Garioch Road Runners Newsletter
02/06/09
Hello fellow GRRs!
Venture outside and you'll hear the sound of
lawnmowers whirring, deck chairs creaking open and BBQs being
dusted down, which of course can mean only one thing - summer
is finally upon us! And what better way to top-up your tan
and hone your 'beach bod', than by hitting the roads and
trails in the great weather we've been having....and
don't forget your sunscreen!
GRR in Action: Race Results Round-Up
We're relatively well-catered for in the North-East
when it comes to local races - whether short or long
distance; hills or road, there's something to
suit everyone. Here’s a round-up of some of the
GRRs who've been racing since the last newsletter
In a
perfectly-timed example of brotherly solidarity, Duncan and
Cameron Leel crossed the finish line together at the Dunech
Dash 5k
Duncan Leel: 20:14
Cameron Leel:
20:14
Another 10k podium finish was achieved for the
club - on this occasion, a superb run from Tamsin Morris
secured the 2nd place female spot at the Longside 10k,
near Peterhead. Mike Arundel also took part, running a
personal best time, which was only to stand for 1
week....!
Tamsin Morris: 45:49
Mike Arundel:
42:00
Steve Ord took part in the 2nd of the Krunce
series races, finishing in 29:23, even adding on some extra
distance to the course just for fun, due to getting
slightly lost! Steve must be trying to put off some jobs
around the house, as he then headed down to Perthshire
for the Loch Leven half-marathon, finishing in an excellent
time of 1:37:21.
A field of 2,700 runners turned out for the Baker
Hughes 10k. Some professional marshalling by Garioch's own
Graham Donaldson ensured that race went without a hitch!
Conditions on the day were obviously favourable, as 4 of our
runners bagged themselves personal best times for the
distance.
Craig Kelly: 39:38 (PB)
Mike Arundel 40:30
(PB)
Grahame Thomson: 42:01
Ron Epton:
43:37 (PB)
Steve Waites: 47:31
Neil Skene: 49:42
Christine
Drysdale: ?? (Still a PB, despite a defective timing
chip!)
The 1st of the Cosmic Hillbashers Summer Race Series
took place at Durris Mast, where the going was very soft
underfoot.
Steve Ord: 50:20
At the Edinburgh
marathon on Sunday (now officially the fastest course in
Britain), temperatures reached a sweltering 23 deg C.
Graham Donaldson had his first outing since the London
marathon, putting in another excellent sub-3 hour run.
Congratulations to Garioch's Ron Epton, also braving the heat
to take part in his first marathon. Well done to you
both!
Graham Donaldson: 2:57:59
Ronald
Epton:4:22:24
Race
Reports / Photos
Steve Ord kindly dropped us a race report on his
experience of the Durris Mast Hill Race. Please note
that the excerpt below has been edited, as the original text
may have caused offence to those of a sensitive
disposition!
"A little story to let you know what to expect if you
ever do it - the most trickiest under-foot course I have
done to date!
The muddiest, wettest and the most fun course to do,
at one point i was up to a certain part of my anatomy in
water as I landed on what I thought was just a big
puddle which turned out to be a swimming pool and had to drag
myself out of it. Half of the course is running through
bogs."
If that sounds like your cup of tea, be sure
to look out for the race when it comes around next
year!
All are encouraged to drop us a quick note if
you've had a race experience you'd like to share with the rest
of the club. More photos too please!
Club
Member Spotlight
COMING SOON! A new feature where we get to find out a bit
more about the runners at the club and what makes them
tick.
Club
Runs
Details of all the club runs are on the Garioch
RR web site on the training page Here's the list of
club runs coming up in the next fortnight:-
Upcoming
Races
4th June
Fragile X 5k. An
out-and-back blast along the beach promenade, the
flat-as-a-pancake course usually attracts a reasonable
crowd of runners.
7th June
Scolty Hill Race.
Organised by Deeside Runners, the race is 4.5 miles on forest
trails and makes 2 separate ascents of Scolty
Hill.
9th June
Beach 10k. Basically an
identical race to the 5k above, just twice the
distance!
14th June
Dunnydeer Hill Race.
A short hill race near Insch, which has historically
been well-supported by runners from
the club.
Club
Competition
Why run a race? Says running legend Grete Waitz: "There is
something about the ritual of the race - putting on the
number, lining up, being timed - that brings out the best in
us." As you can see from the results round-up, plenty of
our club members agree and obviously enjoy testing their
abilities in a race setting, at distances from 3k up to
marathon and beyond!
As a result, we have decided to
introduce a new competition to recognise the runners (male
& female) who complete the most number of races in
2009. This is intended to be a bit of fun, as well as
inspiring some friendly competition too..!
The
prestigious prize will be a bottle of wine, selected by our
resident conoisseurs: Ian Cran and Steve Waites! Ian and
Steve have selflessly committed to spend the rest of
the year sampling wines from around the world, in order to
find one which is a fitting prize for our worthy
winners.
The two Steves are currently battling it out
with 6 races this year for Steve Ord, closely
followed by Steve Waites on 5. Tamsin Morris
is our leading lady with 4 races this year; hotly
pursued by Christine Drysdale on 3. There's still
plenty of time until the end of the year, so get your vest on
and give our leaders a run for their money!
PS the
above numbers are taken directly from Born 2 Run website
and are mostly local races. So, if you've been
lucky enough to to run somewhere exotic or in the (highly
likely!) event that any races have been accidentally
omitted , please let us know.
Have a great couple of weeks!
Run long
and taper
The GRR
Team |
Top
Training Tip
Feeling tired or always struggling with
a niggle of some sort? Maybe you're doing too much.
It's advised that the longest run of the week should never be
more than half of your weekly mileage total. So if
you're running 20 miles a week, your longest run is 10 miles
max.
Nutrition
Tip
Specialist sports drinks could be considered a
luxury in these current economic climes....so why not beat the
'credit crunch' by making you own! Mix 50:50 water
and fruit juice with one tablespoon of sugar and one
tablespoon of salt for an effective isotonic
drink.
More to life than
running?
Being generally
active people with a love of the outdoors, we
can count more than a few keen cyclists among the
ranks.. A couple of small, lesser known local
charity events, which give the option of running or
cycling or both!
The BRG Challenge is a 17 mile
run or walk or cycle from Fraserburgh, via Rosehearty and
finishing in picturesque Gardenstown wih a gala day,
including the famous 'kipper BBQ'! A lovely coastal
route with great scenery and some challenging hills, this
event has something for everyone and is highly
recomended.
The Monadhliath Heartbeat Challenge
is a relatively new event and is akin to a kind of mini
Highland Cross or Coirreyairack Challenge, with both
individual and team prizes.
The event consistes of a
12-mile hill run followed by a 10-mile road bike stage and
takes place at Clava in the Moy Estate near Inverness and is
raising funds for Cardiac Care at Raigmore hospital in
Inverness. Taking in some of the Highlands' most scenic
countryside, the race promises to be great fun and
could be a great opportunity to enter at least one team
from the club - places are limited to 400. |
