Moorfoots at the Two Breweries Hill Race

Pic - gratuitous image of the sponsor's product

A fantastic turnout of ten Moorfoots took part in this years Two Breweries Hill race (Traquair to Broughton) in good underfoot and general weather conditions, with the sun making a welcome appearance about fifteen minutes before the race start.

James was first Moorfoot home in 3:02 (7th place overall), with Wull a further eighteen minutes or so back (3:20)

Mike managed to lose his way just after Stobo, and then lost his 'mojo' on the slopes of Trahanna, so had an interesting tussle with Colin and Russell before their final placings were resolved at the Broughton Brewery finish line. (Russell 3:43, Mike 3:44, Colin 3:47)

Kenny, in his first 'Breweries race achieved his sub 4 hour goal (3:52 for the record !) while Johnny was unfortunate to finish just a minute or so the wrong side of 4 hours (4:01), in what was also his first 'Breweries run. Steve and Julia were close behind, a few minutes further back (Julia 4:07, Steve 4:08)

Aegir unfortunately had to retire when hit by stomach cramps at Glensax - this 'retirement' involved progressing over Hundleshope, Stob Law and then the descent to Glenrath (official 'drop out' point). His 'lift' home to Peebles, then got to Edston Quarry and remembered that they were actually heading for Broughton, so he had to walk back from here !

Special prize then to Aegir for heroic endeavour....

Full results here; some great initial pictures here...

Report on SHR site..

Well done to all the runners, and also Pete Baxter and his team of marshalls, mountain rescue folks and the ladies back at the village hall for the 'most excellent' nosh afterwards....

Moorfoots at Great North Run

Alan MacDonald and Watt Barrie travelled to Newcastle for this year's Great North Run..trip reports below:

Alan:

Just a quick line to let you know that Watie Barrie and I travelled to Newcastle last Sunday for the Great North Run. It was a very early start (0530 at Selkirk) for the journey to South Shields, followed by queues for everything else that day, including the start. Fortunately the weather was just right.This was Wattie's third half marathon in just over 2 weeks, and he had had a slight problem with an achilles tendon strain earlier in the week, but it seemed to be okay for the race. Wattie ran 1hr 47.23, while I ran 1hr 44.30. Given the crowds and congestion, I think both times were pretty good. I managed 3600th, while Wattie was 4708th, so in a little under 3 minutes there were approximately 1100 finishers!As to whether or not I would do the race again? It is one of those, got the t-shirt jobs. Great experience, great enthusiasm from the crowds and runners, great organisation, but biggest (54000 runners) isn't always best. The Red Arrows at the end put on a spectacular display, which was breathtaking.

Wattie:

Just to let you know how things went on the Great North Run. What an event! Alan and myself met in Selkirk at 5.30am and arrived in South Shields at 7.30 ish. After taking the bus to the start I then stood in the toilet line for at least an hour!!. The race itself was an experience not to be missed though, over 54,000 runners, what a sight. Anyway at about mile 10/11 I started to slow so Alan headed of in front and finished well in front of myself. I finished in time of 1:47:42. With a time of 1:46:58 at Hawick and 1:42:28 at Glasgow thats me finished for a while, otherwise I might find myself using the services of the sweeper bus!!!.

Well done to both...

REVISED DATE Moorfoot Runners Innerleithen Trail Race - Sun 1-November

REVISED DATE - now rescheduled for Sun 1-Nov due to large number of club members unavailable for the original date. Updates to follow....


The final leg of the Moorfoot Trail race series will now take place on Sunday 1-Nov at the Leithen Valley side of Glentress forest, accessed off the B709 (Innerleithen- Heriot road) just beyond the Innerleithen Golf Course.

Those who have taken part in the Cardrona and Glentress races will remember that it is a handicap format, with slowest runners off first, starting at 10:00am (so try to be there for 9:45).

The race is open to Moorfoot members and 'guests'.

Map of route here...

James wrote:

"..This will probably be the last race in the current handicap series so we'll need to anoint a winner. The top 3 places are currently held by Russell who leads Colin by 1 minute 31 seconds with Jock another 30 seconds behind.
Please park at point A (on the verge close the "Private Road" sign and we'll start from point B). I promised a flat course for the 3rd race........well I lied, however the route is no where near as steep as the Glenntress route. Start times to follow next week. .."

The first two races were very enjoyable and very sociable, so try and get along to take part and a catchup....

For those interested (I am..!), James has also promised....

"..If there's enough interest I'll organise an off road duathlon later in the year, initial thoughts were Cardrona Forest - 3 mile run, 6.5 mile bike (similar to the handicap route but without the nasty single track sections) and then finishing off with a 3 mile run.

Two Breweries Roll Call

Pic - Wull in action at last years Breweries race

A few days to go until arguably our toughest local race, the Two Breweries.

Sounds like a good Moorfoot entry again this year with perhaps up to ten runners flying the 'red and blue' colours.

Weather forecast looks good with sunny spells and a light westerly (head) wind - sounds almost perfect.

My supporters are planning to be at Stobo with the 'jelly babies', so smile as you pass and grab a handful....

See you on Saturday....

Russell flying the Moorfoot Flag

Pic - Russell takes 5th and first M50 at the 2009 Merrick Hill Race despite despite the handicap of carrying an imaginary beachball

Russell Anderson has been stringing together some impressive top10 performances recently in various hill races.

A 7th in the Devil's Beeftub Race; a 5th in the Caerketton Doonhiller; a 5th in the Merrick Hill Race (and first M50 !)

Full results here on the SHR website...

Get down to the bookies and place a bet on Russell for a sub 3:30 at the Two Breweries next weekend...

Weekend Roundup 13-Sept

Pic - feeling the heat (20C !!) and the pace at 3 miles...

More Moorfoots out and about this weekend as the weather took a turn for the better and we started experiencing our BBQ Autumn.....

Kenny did the Calderglen Harriers 25th Anniversary 10 miler at east Kilbride, coming in 20th in 67mins in a field of about 100. Great race and perfect running conditions.

Mike and Watty were at Hawick on Sunday, taking part in the BLST organised Hawick Half Marathon. On a hilly course, Mike managed a 3rd place in 1:23, after leading the race for a time. Watty was on leg 2 of his 'three half marathons in 3 weekends', coming home in 1:49 - the hills taking their toll in comparison to the pancake flat Glasgow course of the weeke before.

Coxy took part in the Salomon Turbo-X Trail Race at Mugdock in Milngavie Glasgow, completing the course in 1:31, in a huge field of ~400 runners. A late tactical error prior to the start in going for a warm up away from the start area meant that he started right the back of the field, where overtaking opportunities on tight trails were limited...

At Moffat, Russell was taking part in the BeefTub race, coming home in 7th place and first V50.

Again elsewhere, more Two Breweries reconnaisance was taking place, the second half from Glenrath to Broughton getting checked out.

..and with the Snowdon Marathon five weeks or so away, there were a few Moorfoots out doing 20 milers....

Weekend Roundup 6-Sept

Lots of Moorfoots in action recently...

Russell Anderson completed the Ben Nevis Race in a fantastic 2:09 (very impressive !) for 144th place amongst almost 500 finishers, including some strong International competitors.

Dave 'Road Warrior' Wardman was in Perth for the Perth 10K, recording a a sub-50 time of 47:49 and fourth place in the M60 category.

Alison Caw was at the Great Scottish Run Half Marathon in Glasgow, finishing in a time of 1:43:46, and edging closer to that 100 minute target time.
Wat Barrie was also taking part in Glasgow, recording 1:42 and removing a whopping 8 mins off his PB....

Colin Williams, Rachael Smith and James Britton swapped the 'trainers' for bikes and took part in the PCC Tour of Tweeddale cycling sportif, Colin flying round the 50 miler to be home for lunch, while James and Rachael completed the full 90 miler later in the afternoon. Well done to all...

Elsewhere, there was lots of pre-Breweries hill race training going on, in the low swirling cloud around Birkscairn Hill, Hundleshope Heights and Glenwrath. Early reports confirm that the heather is deep, the mud muddy, the burns high and the cloud wet (oh, and the wind was very windy !)

Missed something ? Send me a quick email and we'll update the blogger.....

Roll Call - Calderglen Harriers 10 mile Road Race (Sat 12th-Sep)

Less than two weeks (Sat 12th September) until the Calderglen Harriers 10 mile road race in East Kilbride, celebrating the 25th anniversary of the club.

Two confirmed Moorfoots (Kenny and Dave Wardman) participating so looks like we will be struggling to field a 'team of ten' for the team prize (ten runners to include a minimum of three ladies).
Update on the prize money up for grabs...
The prize list is as follows:

1st team - £150 (£15 each)

1st male/female - £40
2nd male/female - £30
3rd male/feamle - £20

1st vet male(40) - £20
1st vet female (35) - £20

The closing date for the race is Monday 7th September.

Early race start (10am), low cost entry (£2), free transport (for the next five Moorfoots to confirm their participation - contact Kenny) and a great course around the country roads of Auldhouse....good preparation for the Jedburgh Half Marathon in October...go on, give it a go...

Full details here...

Let me know if you do plan to participate and I can arrange to give you a lift...
(Plan to leave Peebles around 8:00am and should be home for early afternoon)

Regards...

Kenny

Moorfoots at Teviotdale 10K

With injuries and other sporting commitments somewhat reducing the planned attendance at Hawick, only two Moorfoots took part in the Teviotdale 10K on Sunday, in a relatively small field of 72 runners.

Tom Hobbs took sixth place in 37:26 while Andy Cox came home in nineteenth place in 41:26, and still looking to crack to 40 min barrier.

Full resuts here...