April 27, 2009 MAC trio in marathon(s) mode
It was a weekend of marathons - and more - for a few of the club's road runners.
Stevie Murdoch, Gayle Tait and Stephanie Jackman flew the flag for MAC on a hot, sunny day in London.
Stevie finished in 2.50.36. See his splits here.
Gayle ran into problems at about six miles but pressed on, eventually managing to get through the difficulties at about 18 miles and make it home in a sub-4hr time. Splits here.
Stephanie ran 4.14. Splits here.
As if 26.2 miles weren't enough, hardy Russell McCoull opted for twice that ... the Highland Fling ultra, a 53-mile course along the southern part of the West Highland Way from Milngavie to Tyndrum.
He finished in 12hrs 21mins, missing out on his hoped-for sub-12hrs. Russell describes the experience as "without doubt the hardest thing I have ever done in my life".
The race was won in a new course record of 7hrs 19mins 09secs.
How it happened
Russells tells it in his own words: "I did the first half in under 4.5 hours and was feeling pretty good but from about mile 35 on I felt terrible - had some really bad blisters and chafing which made every step painful.
"My pace dropped so much that my body temperature also started dropping. I was shivering and my teeth were chattering, never experienced that during a run before! At that point I had to put on my jacket, gloves and hat to try to keep warm but still felt cold.
"My goal before the start had been to get a sub-12hr time but when I got half-way in the time I did I started thinking I could definitely aim for a sub-11, if not even a sub-10.
"Then I basically watched the sub-10 chance disappear... then the sub-11 ... and then had to resign to the fact that I wasn't going to make the sub-12 either.
"At the time I was (predictably) vowing never to try anything like this again but even now I realise that I had a very bad experience but one that I will have learned an awful lot from.
"I'll come back stronger for the Devil O' The Highlands race in August - entries still open if any MAC people want to join me!"
Russell is in the MAC team for the Kintyre relays next weekend and says he'll be "fine" to take part.
While doing the Highland Fling, he met a runner who's planning to do the Kintyre relays - solo. Apparently this weekend's event was a "warm-up".
See pictures from the event here.
April 27, 2009 Linwood debut in T&F league
Motherwell T&F competed at Linwood on Sunday, the club's debut meeting in the Central and South of Scotland League.
The weather was cold and the rain held off until the very end of the competition.
Despite this, the club's young athletes performed well.
It was noted that several of the clubs participating had a few of their older members running events from 100m to 3000m, good tactics for points and of course open to MAC's eager road runners.
April 22, 2009 Fine finish for Lochaber pair
Two of the club's newer members ran the Lochaber Marathon ... and what a finish they recorded!
Craig Cassidy came ninth overall out of 349 runners on a time of of 2.52.41.
Graeme Kennedy, in the male vet 40-44 category, was three places behind on 2.55.27.
Read more about the marathon itself here and the full results are here.
It's worth pointing out that only two clubs had two runners each in the top 20 finishers ... one of them being Motherwell. Very well done to both of our participants.
April 16, 2009 Check out the MAC table-toppers
Well done to those runners who competed in the most recent championship event, the Tom Scott 10-mile race in Strathclyde Park.
The championship and league tables have been updated.
In the former, Graeme Kennedy and Phyllis Hands lead the pack.
Graeme heads League 1 as well with Phyllis topping League 3. Carole Munro is in pole position in League 2, Jane Wedlock in League 4 and Pat Allen in League 5.
Next up on May 6 is the 4.8-mile Bill McBrinn Snowball race in Coatbridge.
April 15, 2009 MAC moves into new T&F league
Motherwell AC has been accepted into Division 3 of the Central & South of Scotland Athletics League, along with Helensburgh, Livingston, Nithsdale and Stewartry.
Age groups are from U11 to U20/Senior. Female & Male. There are two athletes per event with a maximum four events per athlete, including a relay.
This year, MAC is proposing to send teams from U15 upwards unless there are enough to allow the club to send a full squad.
If the club's coaches feel these meetings are suitable, it is hoped to have full representation next year.
The competition dates are:
- Sunday April 26, Linwood
- Sunday May 24, Grangemouth
- Sunday June 26, Wishaw
All start at 11.30am, declarations by 11am.
If you would like to compete and are available on these dates please let your coach know.
Events – Match 1
U11 – 80m, 800m, relay, long jump
U13 - 100m, 800m, relay, long jump, shot putt (boys); high jump (girls).
U15 – 100m, 800m, relay, high jump, discus, long jump (girls), 400m and javelin (boys).
U17 - 100m, 800m, long jump, high jump, 300m (women), javelin (women), relay 4x100m (women), 400m (men), shot putt (men), discus (men), 4x400m (men).
U20/Senior – 100m, 400m, 800m, 4x400m, shot putt, high jump (women), long jump (women), 3000M, (men), triple jump (men).
April 9, 2009 T&F training venue change
Track and Field members, please note that Wishaw track is due to be closed for two weeks, meaning a change of venue for sessions.
The club has booked Dalziel Park for training on the following dates.
- Monday 13th April, 6pm-8pm
- Wednesday 15th April, 6pm-8pm
- Saturday 18th April, 9am-11am
- Monday 20th April, 6pm-8pm
- Wednesday 22nd April, 6pm-8pm
- Saturday 25th April, 9am-11am
April 6, 2009 Long day for MAC youngsters
A bus carrying young MAC athletes went to sunny Dumfries on Sunday to compete in the Nithsdale AC Open Graded Meeting.
Because of the large number of entries this year most events were running late and the weary travellers returned to Wishaw Sports Centre two hours behind schedule.
The competition was particularly strong this year but Motherwell AC members gave their best efforts and came home with medals and tired legs.
Full results are here.
April 5, 2009 National road relay results
The club entered four teams in the Scottish Athletics Road Relay Championships at Livingston.
The men's A team finished 33rd and the B team 42nd.
The women's A team was 20th and the B team 26th.
There were two distances - 3.15 and 5.85 miles - with the men running six stages and the women four.
A team: 1. Alan Tait 18.52 2. Benny Hands 35.36 3. Stan Kavanagh 20.57 4. Graeme Kennedy 34.22 5. John Hughes 19.09 6. David Robertson 36.39 |
B team: 1. Alex Hay 21.42 2. William Martin 40.14 3. Nick Hughes 20.57 4. Michael Hampson 38.58 5. Stephen Irwin 18.59 6. Robert Owen 41.04 |
A team: 1. Jessie Miller 20.27 2. Jo Clark 39.43 3. Gayle Tait 23.12 4. Phyllis Hands 42.15 |
B team: 1. Laura McTavish 22.56 2. Elaine Jamieson 43.21 3. Jill Strachan 23.20 4. Mae McIsaac 44.15 |
Full men's results and full women's results.