Moorfoots at Berwick XC

Pic1 - MikeP escapes the advancing tide.. Pic2 - MikeM and Tom battle for home..
Pic3 - strung out already in the first mile...
Seven Moorfoots made the long trip to Berwick for round 4 of the 2009/2010 BXC Series. The trip through the Borders was slightly more eventful than normal, with icy roads, police 'winter safety checks' and a road closure/diversion for a tree felling - so the arrival at Spittal Beach was slightly later than planned.

The sun was out, the surf was up, the tide was in (wet feet !) and a cold (freezing !) northerly wind meant the return leg up the beach was going to be into the headwind.

First home was Mike McG (28:25 6th 2nd MV40) who had a tough battle with Tom (28:54 9th 3rd MV40) most the way round, positions changing regularly over the course before Mike pulled clear right at the end. Russell (31:14 26th 2nd MV50) ran another strong race for third Moorfoot counter, and Kenny (32:36 37th) struggled home a minute or so further back.

Wattie (34:41 56th) and Mike Pearson (57:44 1st MV65 - well done !!!) made their first competative Moorfoot appearances of the year, and the ladies were represented by Alison (38:18 3rd FV40) .

Full results here..
More pictures from Ian Nimmo (thanks again Ian) here...

With four of the six races in the series, the Moorfoot Team is lying in 2nd behind Costorphine, and with Carnethy snapping at our heels in 3rd.

Next race is at Gala (7-Feb) before the series finale at Peebles on 28-Feb (good turn out Moorfoots required to assist with marshalling and other race day duties - please put the date in your diary - more details to follow...)

Lasswade 10 mile Road Race

The Lasswade 10 annual 10 Mile Road Race will take place at 12.00 noon on Sunday, 7thMarch 2010. The race is held over a testing course and attracts all standards of runner and is also an ideal training run for those contemplating spring/early summer marathons, especially London and Edinburgh.

More details here..

There is an entry limit of 450 and from memory last year, this limit was reached - enter on line soon....

Ben Nevis Race

2010 Ben Nevis race entry seems to be open. Download the entry form from http://www.bennevisrace.co.uk/

Cheers...

Russell

Moorfoots at Devils Burdens

Pic1 - Julia and Rachael on Leg 3

Pic2 - Moorfoot supporters on Leg4

Pic3 - wait for me ! Colin and Mike Reid on Leg3

The Moorfoots fielded three teams at this years Devil's Burdens Hill Race Relays, hosted by Fife AC.

Conditions were good as the race started, with only small patches of snow nearer the tops and a cloud base high enough not to affect navigation.

The 'A' Team recorded a very creditable 7th* place (2:41) in a field of 120 teams, and a one point were up a high as 4th after Leg2.

The 'B' Team finished in 38th place (3:11) and the 'C' team were 92nd (3:48)

Well done to all the runners, drivers and logisticians - feedback appears to be that everyone enjoyed the day, and although the nature of relay races includes a bit of 'hanging about', it was a good chance to socialise (there were several 'I know your name but I've never met you' moments...) and catch up....

Full results here...

Pictures here....

Appears to be enough interest for some future relay races, so let everyone know if there are any in particular we can field future Moorfoot teams at.....

* - technically 6th place now, after disqualification of Edinburgh Uni for fielding only a single runner on Leg 3

Moorfoot Beltane 10K 2010 - Meeting Fri 29-Jan

At the recent AGM, we had some discussion about changing the Moorfoot Beltane 10K this year from a road race to a trail race.

A meeting is scheduled for Friday 29-Jan in the County Hotel Peebles at 7:30pm, to review the pros and cons and make a decision, such that we can start planning and communication.

All members are invited - looking forward to hearing your views and inputs over a few drinks....

Regards...

Moorfoot Committee

Training - Thrs 28-Jan - another 'Spin' Class

Following the success of the trial spin class last Thursday, I have arranged another session with the Gytes (Peebles) for Thrs 28-January, again at 6:00am.
Cost of class is £3-70, and it lasts for ~45 mins (it was nearer an hour last week !)

As before, please arrive about 5:45 pm, to allow time to get your bike set up etc.

Those who were there last time should now know that a towel and water are essential it it is a wee hot room when there are thirteen bodies spinning at full power.

There are 13 spaces - Moorfoots have six places booked; please let me know ASAP if you are planning to attend before this Thursday (21-Jan) and we can get more places as required. After this date, the places will be offered to the public on a first come first served basis- these classes are often fully booked.

White Peaks Marathon - any takers ?

I have just received confirmation of my entry to the White Peak Marathon on 22/05/2010 in the Peak District. I was wondering if anyone else would like to do the race. It is organised by MatlockAC and has an entry of approximately 250, with the race run on mostly old railway lines, so is relatively level. I was thinking of camping overnight on the Friday and Saturday nights and I would be willing to share transportation. For more information on the marathon visit www.matlockac.org.uk/wpmara.htm

Regards...

Alan MacDonald

Glentress Short Duathlon - postponed until 14-March

See message below from Peter Baxter at PCC:

Dear Folks

We recce the Buzzards yesterday and the access routes today. The ice and snow on roads and paths mean the risk of accident or injury is too great, especially for a fun race.

The Long race will be held on the 28th February as planned, with the short two weeks later on the 14th of March.


Hope to see you all then.

Best wishes

Peter Baxter

Sunday Training

After some good discussion at the AGM, and a 'trial' on last Sundays run at Cardrona, Sunday runs will now be split into two packs - a 'first' pack doing a fuller/faster route and a 'second' pack doing a slightly shorter/slower paced run.
The goal is to encourage more members back to Sunday social runs and cater for a wider range of runners...

We will allocate a 'second pack' leader each week, who will organise the route and manage the pace such that everyone stays together. The second pack runs will be of approximately one hour in duration.

For this Sunday (17-Jan), Colin Williams will be 'second pack' leader; we will rotate the 'second pack' lead duties each week and ensure that the allocated leaders are notified if advance.

Further details of Sunday runs will be published on the blogger.....

Training - Thrs 14-Jan (Gytes, Peebles - Spin Class)

With the icy/slushy conditions underfoot, we have been neglecting our speed work of late.

So for a bit of variety and to get the high heart rate interval sessions started again, we have arranged a 'Spin' class as the Gytes leisure centre.

Session lasts 45 mins, starting at 6:00pm - would advise getting there ~5:45pm to allow time to get organised. Cost is £3-70.
The class will be made available to the public also, so feel welcome to invite any pals who might be interested.

If this goes successfully and there is enough interest (need minimum of six people for the Gytes to lay on a class), we can plan some further/similar activities in the future....

What is a 'Spin' Class..?

The session is on fixed exercise bikes, led by an instructor. Typically after a warmup, you will be doing high intensity reps (eg. simulating sprinting on a bike at a high cadence, or simulating climbing a hill where there is a high resistance and you need to get 'out the saddle') intended to ramp your heart rate and get a high aerobic workout. The session, as per all interval training, can be as hard or as easy as you want to make it...

What do I need to wear..?

Nothing special - standard running kit is fine, or whatever you would normally wear in the gym. Bring a towel though as you will get sweaty , and a bottle of water...

Moorfoot AGM - Summary

An excellent turnout to the AGM on Friday given the weather conditions.


Key points:

• President -Mike Pearson will retain this role through 2010 before passing over the reigns to this years Vice President


• Vice President - Mike McGovern


• Secretary/Treasurer - these were formally two roles but will now be integrated into a single position - Kirsty Davidson


• Captain - Kenny Davidson (main role to organise training - for team races we will appoint captain(s) as necessary for specific races - eg. we have James, Johnny and Mick as team captains for the Moorfoot A, B and C teams respectively at the forthcoming Devil's Burdens Hill Race Relays)


• 10K organiser - TBC - committee meeting to be scheduled for Friday 22-Jan to discuss this years Moorfoot hosted races - in particular whether we make a change to the race format of the Beltane 10K (eg. road vs trail)


• Confirmation of 2010 fees TBC - main discussion around junior fees and fee structure for families such that fee covers Scottish Athletics levies for each named person in a 'family'


• Training - some very good discussion and ideas about how we can better cater for a wider range of runners at Moorfoot training sessions, particularly on the Sunday runs.

Gala Borders XC 10-Jan CANCELLED

See update on Gala Harriers website here...

Rescheduled Sunday training on 10th will be at Cardrona (Village Green, 10:00am).

Moorfoot AGM - Friday 8-January

Message from Club Secretary Mike McGovern:

We intend to hold the AGM Friday coming 8th January at 8pm at the County Hotel in Peebles.
We are hoping for a large turnout from members. Please can you reply if you are NOT going to make it.

Regards

Mike

Moorfoots at the Greenmantle Dash

Pic - Johnny & Colin on the way up...

Eight Moorfoots joined a slightly reduced field at thew snowy Broughton Greenmantle Dash, on a modified course over frozen 'swamp' and then onto deep snow on the Ratchill Hill.

Results (to follow) and photos here...

Carnethy 5 Online Entries

Online entry for this years Carnethy5 Hill Race (Sat 13-Feb) opens on 5-January ( Tuesday) at noon and usually fills up to the limit within a few hours - be quick !

Details here...

Training & Races - January10

Happy New Year !

Looks like the snow and ice will be hanging around for a large part of January, so training will require to be tailored around the conditions accordingly.

Mid week training at Innerleithen and Peebles will still go ahead as planned but we may need to be 'creative' if the usual lit streets we use are still icy. Bring trail shoes and head torches as a back up in case we need to move offroad onto less well lit alternative locations (this has worked reasonably well in December...)

If you have not been out running in the snow yet, there are quite a few runnable routes off road in the forests...looking forward to seeing you for your first run of the new year.

Full January training and race calendar on left hand column of Blogger - keep checking this for late updates....

Portabello Promathon

Four of us did drive though, but unfortunately, the race was cancelled this year (late course inspection at 9:45am) due to black ice on parts of the course.
We were a bit sceptical so ran the course anyway, but at the far end of the course, it was indeed very slippery could have ended up as a bit of a pile up if 250+ runners had been crossing it.
Ran back along the beach into a bitingly cold easterly breeze, before packing up and heading home again....

Happy New Year !