News of people, places and events in 2006

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Ian flies the flag

Ian Beattie was the only Harrier to make the trip to take part in the 3rd and final East District League match at Broxburn near Edinburgh. He finished 120th out of a field of 226 in a time of 38.33. Ian felt he ran quite well, but added "Would be nice to see a few other Strathearn Harriers at these races - I just don't understand how anyone could turn down the chance to run knee deep through mud on a cold January afternoon, with the wind and rain battering off your face."

Full results here.

Annual Dinner and Ceilidh 2007

The new Strathearn running year was formally marked by a gathering of over 50 Harriers and guests on January 13th at The Famous Grouse Experience. Excellent food and wines were served, Jim McConnell addressed the haggis and Millen Mathew gave us an amusing Immortal Memory.The evening also included the official announcement of the club's new sponsorship agreement with The Famous Grouse Experience.

Phil Tipping delivered an excellent and wisely succinct first presidential address, and went on to to present the President's Cups to Shelagh Crighton and Jim McConnell for their contributions to the Club. Shelagh has lately finished a number of races as first lady Harrier and did a fine job of Leg 2 in the Comrie Hills Relay. Jim has been a big part of the club over many years, both as a runner and as a longstanding club President.

The entertainment then continued till midnight with music from Fairlie Folk, including some fine piping by Rob and Walter, a raffle and much dancing and merriment.

All in all, a fine night out!

Caption competition

The competition prize wasn't presented at the dinner because the winner wasn't there. Hence the following on-line award ceremony:

Firstly - the response to the competition was impressive, and congratulations go to all who took part.

Many people who have seen the entries have commented that they amply demonstrate the levels of wit and imagination that have come to typify Strathearn Harriers. A few observers have also noted that that the mince theme of the competition was particularly well captured by some of the entries.

So the judges’ task wasn't easy, but in the end they went for the brevity, simplicity and undisguised aggression of "Make my day, punk!", and the winner is therefore Alex Dillon, to whom a glittering prize will shortly be despatched.

Sponsorship news

We are delighted that from 2007 The Famous Grouse Experience will sponsor the two races that Strathearn Harriers organise. This new support will help the club to provide an even better running experience for competitors in The Famous Grouse Crieff 10k and The Comrie Hills Relay Race, as well as strengthening what our club can do for members and local community.

Nigel Barge 10k

Harrier Ian Beattie turned in an excellent performance on January 6th in the Nigel Barge 10k in Glasgow. Ian finished in 38.40 and 40th place, delighted with his run and pleased to "beat quite a few people who have been beating me for the last 6 months!"

Trossachs Duathlon

On Sunday March 24th at 11 am a special duathon race takes place in memory of Janice Mudge and in aid of Cancer Research UK

There are three legs:
- Run 7 miles and 2200ft along forest tracks and open hillside up Ben Venue - navigation skills required on open hillside.
- Cycle approximately 16 miles arround the forest tracks by Loch Dunkie.
- Run a fast and furious 1 mile to finish.

Event centre - Ben Venue car park, on the shore of Loch Achray
Car parking in Loch Katrine Car Park.
Entry fee £10 plus levy for non-STA members. Closing date - March 15th 2007 (pre-entry only)

For further info contact Angela Mudge on angelamudge@beeb.net or 01877382632.

Could you be a guide runner in the London Marathon?

The club has been asked by The Guide Dogs for the Blind Association if we could provide a guide runner for the 2007 London Marathon.

One of their charity place runners is visually impaired, and lives in our area. The lady in question requires a sighted guide to run with her in the race itself, and if possible, to help her train beforehand.

They are wondering whether anyone at our club would be interested in helping by being her sighted guide. The guide will receive a guaranteed entry place in the marathon, and the full support of Guide Dogs (including a full training and fundraising pack containing a Guide Dogs Superheroes technical running T-shirt, advice on training, and pre- and post-race support from the Events Team).

Ideally the guide runner would be female, would be based around Crieff, and would be happy to run the marathon in a predicted time of around 5-6 hours.

Devil's Burdens teams

This year we have had a great response from people wanting to run the Devil's Burdens relay on 27th January such that we have (more than) enough runners for 3 teams. We have decided to put together a Male Vets team, a Ladies Team and a Men's team. As we have more runners than officially required, in some cases we will double-up runners so that everyone that wants to has a chance to take part.

So the teams are as follows:

Mens Team

• Leg 1: Gordon Morrison / Peter Gaylor / Ben Wake
• Leg 2: Doug Flint
• Leg 3: Phil Mestecky (Capt)/ Graham Johnstone
• Leg 4: Vic Johnstone

Ladies Team

• Leg 1: Ali Manners / Karen Pass
• Leg 2: Angela Mackenzie
• Leg 3: Shelagh Crighton / Fran Loots / Liz Mestecky (Capt)
• Leg 4: Beth Fotheringham / Cathy Tilbrook

Vets Team

• Leg 1: Simon Wake / Peter MacDonald
• Leg 2: Adrian Wake
• Leg 3: Will Manners / Digby Sym
• Leg 4: Phil Tipping (Capt)

Please read the instructions, including safety equipment requirements and make sure you are confident on the route. If you've not run your assigned leg before, a recce run is strongly recommended - contact your team Captain if you want to do a recce and they will try to sort out arrangements for this.

New Year's Run

A fine turnout of Harriers - some more awake and sober than others - greeted the new year in the traditional manner with an early morning run from Comrie to the Melville monument and back.

Rob Bolton's "coffee" was on hand for those who wished additional stimulation at the top, and although there was no snowball-throwing Phil Mestecky took a dip in the foaming Wee Cauldron on the way back.

Diary dates

It's a new year, so we have a new news page too, but also a reminder of what's coming up.

Saturday January 13th - Harriers Annual Club Dinner and Ceilidh at The Famous Grouse Experience
Sunday January 21st - Cross country in Broxburn
Saturday January 27th - Devil's Burdens hill race - team selections to follow shortly.

Digby on form

Hats off to Digby Sym who, on Wednesday 27th December, took part in the bizarrely named Bangcock Duathlon (run/bike/run) up, own and around Tinto Hill in Lanark. Impressively, Digby finished as 3rd Vet and walked away with a crate of beer for his trouble.

Epic mince?

The 2006 Mince Pie run had it all!

Crisp, clear weather, tremendous views, a good turnout of Harriers, an interesting (and mainly very enjoyable) route to run, a car-off-road incident, "lost" runners, some of Rob Bolton's famous "coffee" and of course mince pies, courtesy of the Tippings and consumed this year in the very civilised surroundings of their new house.

Fortunately no-one was hurt in the road incident but Adrian missed the run as a result of his car sliding off an icy road in Comrie. The "lost" runners went off to do an extra loop, but didnt find the main group afterwards so made their own way to the finish point (and to the doghouse, in one case!)

CAPTION COMPETITION

Rob "Paparazzi" Bolton's camera captured an intriguing scene in the shot below of Phil and Digby, and we'd like to know what you think is taking place. With seasonal generosity, www.strathearnharriers.org.uk is offering a prize for the most amusing caption submitted for this photo. The best of the entries - in our judgement - will be published here and the prize will be presented to the winner at the Harriers' Annual Do on January 13th.

Email your entries please by Christmas Day to news@strathearnharriers.org.uk.
Don't miss your chance to win a prize that is guaranteed to have some value and to be either interesting or useful but not both.
Entries are shown below:

Digby to Phil : ‘If that’s a bum bag, you must be going backwards!’

Look into my eyes, my eyes...........
When I click my fingers, you will awake.
You would have run The West Highland Way;
finished this training run and
parachuted into the Annual Dinner and Prizegiving!

"Eventually, after extensive searching up and down the land, the source of Polonium-210 was identified."

"Make my day punk!"

"Listen, we are not going back 5 miles to look for some silly woollen hat........ok"

"Keep perfectly still while I tell you about a pride of lions reported missing from a safari park"

"Trust me, we are not on a bus route"

Is that a mince pie in your Ron Hills or are you just pleased to see me?

"Stay back - Shelagh and Simon are discussing the route choice down there and it ain't pretty!"

"Blue and grey are sooo 2005, and that jacket adds 20 lbs to you and as for that bumbag, what were you thinking?"

"If I hear that crappy Scottish accent one more time, I swear I'll...."

DIGBY SAYS: "The hair, the jacket, and the trousers are all beautiful daarrrling... but the belt, with those lines of yours, just DOES NOT work"

Phil: "I say Diggers, suppose you were to throw this skinny boomerang here, and I were to stand still . If you got it right I would sense a magical return before seeing it ! That would be a wheeze,what?"
Big Nose: "Aye okay, I mean it's no the first half-witted suggestion a harrier has made today."

Well done to all contributors - you rose admirably to the challenge, inspired no doubt by the heady mix of seasonal cheer and mince.

The judging panel will now wrestle with the tough choice of a winner, to be announced at the Do on January 13th, on which glittering occasion the prize will also be awarded.

Rowbotham's Round Rotherham International Event

(Yes apparently it really is called that). Well done to Phil Tipping who demonstrated his determination to prepare himself for his assault on the West Highland Way race with a gentle warm up (!) at the 50 mile Round Rotherham trail race.

The event, which starts at 7.30am to make the most of the limited light available at this time of year, attracted more than 170 competitors including the West Highland Way record holder Jezz Bragg. As expected he came home first in 6hrs 27mins, more than 40 minutes ahead of 2nd place (N.B. this equates to nearly two consecutive 3hr20 marathons - and on muddy trails to boot!)

Phil, meanwhile, successfully completed the course (more like 52 miles for him as a result of a few route-finding glitches) in 10hrs 34mins and 60th place having latched onto a group of runners who actually knew where they were going for the last few miles in the dark.

More important than the time or finishing position is that he emerged unscathed and uninjured and with a good base for stepping up his WHW training in the new year.

Full results are here.

Cross country at Kirkcaldy

Well done to the Harriers team who braved the aroma of linoleum to run in the second of the East District Cross Country League races at Kirkcaldy on Sunday 26th November.

First up was Ben Wake, who took part in the U17 race and finished 14th. In the men's race Will Manners improved significantly on his 93rd place in last years race by finishing in 79th this time round and more than a minute faster. Digby Sym was next home finishing in 111st place over 2 minutes faster than last year with Simon Wake finishing close behind in 117th. Brother Adrian finished in 172nd and Peter Gaylor in 226th.

The third and final race in the league is in Broxburn near Edinburgh on 20th January.

Diary dates

Roll me over...

Gale force winds and a euphemistically "undulating" course made the going tough at the Glen Clova Half Marathon on Saturday 11 November and took the edge off the times of the five Harriers taking part.

First home was Phil Tipping (not Pass) in 25th place and a time of 1.26.48 followed in by his sister Liz Mestecky in 1.50.23. Shelagh Crighton was next to finish in 1.52.43, with Vic (which according to the results list turns out to be short for Vicar rather than Victor as most of us had assumed) Johnstone crossing the line in 1.54.46. Ali Manners, taking part in her first half marathon must be pleased to have finished under the 2 hour mark given the hilly course and blowy conditions, recording a time of 1.59.26.

Pics above are of the 3 ladies and the (not at all) reverend Johnstone. Though not necessarily a course for PBs, the race is highly recommended for the beauty of the course, lack of traffic and quality mug for all finishers. Mark this one in your diaries for next year.

Tough 10 miles in Dundee

On Saturday November 4th Liz Mestecky & Shelagh Crighton took part in the Dundee Templeton Woods 10 mile road race. The course turned out to be rather more hilly than advertised and strong winds also impeded progress. Nonetheless, Liz came home in a creditable time of 1.23.29 and Shelagh a few minutes later in 1.27.19 in 166th and 186th respectively out of a field of over 250. Full results are here.

New Harrier shines at Fort William

Congratulations to Ian Beattie, new to the club but an experienced runner, whose first race as a Harrier was Eddie's Half Marathon in Fort William on Sunday 5th November. Ian's time was an impressive 1.28.22, which put him in 32nd place in a field of 232. Full results are here.

Angela takes another place

Class A OMM from Will and Phil

Will and Phil were in the A-Class event which covered 65 kilometres in 2 days and involved some extremely difficult navigation made all the tougher by dense cloud cover on Day 1. At the camp on Saturday evening after completing just over half the course, the Harriers were lying in 14th place out of around 100 teams as a result of some clever route choices and hard running. Day 2 started excellently with the pair making up ground on many of the teams ahead of them and by checkpoint 5 they had leapt into the top 10. However, checkpoint 6 proved particularly elusive and the team slipped back to finish in a still excellent 16th place.
Full race results are at www.theomm.com.

Sub-3 hour PB for Phil T

Cross country - serious enjoyment!

268 runners finished the men's course which was 8.4 k over grass and woodland trails - there were a few muddy stretches and some up and down but no real hills. The standard of competition was high, as indicated by the winning time from J Newsom of Pitreavie which was 25.46. Nonetheless Simon finished well in 156th place in 33.54, Gordon Morrison 219th in 37.21 and Pete Gaylor in his first cross-country (and new Walsh shoes!) came in close behind at 232nd in 38.15.

There are two more events in the East District series, on November 26th and January 21st, so club members are encouraged to take part and give the club a more significant presence at these very popular and enjoyable events.

Iron Craig

Life in the old dogs yet

Adrian Wake finished the Amsterdam marathon on Sunday October 15th in 4.06.05, placed 4018 out of 5828 runners. Unfortunately this was not faster than younger brother Simon's best (and only) marathon time!
On the same day the somewhat younger Will Manners competed in the Stirling Duathlon, improving on last year to 18th overall out of 161 finishers and 6th vet. Will's overall time was impressive at 1.25.39. Full results are here.

Pitlochry 10k

Pentland Skyline

Also on October 8th, with their sights firmly set on the forthcoming OMM, Phil M and Will took part in the tough Pentland Skyline race which covers 16 miles, 6200 feet ascent and 13 significant hills.

Running as a pair, they completed the course in 3.01.12 finishing in 26th equal place, tantalizingly close to their 3 hour target. However, it was nearly 3 minutes faster than Phil had managed in 2004 and 14 positions higher.

They both had their ups and downs during the race, with Will finishing the stronger over the final few climbs. Photos courtesy of SHR and Carnethy.

Angela in 3rd place in Strathcarron 10k

Different strokes....

Comrie Hills Relay

Sunday 10th September saw the inaugural running of this new hillrace in beautiful sunny weather. The route, scenery and catering all attracted lots of positive comment. It was a pleasant surprise when Strathearn Harriers Men's team finished 5 minutes ahead of Carnethy to win the men's category and the race overall. Well done to John, Phil, Graham, Simon and Phil. The Harriers mixed team finished further down the table but not at its foot, with much credit to Digby for a very fast Leg 3. Congratulations to the other winning teams - Fife C in the Womens race, Cosmics in the Mixed and Fife B in the Vets. Full results are available here.

Perhaps not surprisingly with a new race, some runners experienced some difficulties with the course and the checkpoints, and all the clubs taking part will be asked for their feedback and suggestions on how the race can be improved for next year. All in all though, a grand day out, and many thanks to all who contributed to make the day a success!

The pics, courtesy of Scottish Hillrunners, Fife AC and Giffnock North, give a few glimpses of the fun. Loads more pics on Chris Upson's site.

Ben Nevis

On September 2nd, Graham Johnston and Adrian Wake represented the Harriers at the Ben Nevis Hill race, Adrian competing in this race for the 16th time and Graham for the 1st. Pics of them on the hill are here,, here and here.

Adrian took exactly 12 minutes off his time from last year to finish in 293rd place while Graham set a very impressive time of 2.04.57 finishing 97th out of the 377 finishers (and beating Adrian's best for the race in the process!). The race was run in excellent conditions and won, once again, by Rob Jebb of Bingley Harriers in a time of 1.29.31.

Adrian only has 5 more races to claim his bottle of Malt for 21 completed Ben races!

Two Inches and Glasgow 10ks

More recent runs

On Sunday 20th August, Digby Sym took part in the new Lomonds of Fife hill race over terrain familiar to those of us that have taken part in the Devil's Burdens relay. Taking in both Lomonds (including two ascents of West Lomond) the course totaled 11 miles and 3100ft of ascent. Digby finished in an excellent 20th position and a time of 1.56.59. Our pic shows Digby descending the gully off West Lomond.

The race also produced a stark warning to runners who at times contemplate alternative methods of negotiating steep descent - click here if you're not too squeamish!

On the same day Phil Tipping entered the inaugural Sherrifmuir 11 mile road race on an out and back course. On a perfect day for running a fairly small but good quality field showed up. The route was almost all downhill on the way out and consequently 400ft of climb on the way back. Phil ran really well, finishing in about 14th place out of the 60 or so runners in a time of 1.10.20, only just behind former harrier, Colin Glencourse.

Clubbing (of the golf variety)

There's a Harriers golfing extravaganza - well, actually a game of golf and a bite to eat - planned for Friday August 25th. It's on the rather scenic Comrie golf course, if they'll have us, and all Harriers and friends/partners are welcome. Update - those taking part please meet at the Comrie golf club at 5.15 pm and expect to pay £15 to cover the golf and some prizes. If you havent yet done so, let Simon Wake know you want to take part by emailing him at simon.wake1@btinternet.com.

Another fine Crieff 10k

Well done also to Harriers Pete Gaylor, Shona Mitchell, Beth Fotheringham and John Logan for turning out and running the course. Full results are here.

Our thanks to all the individuals and organisations - including Highland Spring - who took part or contributed to organising the event.

Some pics below of prize winning Harriers racing to the finish line - Will, Digby, Simon and Angela. Readers please note that the facial expressions shown are the result of years of dedicated training, and should not be attempted at home.

A full range of pics from the event can be found at this excellent site, courtesy of Graham Hurst.

Lang Toon and Brig Bash

Jura Hill Race

Hats off to Harrier Graham Johnston for an excellent performance on May 27th in the Isle of Jura Fell Race - reported by Graham to make the Stuc A'Chroin hill race look like a walk in the park. He finished 46th out of 146 in 4.44.20. Full results are here.

Do the Great North Run for a good cause?

If you fancy taking part in the Great North Run on October 1st and raising money for Hope and Homes For Children, just get in touch with Phil Tipping.

Knock Hill Race

Kinnoul Hill race 17th May

Dumyat Hill race

In glorious sunshine on Wednesday May 10th five Harriers ran the 5 mile, 1300ft Dumyat hill race. 209 runners finished the race, the winning time was 34.16, and the Harriers were placed as follows

• Will Manners, 26th, 40.12
• Phil Mestecky, 39th, 42.28
• Phil Tipping, 50th, 43.43
• Gordon Morrison, 130th, 51.29
• Shelagh Crighton, 187th, 58.34

Nice run by new Harriers

Stuc a'Chroin

There was a very good turnout of Harriers for this year's Stuc a'Chroin race on Saturday April 29th, and a fine set of performances from them on one of the toughest hill races in Scotland. Overall 122 runners finished, the winning time was 2.20.30, and Carnethy took the top three places.
Harriers finished as follows Will Manners, 20th, 2.43.28 Phil Mestecky, 31st, 2.51.36 Graham Johnston, 44th, 2.56.43 Simon Wake, 49th, 3.01.46 Phil Tipping, 70th, 3.17.45 Digby Sym, 94th, 3.40.16 Full results are here.

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Clyde Challenge - April 2006 Once again Adrian Wake and Phil Mestecky represented the Harriers in the Clyde Challenge aboard the good ship "Time & Motion". Three days of sailing, running, cycling, paddling, general knowledge, karaoke (!) and games ended up with the Harriers scooping up the "Panther Award for Physical Prowess" following victories in both running races, the cycling event and the dinghy race. In addition, the team won one of the sailing races (no thanks to Phil who struggled to find his sea-legs and spent two hours with his head over the boat's side) and one of the general knowledge quizzes. However, despite a creditable 2nd place in the karaoke (Adrian's impression of Gene Pitney will live on in the memory...) the team were just pipped at the post for the overall trophy and finished 3rd, a single point behind the winners. If only they hadn't been disqualified in the egg and spoon race! Our pics include a tantalising(?) glimpse of Rob Bolton who must accept at least some of the responsibility for the whole thing.

London Marathon Jim McConnell ran a very creditable 3.54.53 in the London Marathon last weekend, finishing 2713 in his age group and 10100 overall. Jim raised a lot of money for the Anthony Nolan Trust, so congratulations to him and thanks to his sponsors.

Marathon des Sables Harrier Adam Wake completed one of the toughest races in the world - the Marathon des Sables - in the week ending April 15th. This is quite a competition - 212 kilometres across the Morrocan Sahara in 6 stages, this year with the added interest of sandstorms, very high humidity and extreme temperatures. Adam did incredibly well to complete the course in 33.16.27 and finish 155th out of 731 starters and 585 finishers. Quite a personal achievement, with the added bonus of raising money for charity.

Inverness Half Marathon Vic Johnston took part in the Inverness half Marathon on 12th March. He was 444th (35th in his M50 category) out of 900+ runners. His time was 1.51:14 (not his best but still pretty good, though he may not thank us for recording this for posterity!).

Glentress Duathlon Well done to Digby Sym in the long race of the Glentress Duathlon Series on Sunday, finishing as 4th MV40 and in 30th overall in a time of 1:45.40. After the bike section Digby was lying in 35th place but made up 5 places in the run of just over 10K and 600 metres of climb which he completed in 54 mins. Looks to us like he should hang up his cycle clips and stick to the running! Full details of this series for anyone that might fancy it for next year can be found here and full results for Digby's race on Sunday are here

Carnethy 5 - Feb 11th 2006 In the teeth of a cold and biting wind, Digby Sym led the way for the Harriers at the Carnethy 5 Hill race on Saturday. This race usually attracts the largest field of any hill race in Scotland and this year was no exception with the 500 places snapped up well before race day. Digby improved his time and position considerably from last year taking 10 minutes off his time and finishing in 67.23 and 139th out of the 459 finishers. Unbeknownst to Digby, he wasn't the only runner in Harriers colours in the race. Also taking part were Sam and Lloyd Griffiths - Lloyd is in the pic to the right. They finished well in 297th place (79.45) and 378th place (86.55) respectively. Well done to all.

Kathmandu marathon Anyone interested in this unusual run for charity will find info here.

Annual Dinner 2006 The new Strathearn running year was formally marked by a gathering of around 30 Harriers and guests at the Royal Hotel in Comrie on Saturday January 28th. Excellent food and wines were served, and the entertainment included a raffle with some exciting ( and some not so exciting) prizes, as well as a quiz in which Janet McConnell demonstrated her extensive knowledge of Harriers history. President Jim McConnell's voice lasted long enough to deliver the annual presidential address and to present the President's Cups to Liz Mestecky and Simon Wake for their contributions to the Club over the past 12 months - picture below. Simon was awarded the men's prize for his excellent performances in a number of races in 2005 including the Lairig Ghru, Dumyat hill race and the extremely tough Karrimor International Mountain Marathon and Liz received her award for her victory in the Comrie Fun Run and for her efforts in organizing the highly successful Crieff 10k race. To much surprise and disappointment, Jim McConnell also announced during his speech that, after holding the position for 11 years, he would be standing down as president at the next club AGM. Jim will be a tough act to follow and the club committee and membership wish to thank him for his dedicated service to the club and to the local running community during his tenure.

Devil's Burdens hill race - Jan 28th This great event over the Lomond Hills in Fife continues to grow and in 2006 entries reached 86 teams, with 84 starting on the day. Conditions were excellent, and the first team - Carnethy - covered a slightly lengthened course in 2 hrs 29 mins 16 secs. Official results and times are available on the Fife AC website. Two teams from Strathearn Harriers took part, and the Harriers' mens team exceeded all expectations by finishing the tough 31km course in less than 3 hours and coming home in 12th place overall. Particularly strong performances came from Digby Sym on leg 2 and the partnership of Will Manners and Adam Wake on leg 3 who clearly gave their all on the longest and toughest of the four legs. The mixed team of 3 men and 3 women also fared very well finishing in a highly creditable 6th place in their category, with strong performances from each of the six runners. The Harriers running were: Leg Team A Team B 1 Phil Mestecky & Simon Wake - 42.50 Angela Mackenzie & Gordon Morrison - 50.56 2 Digby Sym - 28.40 Shelagh Crighton - 38.40 3 Will Manners & Adam Wake - 65.20 Graham Johnston & Adrian Wake - 82.56 4 Phil Tipping - 34.00 Alison Manners - 48.03 Walter Simpson and Alex Dillon generously contributed support and some of the transport. Our pics show Angela & Gordon finishing a muddy leg 1 and Adam and Will at the end of a hard but fast leg 3. Thanks to Lorna on Fife AC bulletin board for the leg 1 pic.

Bishopbriggs 10k Well done to Angela Mackenzie who got her year off to an excellent start with a fine performance in the Bishopbriggs 10K on Saturday 14th Jan. Her finishing time of 42.35 brought her home in 131st position (14th woman) out of a field of 343 runners. It augurs well for the rest of the year as Angela went through 9K in 37 minutes only for lack of race fitness (and child induced sleep deprivation) to take their toll and prevent her dipping under 41 minutes. Full results can be found at http://www.scottishathletics.org.uk/event_files/3798.pdf

Loch Turret skyline Taking advantage of a clear frosty day, five Harriers recently ran the circuit of Loch Turret. With suitably seasonal scansion, the group comprised 3 brothers Wake, 2 other runners and a small brown dog off its lead. They got round the Loch Turret hill skyline in under 4 hours at a fast pace over tough terrain. Our pics show the group overcoming Auchnafree hill and then posing on the summit of Ben Chonzie - back row Phil Mestecky, front row left to right Adam, Adrian and Simon Wake, then Digby Sym, then Zola (fittest and smartest of the group by some margin).

Sun, snow and "coffee" A small but select band of runners started the new year with the traditional run up to the Melville monument on a gorgeous New Year's Day morning. Our pic shows the first few arrivals enjoying the view and watching the sun rise behind Torlum Hill.

East District cross country On Sunday 27th November, 4 Harriers made the trip across to Kirkcaldy for the second of the three race series. In the 5.5 mile men's race, first home was Will Manners in 93rd place in a time of 38.20. Phil Mestecky was just over a minute behind in 113rd place in 39.29, while Digby Sym, who like Will was making his cross-country debut for the club, finished in 135th place in 40.35. Jim McConnell was the fourth of the Harriers home in a time of 46.09 in 204th place. Full results here . The third and final race of the series will be on Saturday 4th February (the weekend after the Devil's Burdens and Club Dinner) in Livingston - information and map at http://www.eastleague.freeserve.co.uk/index.htm . Meet at the recreation centre at 12.00 to share lifts etc.

Diary date Two great events on the one day ! On January 28th the Devil's Burden hill race takes place during the day, and in the evening the club's Annual Dinner will be held at the Royal Hotel, Comrie. More info on both events to follow soon.

Reminder to club members - keep us posted, please! If you have news about runs and running that you'd like to share with other runners in the club and elsewhere, email it to news@strathearnharriers.org.uk. Pictures are always very welcome!