Round Arran Relay 21/07/12



The magnificent 7

Back racing at last!After months of hobbling on with my achillies getting worse and worse i finally went for physio.It turned out to be the best thing i could have done.Within a few weeks the regular stretching,icing,ultrasound and acupunture had the problem under control and it feels great to be running pain free for the first time in ages.Cycling everyday had kept a level of fitness to build on so with a months good training it was time to race again.Been running up some serious hills in Wales and the Lake District over the last 2 weeks so wasnt too worried about doing South 2 at the relay.
So South1 Alex came in 2nd despite being injured and not having raced since the Troon 10k..Alex had a good solid run to finish 2nd by only 4 seconds .
South 2 is a leg i havnt run for about 10 years but   icould remember it being really tough, 5 mins in to this leg i remembered just how tough!.I took the lead from the off knowing there was a few miles climbing from the start and have been feeling good during hill training. Managed to get a wee lead from the Central AC runner in 2nd which i held till about 7 miles after which he sat on my shoulder before getting away as we entered Whiting Bay.All in all a decent return race,everything considered.
South 3 - George in form and race-fit finished 2nd behind another central runner.Big mans going well .
North 1- Jamie running in his 1st race for a while had a battle with Kilmarnocks Ian Connell finishing 3rd to his 2nd with Central Ac again winning this leg.
North 2 -The Bouglie! Pat kinda voluntered to do it and found out just how tough it is finishing 7th.
North 3 -Mark has been going well andhad run this leg 2 years ago.Sadly Mark started felling unwell with a mile to go and collapsed.Thankfully he was ok later and although the team DNF the race the main thing was that he was ok. Jim Sneddon also ran this leg for Killie as we didnt hav enough for another team.Jim had a fine run on the only leg he hadnt run before.

Scottish Masters XC Championship 04/02/12

What a day! Amongst the worst conditions i've raced in (i even kept a hat on the whole race!) with at least one runner getting treatment for hypothermia afterwards but worth it to get my 1st Scottish medal ,bronze for 3rd M40.Felt strong all the way ,was in 5th position until the last lap where i managed to get away from Bog trotters Stevie Cairns.M4o winner and race winner Kerry Wilson finished just in front of Bobby Quinn (who won 1st M45) with 2nd M40 Kenny Richmond finishing 3rd.Knew id done enough to get bronze M40 by time i got to final straight and was pleased to finish 4th ,25 secs behind the overall leader.....i'ts starting to pay off after some serious training.No Davy Millar meant no chance of a team medal for Irvine but Alex Allardyce had a great run to finish 10th (7th M40).

Cross Country Season over for me....great way to finish

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