A Busy Moorfoot Summer Ahead....

Lots of Moorfoot activity planned over the summer months....get your diaries out....

5-July The Bridge Inn 'First Friday' Race Series - Race4 7:00pm (Peebles)
Race4 of our Summer Series.
Not taken part yet ? Come and join in and kick start your summer of running....

20-July Lee Pen Hill Race, Victoria Park Innerleithen 1:30pm
Part of the St Ronan's Games - straight up, straight down - what could be simpler...
Relax with an ice cream or a beer afterwards and enjoy the track racing and Innerleithen hospitality

28-July Free Ice Cream (Peebles to Inner Club Run) - Gytes 10:00am
Club run down the new multi user path from Peebles (start at Gytes) via Cardrona to Innerleithen (Traquair Rd) - ~6 miles
All paid up Moorfoot members (what? some of you are not paid up members ? Better hurry or the free ice cream will melt away...) get a free ice cream at Caldwells (my treat - enjoy !)
How are you getting home - run or bring your bus fare

2-August The Bridge Inn 'First Friday' Race Series - Race5 7:00pm (Peebles)
Race5 - good training for your summer/autumn race campaign - come on, it's going to be a scorcher !

18-August Cademuir Club Handicap
A club hill run handicap race of ~5K up to the summit of Cademuir Hill and back again on the JBW path; big club turn out please, as we want to practice hosting a hill race event
Marshalls and time keeps etc. also required so bring a pal !

25-August Moorfoot Club BBQ, Glentress Peel 5:00pm
Burgers (veggie options also available) beer (or soft drink) and 'bon-homie' - come and socialize with your Moorfoot club colleagues
Will perhaps have a short club handicap/relay race before hand around the Glentress trails - more details to follow...

6-Sept The Bridge Inn 'First Friday' Race Series - Race6 7:00pm (Peebles)
Last race in the series - time to go for it and set that season's PB
Drinks in The Bridge Inn afterwards anyone ?

More details to follow - keep watching the blogger, but get the dates written down in the family diary !

Edinburgh Seven Hills Race

I did the 7 hills race on Sunday in Edinburgh. I'd done it twice before, but way back in 2004 and 2005 but I remembered it fondly even if I was a bit unsure about the route choice in the city as it's over five years since I'd lived there. It's certainly grown in popularity with all 500 places selling out before hand for the first time. (Enter on the day races seem to be increasingly a thing of the past!).

It was warm but dry and with so many people on the course navigation was easy - the event is split in two, the race and the challenge, with the challenge setting off 30 mins before the race so from about half way you are constantly passing a steady stream of challengers.

I felt like I ran well and was happy with the performance coming in 23rd place in a time of 1:56.29. Results here: http://www.seven-hills.org.uk/results.asp

I was a little frustrated that I listened to the organiser's announcement at the start telling us to avoid the Pollock halls of residence - I diverted around and lost about 30 seconds on those who I'd been running with. It's the sort of race where local knowledge pays! Anyway I managed to knock 30 minutes (and 2 seconds) off my course PB from 2005!


Photo taken on Blackford Hill with me being a bit theatrical

National Relay Silver for Moorfoot Girls

Congratulations to the Moorfoot U14 girls team who took a fantastic silver medal in the Scottish National 3x800m Championship today at Grangemouth. Ailsa Innes ran 1st leg in the heat with Mairi Wallace subbing in as planned for a fresh pair of legs for the final. Fiona Grant doubled-up on leg 2 with Zaynah Aziz (from the Selkirk branch) bringing the team home each time.

Podium Photo LtoR - Mairi, Zaynah, Ailsa and Fiona.

Moorfoots at Durisdeer 2013

This race has a lot going for it. It's only an hour from home, is set in
spectacular and beautiful hill country around the Dalvine Pass, is
mostly easy running on springy turf, is very well organised and
marshalled, provides probably the best spread of tea and cakes
afterwards of any hill race and always has brilliant weather (in my
experience, anyway).

Arriving in this hard-to-find tiny village in hot sunshine, I was
pleased to see Darin and Coxy already there representing Moorfoots. And
it didn't take long for them and James Haworth from Galloway (new club?
Not yet on Scottish Hill Racing, anyway) to open up a gap on the rest of
the field. It was really hot and I was surprised how many of the field
of 40 passed me on the long first climb. I was enjoying it though and
was glad I'd worn my cap when it came in handy for soaking myself in
cool burn water. At around the half-way point, there's a steep descent
before the second road crossing and I got a surprise when Darin passed
me there, shouting that they'd followed a marked route up the wrong hill
and Coxy was still up there!

Some thin cloud came over, taking the edge off the heat and the second
half seemed easier and shorter than when I'd done it before. Julie gave
me a cheer on from the top of the second last hill. Down the long
descent back to the parking field I was glad nobody was close behind as
my knees preferred taking it a bit easy. The finish, like the start, had
been moved to outside the church in the village so a wee extra very
short road section at the end (I predict the start/finish will be back
in the less midgy field next year for the sake of the marshals). I
finished 15th in 2 hrs 15 min, 4 minutes or so behind Darin in 11th.

We left some cakes for poor Coxy, who didn't finish the race he looked
set to win. By a cruel stroke of bad luck, the leading three had
followed markers set out by the Mountain rescue team for an exercise the
next day. Coxy, in fine form, had taken the lead and got too far ahead
to hear the other two's shouts when they had spotted the runners way
below them. Oh well, he'll have his day very soon!

Results here: http://www.shr.uk.com/NewsItems.aspx?NewsItemID=1421

Cheers.  Russell

Lucas and Scout Weekend Action

Big congrats to Lucas Cheskin who travelled to Sedbergh in Cumbria on Saturday for the FRA Junior Uphill Champs and duly ran away with the U18 title over the 3.8km/395m course which took in the summits of Winder and Arant Haw. Meanwhile Scout Adkin answered an unexpected call to represent the Scotland senior team in the Home International 10k Trail race held on Sunday as part of the Karrimor Great Trail Challenge in Keswick and after a hard week's training ran well for 6th place and 2nd of the 4-strong Scottish team.

Cycle Path Bridge Update

The Bridge linking the Peebles end and Innerleithen end of the cycle path (sorry, multi user pathway..) is now open....well, let's just say 'accessible' - the barriers preventing access have been removed.

Cycled over it this morning on our PCC club training ride to St Mary's Loch - looking forward to doing my first Peebles to Innerleithen run shortly....

The Bridge Inn First Friday Summer Series - Event3 Results

Registration with a smile !

This was how we imagined the weather to be for a 'summer series' - balmy sunny evening with shorts and tee shirt clad spectators and bone dry conditions underfoot; still early season to be bothered by midges too !

Slightly disappointing turn out given the perfect weather, but as ever, a lot on in Peebles at this time of year....

Colin Welsh (16:53) remains unbeatable in the seniors - a new name in the juniors - Sam McNeil  - was 'top dog' in a slightly depleted field, but his 8:37 is the new time to beat in the junior 1 lapper.

Thanks again to all the organisers, helpers and marshalls - the Friday night events are becoming a relatively slick operation...

Results here...

Weel kent Moorfit faces....(photo Eilidh Davidson)

Club Run on Cademuir - Sunday 18 August

A date for your diary for a senior/junior club run on Cademuir on Sunday 18 August, probably run as an informal handicap subject to demand.  The start and finish will be in the field next to Tanta House at the top of Edderston Road and although the exact route has still to be finalised, it will mostly follow the John Buchan Way and take in the main Cademuir summit.

This is not an open race and is an informal run for club members/invited guests only. However it will be a trial outing for a possible formal hill race in 2014 which it is hoped will fill a gap in the Scottish Junior Hill Running League schedule, both geographically and chronologically. But the run is not confined to junior members. It will comply with the Scottish guidelines for combined age-group hill races for those born 2000 or earlier (hill running's new U15 age-group and above), so seniors, U20s, U17s and U15s can all run together on the same route which minimises the required organising manpower. The maximum race distance therefore will be 5k. Subject to demand, shorter routes might be arranged for U13s (born 2001 or 2002 - max 3k) and even wee-er yins (c.1k). Let Gregor know of any interest in these shorter routes.

Watch this space for more details but pencil in the date in the meantime, starting around 11am on Sunday 18 August.