Category: Senior Endurance Training

Saturday 7th August 2021

OVERVIEW:

The fourth MAC Team Relays for Senior Endurance take place next month. This will be exactly the same as the event back in May that seemed to go down well. So participating athletes will be formed into teams, and each team member has to run one leg of two miles. First team home wins.

ELIGIBILITY:

Only current members of Motherwell AC [on LoveAdmin] and approved ‘trialists’ can participate.

ENTRIES:

Anyone wishing to participate (or to help out on the day) should indicate in the MAC Members Facebook group or send an email to alanstrang@motherwellac.com. The closing date for entries will be midnight on Tuesday 3rd August.

TEAMS:

Participating athletes will then be formed into teams with the intention to make all teams as similar in overall ability as possible. Teams will be announced by Thursday 5th August. Team size will ideally be 4, but this depends on the overall number of participants.

RUNNING ORDER:

It is up to each team to decide on its running order. The only requirements are that each team member runs at least one leg, and each team must run four legs. So for incomplete teams, team members may run additional legs in order to complete the relay.

NON-ENTRANTS:

Members who do not enter prior to the deadline are still welcome to participate. But by not entering they cannot be placed in the initial team allocation. Instead, they will be used to make up any incomplete teams, replace injured runners, or make up their own team on the day with other non-entrants. In the worst case scenario, they can run the two miles for the individual challenge.

ON THE DAY:

This event will be the club training session for Saturday 7th August. Please meet at the Strathclyde Park Watersports Centre by 9.30am. The action will commence at approximately 9.50am, and certainly by 10am.

Please make every effort to wear your MAC vest. If you do not have one, please make this known so something can be sorted out.

If you can also bring some safety pins for the home-made race numbers, that would be appreciated. Some will be made available, but possibly not sufficient for all.

ROUTE:

The route will be a mini version of the Strathclyde parkrun and can be viewed here: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1537352

Senior Endurance members have enjoyed some internal club competition recently, such as the relays and the team challenge. The action continues over the next few months. In addition to the monthly Time Trial Championship, here are some dates for your diary.

Tuesday 20th July – Pace Judgement Session

This is not an ‘event’ as such, but unusual enough to warrant a mention. Predict your time for the 4-mile route and then see how close you can get to it. No watches or phones will be allowed. Who will be closest?

Saturday 31st July – John Lucas Memorial Relay

Senior endurance is looking to enter one or more teams into this Strathaven-based 46-mile relay event.

Tuesday 17th August – MAC Team Relays – 2 mile (TBC)

The popular relay event from May returns; this time on a Tuesday to avoid any possible parkrun clash.

Saturday 18th September – Senior Endurance 3000m Championship Race

Traditional annual track race for Senior Endurance, held during the T&F Club Championship event at Wishaw.

Saturday 16th October – MAC Team Challenge – 5k (TBC)

June’s 5k Team Challenge is back. If parkrun has returned, our challenge will be done as part of that. Otherwise, we will do our own thing again.

Tuesday 15th June 2021

OVERVIEW:

Following a successful team relay event last month… June sees something different. A team challenge. What’s that? Well, rather than team members running in sequence, everyone will set off at the same time and run the same distance. Like a race! The scoring system will allow a winning team to be determined. It is just a bit of fun, though, an excuse to push yourself over the 5k distance.

SCORING:

Points will be awarded to runners based on finishing position. First runner home scores 1 point for their team, second scores 2 points, etc. Points will be totalled up for each team with lowest total winning. So, to be clear: finishing position is key, not time.

TEAMS:

Attending members will be split into one of three teams at the start of the session using an ‘old school’ method. Coloured stickers will be provided to be worn front and back, to make team identification easy during the race.

ELIGIBILITY:

Only current members of Motherwell AC [on LoveAdmin] and approved ‘trialists’ can participate. All are encouraged to participate, regardless of ‘pace’. Everyone is welcome.

ENTRIES:

No pre-entries are required for this event. Anyone wishing to participate should just turn up to training on Tuesday as normal.

START TIME:

This event will be the club training session for Tuesday 15th June. Please meet at the Strathclyde Park Watersports Centre at 6.30pm. The action will commence after teams have been formed and everyone has had an opportunity to warm-up.

ROUTE:

The route to be used will be the Strathclyde parkrun route.

A bright but breezy morning at Strathclyde Park saw 26 MAC athletes take part in the MAC Team Relays. Following two virtual events earlier in the year, this event was the real thing. Six teams of four (plus one of two) lined up at the start, with each team member having to run a two-mile leg.

Scott Dickson (B) – a winner of both virtual relay events – opened up a small lead during the opening leg, leading Neil Richardson (D) by 16 seconds. Brian McLinden (F) was 14 seconds further back. Steven McCaw (E) came home 4th. Gayle Samson (C) and Charla Hands (A) were close throughout, but it was the former who completed her leg first.

Into the second leg, and a strong run from Miranda Richmond (F) saw her reel in Phyllis Hands (D) and John Burns (B) to put her team into the lead. John dug deep, however, and ensured the gap was only 3 seconds. How important could that run turn out to be? A great run from Douglas Samson (E) saw his team reach the half-way point in 3rd. Alastair Loudon (C) showed real pace as he finished 5th, with Jim White (A) 15 seconds further back.

It was all change during the third leg. Team C started 5th but finished in the lead! This was thanks to a flying effort from Mark Ellis (C). Lauren Wyllie (F) kept her team in the mix, finishing just 21 seconds behind. Next up was Simon Marshall (B), doing just enough to give his team a shot at the win too. Emma Morris (A) put in the fastest female performance of the day, but surely too far back to be in contention? Gillian McCaffer (D) and Gary Arthur (E) completed the third leg.

One leg remaining. Scott Kelman (C) started in the lead, and set off with no intention of giving it up. He hadn’t anticipated just how fast Alan Tait (B) would be, however. Before the turn Alan had reeled in both Alan Main (F) and Scott to put Team B in the lead. Scott would not let him get too far away but, before long, he had a charging Ewen Cameron (A) to contend with behind. The effort being put in by all on the home straight was astonishing. Alan Tait brought it home in style to win the relay for Team B, with Scott 10 seconds back in second place. Ewen gave it his all but had to settle for third, 6 seconds further back. Alan Main gave his team a fourth place finish. Iain Campbell (D) was fifth and Robbie Pattinson (E) 6th.

A mention should be given to the two reserves – David Gardiner and Alan Strang – who each ran two legs just to complete Team G (ineligible for the standings). David ran two of the three fastest times of the day, even while ‘taking it easy’ on his second effort. Impressive! And, talking of mentions, thanks to the helpers Joe Hoolaghan, John Hughes and Anne Hughes for ensuring the event ran smoothly.

And then… and then… Charla’s delicious home-baking! The perfect end to the event.

It was a great relay, enjoyed by all, and it was fantastic to see so many MAC vests on show. Our safety pin skills were a bit rusty, though – more practice is needed!

Team Results:

1st – Team B – 52:42 (Scott Dickson, John Burns, Simon Marshall, Alan Tait)
2nd – Team C – 52:52 (Gayle Samson, Alastair Loudon, Mark Ellis, Scott Kelman)
3rd – Team A – 52:58 (Charla Hands, Jim White, Emma Morris, Ewen Cameron)
4th – Team F – 53:26 (Brian McLinden, Miranda Richmond, Lauren Wyllie, Alan Main)
5th – Team D – 54:05 (Neil Richardson, Phyllis Hands, Gillian McCaffer, Iain Campbell)
6th – Team E – 56:01 (Steven McCaw, Douglas Samson, Gary Arthur, Robert Pattinson)
N/A – Team G – 48:41 (David Gardiner, Alan Strang, David Gardiner, Alan Strang)

Individual Results:

10 min – David Gardiner 10:43
11 min – Ewen Cameron 11:18, David Gardiner 11:30, Mark Ellis 11:39, Iain Campbell 11:58, Alan Tait 11:59
12 min – Scott Kelman 12:42, Scott Dickson 12:42, Emma Morris 12:54, Douglas Samson 12:55, Alan Main 12:55, Neil Richardson 12:58
13 min – Robert Pattinson 13:00, Alan Strang 13:02, Jim White 13:06, Alastair Loudon 13:11, Brian McLinden 13:12, Lauren Wyllie 13:26, Alan Strang 13:26, Simon Marshall 13:35, Miranda Richmond 13:53
14 min – Gillian McCaffer 14:05, Steven McCaw 14:23, John Burns 14:26
15 min – Phyllis Hands 15:04, Gayle Samson 15:20, Charla Hands 15:40, Gary Arthur 15:43

Saturday 22nd May 2021

OVERVIEW:

The third MAC Team Relays for Senior Endurance take place later this month. What is it all about? Well, this time it will be a REAL relay. There will be nothing virtual about it! Participating athletes will be formed into teams, and each team member has to run one leg of two miles. First team home wins.

ELIGIBILITY:

Only current members of Motherwell AC [on LoveAdmin] and approved ‘trialists’ can participate.

ENTRIES:

Anyone wishing to participate should indicate in the MAC Members Facebook group or send an email to alanstrang@motherwellac.com. The closing date for entries will be midnight on Monday 17th May.

TEAMS:

Participating athletes will then be formed into teams with the intention to make all teams as similar in overall ability as possible. Teams will be announced on Wednesday 19th May. Team size will ideally be 4, but this depends on the overall number of participants.

RUNNING ORDER:

It is up to each team to decide on its running order. The only requirements are that each team member runs at least one leg, and each team must run four legs. So for incomplete teams, team members may run additional legs in order to complete the relay.

NON-ENTRANTS:

Members who do not enter prior to the deadline are still welcome to participate. But by not entering they cannot be placed in the initial team allocation. Instead, they will be used to make up any incomplete teams, replace injured runners, or make up their own team on the day with other non-entrants. In the worst case scenario, they can run the two miles for the individual challenge.

START TIME:

This event will be the club training session for Saturday 22nd May. Please meet at the Strathclyde Park Watersports Centre at 9.30am. The action will commence at approximately 9.50am.

ROUTE:

The route will be a mini version of the Strathclyde parkrun and can be viewed here: https://www.plotaroute.com/route/1537352

The results of the second Virtual MAC Team Relay are out. An amazing twenty-six runners took part in this event, with twenty-five submitting times. But more on that later. Fastest female was Emma Morris in 21:18. Fastest male was David Gardiner in 17:20. But which team won…?

In emphatic manner, Team McColgan were the victors – congratulations to Paul Burns, Evan Crane, Scott Dickson, Marcus Whyte and Clare Barr. Scott has been in the winning team in both Virtual Team Relays this year – clearly a lucky mascot!

Congratulations also to Gillian McCaffer who beat her 5k PB during her run.

Commiserations to David Hoolaghan who was an unfortunate DNF.

Thanks to Douglas Samson for stepping in to replace David in Team Muir. And beating his 5k PB in the process.

Above all else, thank you all for supporting this event – the number of runners certainly exceeded expectations! Hopefully you enjoyed a bit of friendly competition and banter with your club-mates.

Full results below:

1st – Team McColgan (1:43:33)
Paul Burns – 17:42
Evan Crane – 18:46
Marcus Whyte – 21:19
Scott Dickson – 22:21
Clare Barr – 23:25

2nd – Team Reekie (1:47:00)
Ewen Cameron – 19:17
Graeme Kennedy – 20:29
Lauren Wyllie – 21:39
John Hughes – 22:20
Kevin McPhillips – 23:15

3rd – Team Hawkins (1:47:03)
David Gardiner – 17:20
Gillian McCaffer – 22:10
Miranda Richmond – 22:25
Robert Pattinson – 22:28
Scott Kelman – 22:40

4th – Team Wightman (1:47:30)
Iain Campbell – 19:35
Nick Hughes – 20:16
Emma Morris – 21:18
Steven McCaw – 22:38
Phyllis Hands – 23:43

5th – Team Muir (1:51:50)
Mark Ellis – 20:01
Douglas Samson – 20:09
Brian McLinden – 21:23
Alastair Loudon – 23:04
Mark Smellie – 27:13

Next time might not have to be virtual…

Teams:

Twenty-five members have entered this weekend’s Virtual MAC Team Relays. They have been split into five teams of five, ready for some fun competition over the 5k distance. The teams are:

Team Hawkins (David Gardiner, Gillian McCaffer, Miranda Richmond, Robert Pattinson, Scott Kelman)
Team McColgan (Clare Barr, Evan Crane, Marcus Whyte, Paul Burns, Scott Dickson)
Team Muir (Alastair Loudon, Brian McLinden, David Hoolaghan, Mark Ellis, Mark Smellie)
Team Reekie (Ewen Cameron, Graeme Kennedy, John Hughes, Kevin McPhillips, Lauren Wyllie)
Team Wightman (Emma Morris, Iain Campbell, Nick Hughes, Phyllis Hands, Steven McCaw)

Each team member should race a 5k during the run window and submit this. Full details are included below.

Run Window:

The run window for this will be Thursday 11th March at 00:00 until Sunday 14th March at 18:00.

Routes:

Any location can be chosen for the run as long as there is no net downhill elevation to the route. The start and finish points should be close together. Loops can be used, but loops must be at least 1km in length. Out and back routes are also acceptable.

Submitting Times:

Times for the 5k run (preferably with a GPS activity from Strava/Garmin/etc) should be posted in MAC Members Facebook group or sent to alanstrang@motherwellac.com. The deadline for submitting times will be 19:00 on Sunday 14th March.

Results:

Results will be collated and posted as soon as possible after the submission deadline on Sunday evening.

Prizes:

There are no prizes, just hearty congratulations from your teammates. Hopefully.

Thursday 11th – Sunday 14th March 2021

Overview:

The second Virtual MAC Team Relays for Senior Endurance take place next month. What is it all about? Same as last time – participating athletes will be formed into teams, and each team member has to run the event distance of 5k. The times for all team members are combined, and the team with the quickest overall time wins.

Eligibility:

Only current members of Motherwell AC [on LoveAdmin] can participate.

Entries:

Anyone wishing to participate should indicate in MAC Members Facebook group or send an email to alanstrang@motherwellac.com. The closing date for entries will be midnight on Monday 8th March.

Teams:

Participating athletes will then be formed into teams with the intention to make all teams as similar in overall ability as possible. Teams will be announced on Wednesday 10th March, prior to the run window opening. Team size will be 3 or 4, depending on the overall number of participants. Late entries may be invited to help make up full teams.

Run Window:

The run window for this will be Thursday 11th March at 00:00 until Sunday 14th March at 18:00.

Routes:

Any location can be chosen for the run as long as there is no net downhill elevation to the route. The start and finish points should be close together. Loops can be used, but loops must be at least 1km in length. Out and back routes are also acceptable.

Submitting Times:

Times for the 5k run (preferably with a GPS activity from Strava/Garmin/etc) should be posted in MAC Members Facebook group or sent to alanstrang@motherwellac.com. The deadline for submitting times will be 19:00 on Sunday 14th March.

Results:

Results will be collated and posted as soon as possible after the submission deadline on the Sunday evening.

Prizes:

There are no prizes, just hearty congratulations from your teammates. Hopefully.

The results of the first Virtual MAC Team Relay are out. Fifteen members braved freezing conditions and dodged the lockdown hordes to submit a time. Fastest male was David Gardiner in 10:07, while the fastest female was Lauren Wyllie in 12:58. But which team won…?

Team Chatelherault were the victors – congratulations to Nick, Scott, Lauren and Phyllis!

Full results below:

1st – Team Chatelherault
Nick Hughes – 10:57
Scott Dickson – 11:36
Lauren Wyllie – 12:58
Phyllis Hands – 14:54
Total Time – 50:25

2nd – Team Ravenscraig
Alan Strang – 11:42
Robert Pattinson – 12:44
Gillian McCaffer – 13:21
Miranda Richmond – 13:23
Total Time – 51:10

3rd – Team Bellziehill
David Gardiner – 10:07
Scott Kelman – 12:55
Steven McCaw – 13:08
Charlotte Hands – 16:10
Total Time – 52:20

DNF – Team Furlongs
John Hughes – 12:15
Brian McLinden – 12:17
Clare Barr – 14:12
Alastair Loudon – –:–
Total Time – Incomplete

Many thanks to all who participated in this event. A second virtual team relay has been pencilled in for mid-March, this time over the 5k distance.