Borders Cross Country Winter Series - Dates for 2017 – 2018 Season :

The dates for this winter's Borders Cross Country Series have now been set:

5 November : Lauderdale Limpers (number collection)
26 November : Dunbar Running Club
10 December: Tweed Striders @ Berwick
14 January : Norham Running Club @ Paxton
4 February : Moorfoot Runners @ Peebles
18 February : Gala Harriers
4 March : Chirnside Chasers (presentation leg)

Online entry for the Borders XC Series is likely to go live on entrycentral.com around 1st October. If you wish to enter this very popular event I recommend you get ready to enter ASAP once it goes live as it fills in a day or so.
Price: £15 for all 7 races or as many as you want to do (absolute bargain)

To get a series placing the runner must have completed FOUR rounds.  If more than four rounds are completed, then the best four will count.  Final placings are found by adding your four best finishing positions within your category.

The Borders XC website with info from previous years is found here: http://bordersxc.blogspot.co.uk/ and will be updated in due course

Dunbar XC at Whitesands

Cademuir Orienteering Event - Sun 17th Sept

I have received an email from the Edinburgh Southern Orienteering Club promoting an event at Cademuir on Sunday 17th (the day after the Junior Hill International) -

Just wondering if any of your members would like to try orienteering?
There is an event at Peebles (Cademuir) on 17th Sept with courses for all ages and with varying navigational difficulty – see the link below
It’s better to enter online in advance if possible.
https://www.esoc.org.uk/events/cademuir-sep-17-2017

Cademuir - South of Scotland Orienteering League (SoSOL)

Directions
Parking and Assembly will be at Peebles High School, Springwood Road, Peebles EH45 9HB.  
There will be a £1.00 parking fee per car.

Registration & Start Times

REGISTRATION: 10.30 - 12noon
START TIMES: 11.00 - 13.00
COURSE CLOSURE: 15.00

Note that there is likely to be a walk to the start of 1k and the finish is likely to be fairly close to the start.

Course Information

Usual SoSOL courses - white, yellow, orange, light green, short green, green, blue and brown.  
Explanation of colour courses, Show

Entry Details

Advance entry via Fabian4 closes on Sunday 10th September 2017.   Entry on the day (EOD) will be subject to map availability and a surcharge of £2.00 Seniors/£1.00 Juniors added to the entry fees shown below.
Seniors £10.00; Juniors £5.00 - White, Yellow, Orange courses (only)  Seniors £4.00

Glencoe Ultra

As with many last minute decisions, planning tends to go awry or something small, but important, gets overlooked. In my case, a simple midge head net (and possibly some lack of preparation - logistically and physically) led to a rather painful first attempt at an 'ultra'

Thursday night, half an hour before cut off, I decided to take part in the Glencoe Ultra. Seemed easy enough....44.42 miles/71 km with 7372 feet/2247 m of climb.

I drove up on the Friday night - hoping for a camping space. Arriving around 8.00, I was told that all pitches (tiny camping area) were taken and all cabins were booked out. Rough camping was offered (with use of facilities) so rough camping it was...and it was...

Amid the clouds of chomping midges, I manage to pitch my tent. Minus a midge net, I was being eaten by the hordes - so cooking outdoors was NOT on the cards. I then headed in to the cafe for some serious carb loading. 'We only have cakes', I was informed - bummer! Not going well so far!

I have some cake. I head for my tent. I am feasted on again (thousands dine on me - and I get rice-krispie cake!)

It soon becomes apparent that the burn to my left is too loud for me to sleep. I up my tent - ingesting midge vapour - and head for the back seat of the car. I have several hundred guests.

Start - Checkpoint 1 (approx 5 miles) 

Having had a good 3 hours sleep, it's time to register (6.30 am onwards)  and have breakfast. This is minimal - in calorific terms, equivalent to a muffin and a coffee. This could be a long day! I pour a litre of coconut water into my running bladder and am soon heading, with 27 other, along the West Highland Way for the first checkpoint ( approx 5 miles) at Altnafeadh. The food at the checkpoints is disappointing. Skinny biscuits, undernourished Jelly Babies  (not the proper dusty Bassett ones) - not a banana, cake or giant pretzel in sight.

Top of Coire Na Tulaich - All pain from here on!

Checkpoint 1 - Checkpoint 2 (approx 7 miles) 

The route follows the path , on the bottom right of pic below , that leads up through Coire Na Tulaich, skirting Stob Na Doire and then a takes a steep drop down through Coire Altruim to the valley floor.

Coire (curved hollow) Na Tulaich to the right of centre
Drop into the valley is off the far hill - right of centre

The route marking at the turn is non-existent and a group of 6 runners manage to figure which route should be taken.

The ascent to around 900 m is hard work (and I feel that I have used up my carb reserve already and my stomach takes on a queasy tone) The descent is tricky and by the valley floor, I have adopted a conservative jog.

There is some uphill to be covered but a fantastic - though very treacherous - run down through Lairig Gartain to Dalness. I run some of the way with Jeff and Drew and we manage to get to checkpoint 2 without face-planting the hillside.

Dropping down to Dalness with Loch Etive in the distance.

Checkpoint 2 - Checkpoint 3. (approx 4 miles)

The other lads head on, as I change my shoes. There are around 4 miles of road to cover before the CP 3. I run the downs and flats and walk the uphills. I meet Martyn from Holland who is having similar stomach issues - we speculate that it is the murky, peaty water on offer at the checkpoints - all straight off the hill from the Glencoe Ski Centre. We run to CP 3 and Martyn decides to sit and think of his next move.

Checkpoint 3 - Checkpoint 4 (15 miles)

This is a 15 mile run (though many found it impossible) along the eastern shore of Loch Etive.The initial 8 miles were utterly dreadful (polite description) - possibly the worst terrain I have ever encountered! Almost nothing runnable - a sodden. boggy, peaty. puddle-strewn track that frequently (over 40 times) involved a water crossing. When you weren't worrying about trench-foot, you were hacking your way through head-height bracken forests with NO clues as to where to enter or exit. In the 8 miles I came across a single red and white tape marker and one sign at the very end of the stretch.
This was an incredibly difficult section both physically and mentally. 

Once the hellish mush was past, the road from Armaddy through Glen Kinglass was firmer - but checkpoint 4 was still a long way away. For 14 miles, I saw no one. I didn't realise at that point that there were 10 of the 27 runners behind me - with 16 in front. Lesley from Carnegie Harriers came up behind me and her two-word comment on the race lifted my spirits. I picked up my pace - though not enough to stay with her. I am hungry and feel like I am fading. I contemplate giving up at CP 4 but I realise that I would have to wait on all runners coming through (no idea how many at this point) before I could get a lift back to the ski centre. 

Checkpoint 4 - Checkpoint 5 (approx 7 miles)

I chat to the marshal, grab some biscuits and lordy...a banana - a lifesaver - some proper carbs.

I am off again and my feet are really complaining as is my stomach. I eat the banana in small sections as I walk. It's only 14 miles I tell myself - It's like walking 'Feel the Burns' - I imagine it in my head and plod on counting off what I think are mile markers. Strange how exhaustion clouds your judgment of distance.

It's now a brutal slog past Loch Dochard and I am dreaming of a cold drink - the stuff in my run bladder is unpalatable - I contemplate dropping into one of the streams - hoping I could absorb the fluid. This section is where my spirits were lowest. A mile before CP 5 (Forest Lodge) , I was deluded enough to think I could go on. Imagine my relief, when the marshal at CP 5 said I had missed the cut off. 38 miles and 12 hours I hope not to repeat!

Jeff and Drew made it back - with their own challenges en route. Martyn retired at CP 3.

Minor consolation that I was the first of the two 'non-finishers' who made it to CP 5. Eight other runners retired before CP5.

I pick up my expensive participant's T-Shirt and am off on the 3-hour drive home.

Good news...Cheese and wine for supper!

(I need it...Bathroom scales say I weigh in 4-5 lbs lighter than when I left - not a dieting method I would recommend!)

Matt Williamson made it round in a superb 8h 50mins - he was 1h 45mins in front of the second runner!

8 of the 17 finishers took over 12 hours to complete...brutal stuff!

Results here

Hawick 10km report

On Sunday Colin Williams and Darin Dougal took part in the Hawick 10km organised by Teviotdale Harriers. The 10km course is two laps of the 5km - it's advertised as a course with PB potential and is along flat paths either side of the river Teviot, except one cheeky short sharp climb which I'm sure gets steeper on the second time. The race attracted a decent field and was won in the super fast time of 31:40 by Ian Harding of Morpeth Harriers. Colin was first Moorfoot in 37:23, in 9th place (3rd MV40) with Darin 13th close behind in 38:08 (1st MV45). Full results here: http://teviotdaleharriers.org.uk/?p=4194. Other locals also racing were Roger Crippin from Peebles, who recorded a very credible time of 42:20 and Brenda Dougal of Innerleithen running well to finish in 56:49.

There was also a 2 mile fun run with some budding future Moorfoots in action but most notable was the 8 year Kate McKean who won the prize for 1st girl and 4th overall and beat many much older.

A very well organised and friendly event with selection of cakes and bakes available afterwards that I whole heartedly recommend - many thanks to Teviotdale Harriers for such a good event. It is also next the new £3.5m renovated playpark and coincided with the show of massed silver and brass bands from all over the Borders so what else could you ask for!

Lucy at the Glencoe trail half marathon

Lucy Colquhoun, along with her dog Otto, took part in the Glencoe Trail 'Half Marathon' on Saturday part of the inaugural Glencoe Trail Running Challenge that included a 10km, half, marathon and ultra. It is a testing course  - 24.4 KM / 15.16 Miles - Elevation Gained 620 Metres / 2034 Feet. The website says

"This is a great half marathon route on the West Highland Way and sections of the Old Military Road."

Lucy was 1st F40 - 9th overall (186 starters) in a time of 2:35:06. Many congratulations on a fabulous result. Full results: 

Lucy comments:
"Otto's first ever race today at the Glencoe half marathon and he came first! (I only came second). Muddy, tough course but good fun. Sausages and beer are being enjoyed as our respective rewards."

The event was won by Kris Jones in 1hr 49mins with second place was almost half an hour behind! I recognise the name as he usually runs on the road and the track, and is the Scottish 10,000m and 5km champion & 2nd behind Callum Hawkins at National Cross Country!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brave 4th for Charlotte at U17 Champs

Charlotte Clare returned to form with a two-second personal best in the 800m at the U17 Scottish Champs today at Grangemouth finishing just outside the medals in 4^th in a time of 2.17.44. Three rounds of 800m in two days was a first for all the young athletes, but Charlotte belied the fact that she is a young first-year U17 and qualified like a veteran from her heat and semi-final on the Saturday to give herself every opportunity of a good run in the final. Seventh ranked going into the event she had her usual sensible steady start in Sunday’s final, not getting dragged into the enthusiastic fast early pace. She went through the bell in last place and ten metres off the leaders but was bang on schedule for her own PB pace. Into the back straight she had moved through to fourth and set her sights on the front three. But as Charlotte pushed the pace so had the leaders and off the final bend the gap to the medal positions was still a good five metres. However the leaders were starting to suffer from their early pace and Charlotte’s determined strong finish saw her finishing fastest of all and closing the gap to the medals all the way to the line. But the third placed runner managed to muster a final effort to hold on, denying Charlotte a medal but being rewarded with her two-second PB.

Watch it here http://www.runjumpthrow.com/fixtures/12022-scottishathletics-national-senior--u17-championships

Great effort CC the train!

Abbotsford House Trail Race summary from Sunday

Gala Harriers organised a new trail race at Abbotsford House near Melrose on Sunday. 5 miles for seniors and 2 miles for juniors. There was a strong showing by lots of juniors (results here http://galaharriers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Gala-Harriers-Abbotsford-House-Junior-Trail-Race-Results-20th-August-17.pdf) and seniors with Ruth McKean 1st F40, a few seconds off 1st Female, with Darin Dougal 2nd M40, 5th overall and close behind Mike McGovern 3rd M40, 6th overall - senior results http://galaharriers.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Abbotsford-Senior-Trail-Race-full-results-2017.pdf
Photos from Abbotsford House Trail Races here courtesy of Neil Renton:
https://www.facebook.com/neil.renton.18/media_set?set=a.1648198511858357.1073741927.100000046728872&type=3&pnref=story