2nd September 2016
The running weekend started with three road runners heading inland for the Killin 10k race. Sonjia Crowe was third female overall, finishing in 43:02. Mark Crawford was first club member home in 38:29, closely followed by Kevin Riddell 38:37.
There was another good turnout at Perth parkrun with 22 road runners lined up alongside over 200 runners. Michael Carroll was first home again in 15:49 and Michael McConnell was second in 16:48.
Further afield, Mike Dales 23:26 enjoyed some parkrun tourism in York. Claire Douglas 22:02 finished ninth overall and first female at Camperdown, Dundee while Margaret McIntosh 26:07 travelled to St Andrews. On the 24th of August, Neil Muir took part in the Sessay Swift 6k at Sowerby, North Yorkshire, finishing in 23:51.
Five green vests travelled east on Sunday 28th August to compete in the Barry Buddon half-marathon, a fast race set within the Army grounds at Barry Links. Conditions were challenging, humid to start with, running into a headwind, then finishing with torrential rain. Simon Grieshaber was first road runner home finishing in 1:33:28, followed by Kenneth GN Stewart 1:44:42, Bob Brown 1:46:23. Jilly Morris was first club female home in 2:10:18 followed by Eleanor Paul with a new PB 2:18:22.
Back in Perth, ten road runners raced the annual 10K along the banks of the River Tay. Duncan Ryan was first club male home and 6th overall and 1st in his age category in 37:13 followed closely by Stuart Fraser 39:51, Martin McEwan 41:17, Brian Galletly 42:19, Stewart Reid 43:50 and Garry Marshall 1:03:20. Claire Douglas was first club female home in 42:48, 3rd female overall and 1st in her age group. Marianne McLevy 46:25, Amy Greig 48:16, Tessa Ward 52:19, Jane Dernie 1:02:21 and Kate Marshall 01:03:20 completed the line-up.
Finally, three Green vests travelled west to Berneray in the Outer Hebrides for the Two Islands Half marathon. Kevin Kelly was 5th overall in 1:31:59, followed by Peter Ritchie 1:55:03 and Heledd Rheinlatt 1:57:17.
9th September 2016
Wednesday 31st August was the final race in the ‘Hills are Alive’ series, concluding with a trip to Fife for six road runners to race in the Gateside Gallop 4 mile multi-terrain race. Dave Sinclair was first club member home and 19th overall in 29:39, followed closely by Angela Irving, first club female, in 29:46. Stewart Reid 29:58, Sonjia Crow 30:39, Richard Ward 30:41 and Barry Campbell 33:30 completed the club line-up. Stewart Reid is the male series winner and the only runner to complete all the series races, followed in second by Dave Sinclair, who completed four of the five events. Sonjia Crow tops the women’s table, completing four of the five races, followed by Claire Douglas who finished two.
It was another busy week at parkrun. The first Saturday of the month meant it was pacers day. Thirty-two green vests lined up at the North Inch, where Michael Carroll finished second with a new personal best time of 15:34. Caroline Jones was first female to cross the line, also in a new personal best time of 19:53, perfectly paced by Duncan Ryan. Other PB runs included Stephane Reid 28:49, Julie Reid 25:23, Marlena Nowaczyk 22:32 and Dave Sinclair 19:35.
Five club members travelled to Tiree for an energy-sapping 35 mile ultramarathon. Involving one lap of the Hebridean island, the mixed terrain route involved sandy beaches, roads, trail and sheep tracks! Gillian Smith was first club member home in a time of 7:59:03, followed by Margaret McIntosh 8:57:12 and Caroline Ness 9:19:42. Paul Grace and Daile Sipple completed the mammoth course as a relay team, finishing in 6:01:34.
Tuesday night is the usual club run, meeting at Bells for a 6:30 start. New runners should turn up sharp to ensure they can be paired with runners of a similar pace.
16th September 2016
Another busy week of racing began with parkrun on Saturday 10th September where 26 green vests participated in a field of 189 runners. Michael Carroll was first over the line in 15:39. Lorraine Macpherson was first PRR female and fourth female overall in 22:15. Bob Brown and Stephanie Boyd achieved new Personal Best times finishing in 22:57 and 27:00 respectively.
Parkrun tourism took two road runners to Glasgow. Kevin Riddell was eighth overall in a field of 400 at Pollok parkrun, finishing in a time of 19:15, while Ronnie Glen got 22:35 at Springburn.
On Sunday 11th September, 20 Road Runners travelled North through Glenshee to Braemar for the the seventh championship race of the season. The half “Braemarathon” starts in Braemar at the Stadium then follows a scenic route out to Linn of Dee and returns on the same undulating road. Stuart Robertson won the race with an excellent time of 1:17:51. As one fifth of the field were Perth Road Runners, the organisers also gave out prizes for the first male and female road runner home. Stuart picked up the male prize and Sonjia Crow received the female prize, finishing in 1:37:0, third female overall. Brian Galletly finished first in his age category with a new personal best t of 1:37:41. Maria Dale also picked up first in her age category with a time of 2:07:49. Both Caroline Hogarth and Eleanor Paul took 10minutes off last years’ time finishing 2:16:57 and 2:17:33 respectively, with Eleanor gaining a PB in the process.
Elsewhere, Martin McEwan, Ella Webley and Caroline Malloy headed south to Newcastle. Alongside nearly 60,000 runners, including Olympian Mo Farrah, they ran in the 13.1 mile Great North Run. In warm, humid conditions, Martin finished in 1:29:26, Ella in 1:53:17 and Caroline 2:22.
After parkrun on the Saturday, Ronnie Glen headed further west to the Isle of Cumbrae to compete in a 10mile road race around the island. In challenging, windy conditions Ronnie finished 23rd overall in 1:06:40. Also sporting the green vest, Stuart Wyllie finished 1:31:02.
Finally, four road runners took to the streets for the Stirling 10K starting at the Forthbank Stadium. Michael Carroll finished 16th in a blistering 32:16. Sarah Douglas was first female road runner in 39:17. Angela Irving finished 42:22 and Gillian Douglas achieved her first sub-50 time with 49:13.
Tuesday is the usual club run, leaving Bells at 6:30 sharp. New runners always welcome.
23rd September 2016
The eighth race in the Perth road runners club championship took place on Sunday 20th at the Pitlochry 10k. Nearly 50 road runners completed the scenic multi-terrain course, finishing at the festival theatre. Two green vests finished in the podium places, with Myles Bax first in 34:06 and Michael McConnell third in 34:40. Stuart Robertson was first over-40 across and sixth overall in 36:08. Sonjia Crow was third female in 43:59. Margaret McIntosh 55:24 and Maria Dale 55:54 were second and third in their age categories, with Bob Brown 46:19 finishing second in the over-70s. In the 5k event, Lorraine McPherson was first senior female in 23:30.
Elsewhere, six road runners competed in the Scottish half marathon. The blustery conditions meant the runners faced a tough headwind in the final miles along the coast before finishing in Musselburgh. Duncan Ryan 1:21:51 was first club member home, followed by Kevin Rogers 1:23:25, Martin McEwen 1:24:19, Sarah Douglas 1:28:47, David Wood 1:52:39 and Peter Ritchie 1:55:16.
The clubs annual target zero competition took place at the North Inch on Thursday 15th. Rather than first across the line, the winner is the runner who is closest to their predicted time for the 4.7mile course. John Rudd completed the course within 13 seconds of his pre-race prediction of 37:25 and took first place, followed by David Stokoe and Ronnie Glen who finished within 17 and 18 seconds of their predictions. The wooden spoon went to Stuart Fraser who ran over 5 minutes quicker than predicted.
Paul Grace travelled to Slovenia to participate in the Red Bull 400 race, a 400 metre race involving a steep elevation of 200 metres up a hill previously used as a ski-jump. Paul finished the extreme challenge in 9:02, 191st out of 493 and 4th British entrant.
At the splash‘n’dash race at West Sands in St Andrews on the Friday night, two green vests completed the 4.25 mile course involving two laps of a beach and over 100 metres in the North Sea. Kevin Rogers 26:31 was fourth overall and first over-40, whilst Neil Muir 28:37 was eighth overall and first over-55.
It was another busy Saturday morning with 21 green vests at Perth Parkrun and three carrying out some tourism. Michael Carroll finished second in 15:25 with a new PB. Bob Brown and Kate Marshall also achieved personal bests finishing 22:27 and 27:48 respectively. John Rudd finished Falkirk in 24:44, Ronnie Glen 21:32 travelled to St Andrews and Roberta Hewitt finished Mile End parkrun in 33:06.
The usual club night is a Tuesday, meeting at Bells Sport centre for a 6:30pm start. All runners welcome.
30th September 2016
Eight green vests travelled North to Inverness on Sunday 25th September to compete in the Baxters Loch Ness Marathon or River Ness 10K. The marathon route begins just outside Fort Augustus and continues through breathtaking scenery, taking you along the south-eastern shores of Loch Ness, across the River Ness, and finishes in the centre of Inverness. Since the inauguration of the marathon, Kenneth G Stewart has run all 15 events, one of only five runners to achieve this and received a commemorative T-shirt and food hamper from the race organisers. Kenneth finished in 3:52:25. David Sinclair was first road runner home in 3:33:18, followed by Ella Webley 4:09:05, Derek Swan 4:22:41, Allison Brown 4:33:29 and James Brown in 4:35:37. John Rudd and Linda O’Neill competed in the 10k race, finishing in 46:46 and 54:19 respectively.
Further afield, Sonjia Crow travelled to Berlin, Germany to compete in one of Europe’s favourite marathons. Starting and finishing the 26.2 mile loop at the Brandenburg Gate, she finished the fast and flat course in 3:33:50.
Sunday also saw three road runners travel to Fife to compete in the East Neuk 10K. Michael Carroll finished in first place with a time of 32:28. Bob Brown 49:14 finished first in his age group, while Maria Dale was delighted to get a new personal best time of 54:47.
Gillian Smith raced to a new PB at Linlithgow 10K on Sunday finishing in 51:49. The race started in Linlithgow High Street and finished in the historic Palace grounds.
Mike Dales and Fiona Manson took part in the inaugural Mamores VK at Kinlochleven. The Vertical Kilometre race involved over 1000 metres of ascent within 5 kilometres. The Mamores event was the first ever Vertical Kilometre race in the UK and went from Kinlochleven to the summit of Na Gruagaichean. Mike finished 93rd in a time of 73:58 and Fiona reached the Munro summit in 85:59 for 128th position.
It was the battle of the Mike’s at parkrun on Saturday with 27 green vests lining up at the North Inch in a field of over 180. Michael Carroll finished first in 15:41 with Michael McConnell 17:20 coming in second . Kevin Rogers was fourth in a new personal best time of 18:17. Julie Ramsay was first female in 20:21. Elsewhere, Robin Wombill took 56 seconds off his time at Banstead Woods parkrun finishing 32:11. Kevin Riddell finished 11th in Edinburgh with 18:37, while David Macfadyen was 5th at Tollcross, Glasgow in 19:43.
Tuesday is the usual club run, leaving Bells at 6:30pm sharp. New runners are always welcome.
