Andy Cox at the Yorkshire 3 Peaks Race

Andy travelled south to take in the classic 3 Peaks Race in Yorkshire Dales. This year was the 63rd edition and it affectionately referred to as 'the marathon with mountains'. It is actually 23.3 miles with almost 5,400 feet of climb (37.4km & 1,600m ascent) taking in the summits of Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough.
I (Colin) had also entered the race but I'd been struggling to train in the last 4 weeks with a niggly knee and dodgy cough and decided that trying to take on such a formidable course without being in good nick was not a sensible move.

I was comforted by being able to follow Andy via the online live timing updates as the race progresses through the various checkpoints. His splits are here and he ran a very well measured race gaining placing through the last third of the race, and making serious gains on the climb of Ingleborough, before being hit by cramp in the last two miles. He finished 92nd out of over 700 starters (and less that 700 finishers!) in a very respectible time 3:42 in a race which saw Scots take the top 2 places with Murray Strain of HBT winning in 2.49 and Tom Owens of Shettleston/Team Salomon 2nd in 2:54 - the race also doubled as the selection race for the Scottish team at the World Mountain Running Long Distance race in Europe later in the year.
Andy commented:
" second half was very rough and technical so needed to stay focused and started to cramp a bit pushing towards the end, saying that a great race"


Andy pushing hard in the finishing straight.
Full details of the 3 Peaks race here

The 'London Marathon Experience' - Kenny 2017

Smile for the camera!
Just don't ask me to talk, think, sit down...
I was totally gubbed !

What a fantastic day !
Record entry of 40K+ runners, records tumbling, sunshine and a 'pb' for me !

Blue pen start, meant I was only 20 metres or so behind the Elite Men who started at the same time and we had to run down the 'VIP strip'...quite a moment...
Steady paced start, comfortable through half way in 1:29, sun out and definitely getting hot. Struggled a bit around 30K (I think everyone did !) out at Canary Wharf/Poplar area as the course zig-zagged around, but rallied again in the final 5K to finish strongly.

Watched the timer flip over from 2:59:59 as I reached the '800m to go' sign - so no sub 3 - and then went for it over the final stretch and crossed the line on 3:03:00 - very pleased with that, and a couple of minutes off my previous best from 10 years ago...

Big thanks for all the support and encouragement from everyone - over £600 raised to date for 'Macmillan Cancer Support'...still time to make a donation if you can...

https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/kennydavidson

Ballot for 2018 opens on 1-May (closes again 5-May)...go for it !

Training Info...
I found a plan called 'A Just Enough Training Approach' which I didn't follow very closely, but did give me some ideas on "balancing enough training and not getting injured" for blokes of a certain age. I got started training for proper in January...
Moorfoot Tuesday night interval training covered the speed/intensity element (thank you Tuesday night regulars for all the support), the tempo runs were done on either the bike path to Cardrona or around Cademuir, and the long runs were a mixture of road/trail around the periphery of Peebles and further afield. Also did a bit of cycling and some big walking days in the hills for a bit of a change...
Additionally, I scheduled in three races; a 10K (Garscube) and two Half Marathons (Strathaven, Alloa) - these were good 'testers' for pacing, fitness, race sharpness...
Favourite long runs...John Buchan Way in the snow in January, and John Muir Trail (Preston Pans to North Berwick) in February...

Pete Hall offering car space to midweek Fell Races in Lake District

Pete Hall has made the following offer if anyone wants to take him up on his raids south of the border:
I am looking to head to The Lakes in May and June for a couple of midweek races – would be good to see if anyone in the club is interested joining me ?? 

 

Races are –

 

·         Latterbarrow Loop – Wednesday, 24^th May -https://fellrace.org.uk/races/latterbarrow - AS 4.7 km / 250 m

·         Langstrath (Borrowdale) – Wednesday 21^st June - Distance: 7.5km / 4.7mClimb: 430m / 1411ft

 

Will probably mean leaving here 15:00 or so for each race

 

Cheers

Pete

 

If you are interested please contact Pete directly on : pehall@cisco.com

Identical weather guaranteed!!

 

Club Membership Renewals - 2017/18

Club Membership Renewals are now due for 2017/18. 

(Year runs 1^st April 2017 to 31^st March 2018).

We have moved our membership renewal to Entry Central. The costs are the same as previous years (Entry Central costs are being absorbed by the club)

Please click on the relevant link depending on your membership type:

Link for Individual Memberships (£15):  https://www.entrycentral.com/club/106659

Link for Couple/Family Membership (£20): https://www.entrycentral.com/club/106660

Link for Junior Membership (U18) (£10):  https://www.entrycentral.com/club/106784

I have a few membership forms which have arrived by post in the last few weeks and I will email these members separately to clarify that they have already paid up for 2017/18.

Many thanks

Eddie Balfour

Club Treasurer

Kenny and Paul at London Marathon

Kenny Davidson and Paul Nichol completed London Marathon today. Kenny had a brilliant run and completed the course in 3:03:00, maintaining a very consistent pace throughout, having gone through halfway in 1:29:10. His time placing 2224 overall 134th in M50 - and surely very competitive in the Scottish Champs age group - we'll find out in the coming week. It was also a lifetime PB - extra impressive to setting one in your fifties.  Kenny's full splits here

Paul finished in 3:43:51, again very competitive with 289th in M55 category. Paul's splits here .Looks like the infamous wall reared it's head and perhaps made the last 5 miles a bit of a struggle?

I expect Kenny and Paul may want to expand on this short summary with some words of their own.
Kenny finish line pic borrowed from his facebook post:

Scottish Athletics - Scottish Government and sportscotland Funding Cuts

I have just received the following email explaining that Scottish Athletics has received a cut from sportscotland of £140,000 means that in 2017/18 our budget investment from sportscotland has reduced from £1,030,000 (2016/17) to £890,000.
Funding for JogScotland in particular is being cut as explained in this BBC article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-39363818 which seems a bit short sighted considering the benefits it brings in get people active. However JogScotland is now seeking charitable status.

Scottish Athletic email in full:

Darin Dougal in Dunbar dash

Darin Dougal raced at the Dunbar 10k finishing 7th and 4th Vet in a very respectable time of 37.28 in a course that is well known as not a flat course with a substantial hill in the 3rd km.

Full results here

Tom Scott - 10 Mile Scottish Champs at Strathclyde Park

Scott, Magnus and I (Colin) made the trip to Strathclyde Park by Motherwell to take part in the Tom Scott 10 Mile Race which is the Scottish Championship race over the distance. Scottish Athletics publicised it as the strongest field in years with Olympic Marathoner Derek Hawkins one of the leading runners taking part. Conditions were good, about 12 degrees and a gentle breeze for the course that loops Strathclyde Loch.

As it happened we weren't able to worry the front runners too much and the race was won by Shettleston's Wayney Ghebresilassie in 49:40. Full results here. Our results were:

Position	Athlete Name	Category	Chip Time
76	Colin Williams	V40	00:59:57
82	Scott MCDONALD	V40	01:00:42
140	Christopher Skea	SEN	01:06:37

Scott set off fastest and by about a mile Colin and Scott were running together, never getting much of gap until the final mile, but showing some good form with a very solid run.
Personally I am delighted to have dipped under the 1 hr mark by the smallest of margins. It was touch and go battling against tired limps in miles 8 and 9, and I had to dig really deep. I could see the clock counting up in the last 50m and was thrilled to get over the line in a sprint. I'd set the sub 60 as a goal for 2017 so it's nice when it comes off. It was also a blast from the past being at Strathclyde Park as I spend a huge amount of time on the water training and racing there two decades ago as part of the Edinburgh University rowing team - and they were there today as we racing around the outside.