Hamilton Harriers

AGM Minutes 2017
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [216.6 KB]

AGM Agenda - 2017
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2017.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [364.7 KB]

News

Report from Mark Wheeler on running the Stuc a' Chroin 5000 Hill Race:

Last year was my first attempt at this race and it was the hardest ive attempted so far, I was a broken man by the end - worn down with cold driving rain and exhaustion!

This year thankfully the weather was good but I was still nervous at the start. The first 2 miles is a gradual uphill through forestry commission roads until you turn into the trees and up a steep boggy climb onto moorland for the next 2 miles.

There's no real path now to speak of and as you summit the first hill (meal mor 550m) you look over the spectacular view of Glen Ample and the killer climb to come first - Ben Each at 811 meters with Stuc a Chroin summit yet to be seen.

ONLY 3 MILES TO THE TOP NOW !!!!

The decent into Glen Ample is 200 m and very steep , at this point on hands and knees for most of the climb up Ben Each. At the top you can now see Stuc a Chroin and the mountain ridge still to be crossed before the climb to the summit. The ridge run went well until blinded by sweat I fell on a rocky decent and took a chunk out my leg - but I was feeling good so kept on going as the top was getting nearer.

100m or so from the top, the snow began to appear and tired legs were starting to struggle a bit on the last surge to the summit - but at last I made it ( only 7 miles back now !!! ).

The decent was great, I caught and passed a few runners on the way and I knew I was on for a good time if I could make my legs last. You basically follow the same path down as you do up so I knew that I still had to tackle the climb out of glen ample once again.

This climb was tough but although I lost time on the group I was in I got to the top still with a bit of energy left. Only 4 miles to go and so off across the moor running as hard as I could and by the time I got to the forestry road and the final 2 miles I had caught and passed the guys that had pulled away on the last hill.

Now egged on by enthusiastic marshals I put in a fast couple of miles ( somehow? ) and passed another 8 runners to finish in 3hrs 42 min 41 sec.

31 mins faster than last year!!

Thanks Mark

April Racing!

A particularly good Harrier turnout at Grangemouth 10k was the first of a few races so far in April. This was followed by St Andrew's Half Marathon - which saw Kenny Pringle run his first half (not a particularly easy course we're told!) and the Angus Half Marathon.

In between all these races we had the annual 10k Sealed Handicap - see here for detailed results and pics. Tom Watterson took 1st place in an amazing time of 36:23, 1st female home was Lesley Harvey in 51:49 and sealed handicap winner was Lyndsay Moffat in 54:50. Well done to all who entered.

Alloa Half Finishers

BMAF XC/Alloa Half/Criffel Hill - 15/16th Mar

A busy racing weekend on the 15th and 16th of March saw many Harriers competing - in the BMAF Cross Country Championships at Tollcross park; Alloa Half Marathon and Criffel Hill race.

Check the race results section to see how all the Harriers got on - a very encouraging weekend overall!

To quote head coach Andy Mclinden "On the roads, country, and the hills, it has been a great weekend to be a Hamilton Harrier!!!"

Scottish National XC Championships - 22nd Feb

After much enthusiasm in the run up to one of the biggest races of the year, Hamilton Harriers were very well represented with 12 runners. The 3 women and 1 male under 20 ran 2 loops (8k) and the remaining 8 senior male completed 3 loops (12k) of a challenging route in Falkirk's Callendar park. Well done to all - a great experience and representation of the Hamilton Harriers!

Carnethy 5 Hills and Kirkintilloch12.5k - 15th/16th Feb 2014

Harrier Mark Wheeler (seen here pictured) raced the Tiso Carnethy 5 Hill Race finishing in a time of 1hr 19mins 25secs. The race course is approximately six miles with 2500 ft of ascent, covering five tops in the Pentland Hills to be run in the following sequence: Scald Law (1899ft), South Black Hill (1840ft), East Kip (1750ft), West Kip (1806ft), and returning via the Howe (900ft) to Carnethy (1890ft).
Amazing effort Mark!

Nine Harriers raced the Kirkintilloch 12.5k this year - well done to the following (in order of finishing):
Jim Breen, Ross Bickerstaff, Alan Muir, Andrew Bickerstaff, David Hay, Kenny Pringle, Steven Donnelly, David Kelly and Lesley Harvey. Great running on a challenging course.

A Busy January!

Following on from the club trail race, Hamilton Harriers have been well represented throughout January.

At the EKAC Open CC Jim Breen finished 1st in the M45 category, Neil Robbins finished 1st in the M50 category and Andy McLinden 1st in the M60 category!

Just under a week later some great runs at the Buchlyvie 10k from Ross and Andrew Bickerstaff, Kenny Pringle and Davy Kelly.

At the Scottish Veteran Harriers Open Masters Road Relays the following day, a brave 4 man team (pictured) and 1 lady took on the conditions at Strathclyde park with some excellent times to boot!

Finally just into February and the 'auld yins' as they're being labelled (sorry guys!!) were out again showing us all how its done at the Scottish National Masters CC Champs in Hawick. Great running Neil, Andy and Jim.

A great start to the year and excellent effort from all Harriers

Club Trail Race - 4th Jan 2014

Starting the year as they mean to go on saw a good turnout for the Hamilton Harrier Club Trail race. 1st male home was Alan Muir pipping David Hay followed by Ross Bickerstaff. 1st lady home was Helen Whyte. great effort on a testing route blowing the festive cobwebs well and truly away!

Christmas 5k Handicap and Prizegiving - 7th Dec 2013

A strong turnout for the Christmas 5k handicap saw Peter Middleton the winner only 2 seconds in front of Neil Robbins. Results can be seen here. Afterwards the annual prizegiving was at the Rowntree Inn and the following picked up their awards:

Mens Grand Prix Winner - Ross Bickerstaff

Christmas Handicap - Peter Middleton

Nominated Time - Tom Steell

Endeavour Awards - Stephen Duffy, Lesley Harvey

Handicap Series - 1st David Hay, 2nd Lyndsay Moffat, 3rd David Dawson

5k Handicap Winners

February - Ross Bickerstaff

March - Lyndsay Moffat

April - Hilary Austin

May - Helen Whyte

June - Alison Duncan

July - Davie Dawson

August - Andrew Bickerstaff

September - Veronica O'neill

October - Andrew Bickerstaff

November - Kenny Pringle

Congratulations to all the winners, and to all members for their continued efforts and support of the club throughout 2013.

Lanarkshire AAA Cross Country - 30th Nov 2013

Hamilton Harriers continued their excellent cross country attendance in 2013 with 6 runners at the Lanarkshire AAA Cross Country Race at Drumpellier Park. Those running were - Jim Breen, David Dawson, Ross Bickerstaff, Steven Donnelly, Kenny Pringle and David Kelly. Unfortunately David kelly had to pull out on the second lap due to a knee problem - so fingers crossed it's not a serious problem.
Well done guys!

2013 5k Handicap Series - 26th Nov 2013

November's 5k handicap tied up the series for 2013. On the night it was Kenny Pringle who crossed the line first followed closely by Andrew Bickerstaff. Overall the series crown goes to David Hay, followed closely by Lyndsay Moffat and David Dawson in third. Congratulations to Kenny, David, Lyndsay and David who are all proof of their own hard work all year round.

Only a fortnight to go until the Christmas handicap where the gloves come off!

British and Irish Masters Cross Country International - 16th Nov 2013

Congratulations to head coach Andy McLinden who represented Scotland, in Cardiff, at the British and Irish Masters Cross Country International 8k race. Andy brought home a bronze medal which he won as part of the Mens Masters M60-64 team. A fantastic result for Andy, Scotland and the Hamilton Harriers!!

Jimmy Irvine 10k - 9th Nov 2013

After the success at Strathaven just a week before, a good number of Harriers turned up for the Jimmy Irvine 10k at Bellahouston park. Often the last race of the year, there was still time for a few PB's - namely Steven Duffy, Richard Murciano and Andrew Bickerstaff. Andrew taking a whopping 5 minutes off his time!

Scottish Athletics Short Course Cross Country Championships - 10th Nov 2013

Just a day later after the Jimmy Irvine at the same location, Jim Breen represented the Harriers in this 4k cross country event posting a time of 15min 30 seconds - well done Jim

Strathaven 'Run with the Wind' 10k - 4th Nov 2013

Another of the years popular races was well attended by Hamilton Harriers with season and personal bests a plenty! This brings together the recent excellent form and hard work to bring a strong end to the year for many. As is tradition, an equally good turnout socially to local resteraunt Riva for a well deserved feed and a few shandies!

Well done to those who ran!

Great Scottish Run

An excellent Harriers turnout to one of the years most popular races, with some equally excellent times! Looks like the jury is still out on the new course but some great achievements nonetheless!

Relay Racing Once Again

In late September Hamilton Harrier's entered their first relay team for a considerable time at the George Cummings Road Relay Race. This was followed on by a team running at the West District Cross Country Relays at our very own Hamilton Park Racecourse. Watch this space for the results of our team entry into the Scottish Athletics National Cross Country Relay Championships on October 26th.

George Cummings
Team A (29th)- 67mins 12secs (David Dawson, Mark Wheeler, Jim Breen, Neil Robbins)
Team B (31st)- 68mins (Michael Maxton, Stevie Duffy, Andy Rennie, Tony McGale)

West District Cross Country Relay

Team A (27th) - 58mins 11secs