2011/SimonsideCairns2011.html

Cheers. Russell

Bronzes for Sarah and U17 Team at East District XC Champs

A healthy Moorfoot quota battled through the early morning snow last Saturday on the way north to Aberdeen for the East District Cross Country Championships. And the journey was certainly worthwhile for Sarah McCormack (ok she went up on the train the day before) who took bronze in the senior women’s race over 6.5km.
The runners were met by cold but calm and clear weather in the Granite City and the frost in the ground meant hard but relatively fast ground conditions, a considerable contrast to the gales and muddy conditions encountered in recent weeks in the Borders.
A hamstring niggle has curtailed the intensity of Sarah’s training over the last month or so but a strong final kilometre in only her second race of the winter saw her gradually pull away from the small pack chasing the bronze medal. She finished a clear third in 24.24 mins, 18 seconds off the winner. Scout Adkin had a very solid run to finish 20th overall (26.41) in the combined senior/U20 race and 4th U20 finisher, just outside the medals.
The junior contingent all did very well including the recent recruits from the Selkirk running “school” of PN sports reporter Davie Knox and fellow coach Steve Nisbet. In the U17 Men’s race over the same 6.5km as the women, John McLean ran well for 9th (24.18) and Jacob Adkin (25.10) and Lucas Cheskin (25.55) both showed their well-being after recent enforced breaks due to injury and illness. Their 12th and 14th place finishing positions combined with John to secure team bronze for Moorfoots, just one point off silver. Sophie Collins showed signs of a return to form with a strong finish for 10th (18.03) in the U17 Women’s race over 4.3km. In the U15 Boys race over the same course there were good runs from Jack Stanners (16.06) in 8th, Kobe Stevens (16.48) in 17th and Ruairidh Britton (17.58) in 24th which saw the team finish 4th overall in one of the biggest fields of the day. Earlier in the day, Zaynah Aziz was competing in her first Championship cross-country race and had an excellent run in the U13 Girls race, keeping on well to finish just outside the medals in 4th place.
A good day all round for the Moorfoots then with everyone running to their potential. It’s not often that you don’t have any blips, mishaps or off-days so to have everyone run really well after the early start and long journey to Aberdeen was very pleasing. When you take into account the fact that all the age-group runners bar one (Jack) are eligible again for the same age group next season, there is much to look forward to.
Gregor
PS Ah…….…the lingering perfume in my car from the boys’ Macdonalds, but at least it was from the way back down the road, not on the way up.
PPS Hope Ruth McKean doesn’t read this!

Sunday 4 December 2011

Peebles BXC 2011

Russell Anderson at speed....
Snow on the hills, road chaos in central Scotland, plenty of mud and a cold biting wind - must be the Peebles leg of the Border XC series.

This season's fourth leg at Peebles was successfully completed before the winter snows this year, and the conditions did not affect the enthusiasm of over 250 runners between the junior and senior races - another fantastic turn-out.

Parts of the course had been under water during the week, so mud was guaranteed..and indeed it was particularly slippery in places.

Andrew Crichton (Dunbar) was in a diffent league (25:11), romping home to win by over a minute from Moorfoot's Mike Reid (26:21).

Moorfoot Sarah McCormack ran a stormer, home in 27:58 for 15th place, and first lady by ~45 secs over series leader Susan Ridley (Edinburgh AC).

Other Moorfoot results:

Colin Williams 28:26 for a fine 20th place.
Russell Anderson 31:33 68th place
Debbie Hardie 43:32 174th place

A big thank you to all the helpers - a cold day for marshalling, course reccing/sweeping and time keeping. A great team effort and everything cleared and packed away by 1:15pm - thank you again..

Results here....

Some additional photos here:

Thursday 1 December 2011

Product Testers Required

Local runner Chris Blackwood has been in touch in his official work capacity, asking if there would be any Moorfoot Runners interested in being product testers for clothing fabric company 'Gore'.

Here's what is required:

Willing to come in for 2 face to face meetings January and April [at Livingstone]
Willing to sign NDA and return garment at end of trial
Access to internet and willing to input data and answer online survey every 2 weeks
Activity for minimum 8 hrs per week
Activity includes – running (road or fell), biking, trail hiking
Activities excluded: rock climbing, hunting, off-trail hiking
Backpack is OK, but must be less than 20 lbs.

Anyone interested should contact Karen McClure [details below]

Karen McClure
NPD Associate
WL Gore & Associates

Simpson Parkway
Kirkton Campus
Livingston
EH54 7BH

Tel: 01506 678 254
e-mail address:kmcclure@wlgore.com