Edinburgh Athletic Club

Brian has written some thought provoking comments here which are of relevance to all club members. Whether we agree with all the sentiments or not its worth taking the time to consider what he has to say. This is related to my recent post highlighting issues around the usage of our new club name.

A new album of Seven Hills photos has been added to the gallery.

I have it on good authority that the road running and cross country commission is chasing team medals for the Scottish 10k and ½ marathon championships at Vale of Leven and Dunfermline respectively. Individual winners in the masters category should have received their medals on the day.

½ marathon results Dunfermline

The team, led home by Neil Thin, was Matt Bell and Pete Middleton who just overtook Marek in the last stretch. Kim Threadgall was fourth senior woman and positions herself well in Stewarts grand Prix. I also noticed Jim Brodie in the results.

10k results Leven

In the 10k Roger “I only compete for medals”Alsop and Neil Thin got individual masters medals. Neil is leading the “Stewarts grand prix”. Jenny McLean coming back from injury and despite running faster than last year was fourth in a close Scottish Womens Race. Sharyn Ramage was the only supporting woman from the club. I guess most were doing the track or the Seven Hills.

For the men, Neil led Yujiro Iida (a classy 5k runner) , Roger, Alastair Hennessey and newly appointed club mens captain Martin Ferguson home all under 36 minutes. Good pacing from Alastair who has been working on this in training.

For information there is a record entry for the Scottish track 10k champs at Grangemouth on 1st July. This means no hills, mud or slopes! There is a qualifying standard of 36.00 for men and 40 minutes for women.. give it a go. Prizes and medals. Enter online with your SA number.

Sunday 15th June dawned brightish and early. As the alarm went off at 6, I cursed again my decision to run seriously at distant Balloch, rather than more locally at the 7 Hills! As we headed west on the motorway, the visibility improved and it turned into what looked like a gorgeous day – you could see for miles in the sunshine. As usual, having built in tons of spare time, we didn’t need it and arrived in the car park at Loch Lomond Shores before 8:50…

After collecting race chips and the usual to-ing & fro-ing to the car, it was time to say goodbye to the beautiful view of Loch Lomond, warm up and make our way to the start line (when we worked out where it was – not very well signposted). With close to 800 runners around (659 eventual finishers), there was a definite excitement in the air and no chance of getting chilly on a pleasantly warm day.

The Vale of Leven course has a distinct (though not steep) uphill slant in the first 2K which ensured that the runners rapidly thinned out and there seemed to be less weaving & bumping going on than in other races of a similar size. So, it was across the river, into and through the park and out onto the more rural lanes of Balloch & Leven, before heading back onto more urban (unclosed – though drivers very courteous & mostly friendly) roads, past the Vale of Leven hospital (later found it’s the centre of a nasty MRSA problem – glad I didn’t know at the time) and back along the outside of the shopping centre car park for the last ditch dash down to the finish outside Jenners – phew!!!

Nicely marked & marshalled course, plenty of water and mars bars at the finish and the added bonus of the fortnightly Farmers Market set up in the car park. Sadly no-one had warned the traders, so the vension burgers and lorne sausage rolls were sold out before 11:30, so those wanting lunch before heading back had to make do with the cafes in the shopping centre.

Oh and the results…..

Shettleston Harriers were dominant with their Eritrean contingent – they got a 1,2,3 to win the team prize for the race & overall series. In the mens race Edinburgh AC had a 1,3 & 6 in the M40 category – surely a team prize? A Shettleston Eritrean also won the womens race in 35:53, with the next 3 women within a minute of that. Sadly only 2 Edinburgh AC women (including myself in 4th in an improved time from last year), so no team prize this year :0( . Overall, well worth the trip through.

• Neil Thin 32:34 – 1st M40
• Yujiro Iida 32:55 – 12st SM
• Roger Alsop 34:14 – 3rd M40
• Alistair Hennessey 34:46 – 23rd SM
• Martin Ferguson 35:22 – 6th M40
• Jennifer MacLean 36:52 – 4th SF
• Sharyn Ramage 45:40 – 11th F35

Full results will appear on here.

Another local Edinburgh race and it’s a shame not to take part when it is almost on your door step. There was a relatively small field on the start line no doubt influenced by the weather. The day had looked promising, but by 7.30 the rain had set in and it was obvious that drooket was the word of the day. Although looking on the bright side (if that was possible with a torrential downpour), the conditions would at least keep us cool and with little wind to speak of, a reasonable night for fast times. No sign of Cath who had won this event on the 3 previous years, I hope it was other pressing engagements and not anything injury related!

(more…)

Big thanks to Steve Wales for providing some pictures from a few local events, now appearing in the gallery.  We’re always keen to see some new photos, so please get in touch via the site or speak to Graeme Brown, Martin Little or Derek Cogle.

• Edinburgh Marathon
• BUPA Great Edinburgh Run
• Edinburgh Half Marathon

Since I had spent the last two weeks guiding our Sunday group round the course, I decided I had to put my money where my mouth was and take part in the race. It was a really difficult choice as this is probably the busiest race weekend of the year. A choice of about seven 10k’s, several hill races, a couple of half marathons, and a few other distances – are SA not supposed to prevent clashes!

The Seven Hills Race certainly holds a great attraction to every runner from the city. The race almost covers the whole of Edinburgh while navigating to all of the hills. Unusually for a race, there is no set course; it’s up to each runner which route to take. This means that the route involves just about anything you can think of – tarmac, grass, rocks, traffic, walls, fences, nettles, a burn, golf course, allotment and even horses!

(more…)

Congratulations to Libby Clegg on being nominated by UK Athletics to complete in the 100m and 200m in the Beijing 2008 Paralympic Games

The comlete list of nominees can be seen on the UK Athletics web site:
http://www.ukathletics.net/press-centre/news/june-2008/13-06-08-paralympic/

Read Libby’s story on her web site by clicking here:
http://www.elizabethclegg.co.uk/

Scottish Schools Combined Events Championships, Grangemouth  -  6 June 2008

Congratulations to the following athletes who won medals in the Scottish Schools Combined Events Championships:

Emma Lowry                         1^st            U20W Pentathlon

Alicia Lawson                       2^nd           U20W Pentathlon

Cameron Goodall                  1^st            U15B Pentathlon

Results available on http://www.ssaa.co.uk/

(Keith Ridley)

British Men’s League Division 3, Kingston – 6 June 2008
A lack of field event athletes meant that the men’s team could only manage 7^th place in their first British League match this summer. However, it was close between the bottom 4 clubs and 5^th place was only 16 points ahead and the next match is in Leeds -  a good bit nearer than Kingston and a long haul for the South of England clubs.
(Keith Ridley)

 Match Result -
1    Leeds                                  388
2.   Kingston & Poly                 315
3=  Southampton                    290
3=  Crawley                               290         
5    Medway & Maidstone        233.5
6    Channel Islands                229
7   Edinburgh AC                     217.5
8     Bedford                              209

 Full results available on http://www.bal.org.uk/bal/