Making a small local difference

The club is not-for-profit, and if we make a little money from organising a race like the Crieff 10k, we think it makes sense to pass some of it back to the community.

So this year the club decided to make a donation to the Guides and Scouts of Crieff, and yesterday Club Secretary Liz Mestecky presented cheques for £100 each to their representatives.

Carnethy 5 17th February

There was little to choose between the 3 Harriers who made the trip to Penicuik for this years Carnethy 5. Named after the five peaks that must be climbed along the route of this tough season opener which covers approximately 6.5 miles and 2400 feet of ascent, the Carnethy 5 attracts probably the largest field for any hill race in Scotland. This year was no exception with 484 lining up on a sunny and warm February afternoon.

Harriers results were as follows:

89th Phil Mestecky 1.03.02
104th Digby Sym 1.03.56 (3 1/2 minutes better than his previous best in 2006)
118th Colin Glencorse 1.04.42

The winner was Rob Jebb of Bingley Harriers in 47.59 and first woman was, of course, Angela Mudge in 56.09. Full results are already on the Carnethy website: http://www.carnethy.com/ri_results/c5/c5_2007.htm.

Photo of Digby nearing the top of the first climb http://www.carnethy.com/photos/carn07/bingley.jpg

Harriers at the Nationals

On Saturday 10th February, while most of us watched Scotland demolish the Welsh at Murrayfield, two Harriers made the trip to Falkirk to take part in this years Scottish National Cross-Country Championships. On a horrible day with strong winds, near freezing temperatures and rain and sleet to contend with both Will Manners and Ian Beattie performed well in a high-quality field of over 400 including some of the best runners in the country.

Will came home in 46.57 in 131st place with Ian exactly 3 minutes behind in 210th. Well done to both. Maybe next year we can get enough of us out to make up a team (6 to count). Looking at the results (http://www.scottishathletics.org.uk/common/file.php?disposition=attachment&name0=downloads/all_web1.pdf&name1=all_web1.pdf&type=events_pdf) we should easily be able to get a top 20 finish if we set our minds to it...

Five Go To Forfar

Sunday 4th February saw five members of the club travel to Forfar for the Forfar multi terrain half marathon. The course was a mixture of road, track, muddy footpaths and a few bogs thrown in for good measure. The route was fairly flat apart from a long hill between miles 9 and 10.
Simon Wake was first Harrier home in a time of 1.32 mins and a creditable 19th place. Next in was Adrian Wake in a time of 1.44 which was a very respectable time considering he has been suffering with a viral infection( or could it be bird flu? ) since Christmas. Jim McConnell and Liz Mestecky were next to cross the line in a time of 1.49. Jim escorted Liz around the course feeling a bit worse for wear after a night at a beer festival in Montrose! Then came Vic Johnstone in a good time of 1.54. A good performance all round considering the nature of the course. The race was finished off with some fine soup ( free to runners! ) in the club house. A very enjoyable race which I would highly recommend for next year.

Your Club Needs You...

The Strathearn Harriers’ AGM will be held at 7.00pm on Sunday 4th March at the Murray Park Hotel on Connaught Terrace.

The meeting gives you a chance to have your say about the way the club is run, what we do, what we spend our club funds on and to elect club officers and committee members. So please do make the effort to come along and have a drink and a chat about your club.

All the officers (President, Secretary and Treasurer) need to be elected or re-elected. We will also be electing a new committee. This year, the committee members will each have specific roles and responsibilities for the main areas of the club. These are:

Sponsorship & Communications officer
- Main contact with The Famous Grouse
- SH website (and Blog!)
- Press coverage
- Support for other marketing and promotional requirements for other club activities (e.g. Crieff 10k, Comrie Hills etc)

Social Secretary
- Organize annual club dinner
- Summer social event(s)
- Arrange mince pie run
- Organize other ad hoc and any new regular social events

Men’s club captain
- Men’s team selection for club events (Devil’s Burdens, Comrie Relay etc)
- Decide on “fixture list” and club races. Encourage members to take part in these events. Arrange meeting points, transport, liaison with organizers/entry processes etc
- Club nights – encourage attendance at Weds and Sun club nights.
- Plan/organize any training activities, special runs (e.g hill running outings)

Women’s club captain
- Women’s team selection for club events (Devil’s Burdens, Comrie Relay etc)
- Decide on “fixture list” and club races. Encourage members to take part in these events. Arrange meeting points, transport, liaison with organizers/entry processes etc
- Club nights – encourage attendance at Weds and Sun club nights.
- Plan/organize any training activities, special runs (e.g hill running outings)

Also, Liz has been Race Organizer for the Crieff 10K for the last 2 years and she’d be more than happy if anyone else was interested in taking this on for 2007. She has promised to help out and work with you to make sure the transition went well.

So if you would like to get more involved please consider putting yourself forward for one of these eight roles. To do this let Liz know by February 28th at the latest.