Scottish Masters Road Relay 29/01/12

As defending champs we had high hopes going into this race but things never go quite to plan! With David Millar pulling out at the last we were really up against it ,especially with Cambuslang fielding a very strong line up .After a last minute re-jigg Mark Livingstone stepped into the A team just weeks after his 40th birthday. On the first leg for Irvine Alex Allardyce got us off to a great start finishing 4th .Mark had a fine run on leg 2 to finish 5th before handing over to Tony McKnight, who had been nursing injuries in the weeks leading up to the race but still had a great run to keep us in 5th.I had a pretty good run clocking a time of 19.09 which was over a minute quicker than the year before and 6th fastest of the day.Out of the 5 faster than me 4 were 35+ with only one over 40 .Gave me a boost for the Scottish Masters the next week.....

Cyclists vs Harriers 18/12/11

Doof!!!! Fell a stoater 2 days before this one so wasnt sure if i would make it due to sare knees ,ribs etc.Actually felt alright on the day but didnt have as good a run as last week.5th runner to finish....good training if nothing else! If its as icy for the Turkey trot on boxing day as it was today will give it a miss!

West District Cross Country Champs 10/12/11

A good day ,for myself and for the club .Finished 25th in a strong field and ,with David 12th place and Alex 34th ,Irvine AC took 1st Vets prize from a very strong Cambuslang Team.My first race for 2 months so wasnt sure how i'd get on but knew training had been going really well.Got a decent start and felt strong all the way .Got a few races over xmas now to sharpen up, back to Irvine Moor again next week for the Cyclists vs Harriers......

West Districts XC Relay Coatbridge 08/10/11

A decent enough run on a wet miserable day but the sore throat i had was to develope into a full chest infection straight after this .Probably shouldnt have run but hindsights a wonderful thing.......
Meant i missed the Ayrshires the next week...aaaaarghhhhh! Well done to Killie for winning .

George Cummings Relay 24/09/11

The worst i've ever felt going into a race! Came down with something after training at the club tuesday night and didnt run a step til i got to Houston on the Sat. Throw in James also being ill = no sleep for a few nights and an 8 hour warm-up courtesy of Royal Mail pre-race meant i wasnt expecting to be flying.Turns out i ran ok time wise but felt hellish.Jamie got us of to a great start in 4th place,handing over to David who had a stormer taking us up to 2nd.Pat then ran solid for the 3rd leg finishing 4th which i maintained . Never saw results so dont know how Irvines other 2 teams were placed but it was good to see George back racing again for the 1st time since Feb.McAndrews straight from work next week before the XC relays for the following 3 weeks.Luckily i've got time off for the West,Ayrshire and Scottish relays so will get a wee chance to run them fresh

Around Cumbrae 10.25 Mile Race 11/09/11

4th place in 57.20.Miles 5 to 9 in to the wind.Best ive felt in this race for many a year.Ran nearly all of it on my own but got into a good pace early on and didnt find the wind too much of a problem round the far side of the island.Anyway, won the Ayrshire 10 mile championship and was first vet.Irvine also were first Ayshire team .A weekend off next before the relays....

Marymass 10k 21/08/11

Looks like i'm the winner breaking the tape here( but its just a fault in the picture!) A decent enough run considering i've been on hols and not trained that hard since the Arran relay .5th place in 34.54 ........fastest for 5 years! Time to sharpen up for the relays.........