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- 8th February 2010
Monthly Sunday Pentlands Run

The monthly run in the Pentland followed a very traditional
route from Hillend, over Caerketton, Alliermur and Castlelaw before returning
via Alliemuir
and Caerketton. On the path from Caerketton to Alleiumuir we came across
a wooden post, which had been buried in the ground, which has been inscribed, “JG
1950”. No one on the run had seen this post before, which would tend
to suggest that it has been recently buried in the ground. Does anyone
know what the memorial commemorates?
Mike O'Connor
- 7th February 2010
Borders Cross-Country Series, Galashiels
The 5th of the Borders Cross Country Series
was held on a new and extremely tough course at Galashiels today. More
like a
hill race with lots of steep climbs across rolling Borders sheep pastures..and
just when you thought it'd be all downhill to the finish, another climb
was thrown in. Should be easy for hill runners - joke ! Hills always
seem harder when running cross-country and you're "supposed " to
run them hard. But a really excellent course and a good day for running.
5 men and 3 women took part from the club. Stewart Whitlie 7th, 1st M45;
Adam Ward 11th, 3rd M45; Andy Spenceley 27th, 1st M50; Gordon Cameron
31st , 3rd M50; Hilary Spenceley 91st, 2nd F50; Pan
Whitlie 102nd, 4th F35; Anne Nimmo 115th, 1st F55; Trevor Wilkinson 123rd
4th Junior. Andy, Hilary and Anne have now won their categories in the
series with one race to go. Results here

- 6th February 2010
South American Duathlon win for Angela
Angela Mudge, currently cycling from Equador to the
bottom of South America, arrived in El Calafate, Patagonia yesterday
and not wasting time, finished
2nd overall and 1st woman in the El Calafate Duathlon today - consisting
of a 20km
mountain bike
plus 15km road run
This was the Carnethy life
member's first race in South America. To quote Angela "my
trainers are knackered and had no bounce for the tarmac nor did my legs
- but at least I bagged a race in Argentina!!" The
race was won by her travelling partner Steve Bottomly (Pudsey).
- 3rd February 2010
The Wednesday Run - a long fast snowy trek
Great run, KB up and over the braids through crisp snow, then down to Fairmilehead - WG's in training so over the bypass and head for Swanston, and finally head back
through snow showers via the Braidburn and fast over Blackford hill for the lovely snow run back down to KB for hot shower + cold pint. As we sat in the union the flakes were
coming down thick and fluffy
- 31st January 2010
Borders Cross-Country Series, Spittal Point, Berwick
On a freezing, but sunny day and with a strong
wind, the 4th race in this winter series was held
at Berwick-upon-Tweed on an out and back course consisting of half
on beach and rocks (and guaranteed wet
feet, with an incoming tide) and half on cliff top paths, normally
muddy but this time frozen. , 6 Carnethies took part, 3 men : Stewart
Whitlie (finishing in 4th place & 1st Over 45), Adam Ward (13th, 4th
Over 45) & Andy
Spenceley (23rd & 1st Over 50) and 3 women : Hilary Spenceley (1st
Over 50 F in 105th) , Pam Whitlie (109th and 3rd F35) and Anne Nimmo
(1st Over 55 F in 115th). So yet again we completed a team, finishing
2nd,
which
leaves us in 3rd place in the series so far. Results here

- 28th January 2010
251 years of Burns celebrated by 51 people

Willie Gibson’s followers were noticeably
more distant this year having seen how ruthless he is with that sgian
dubh!
Or maybe he is practising for
the next time somebody tells him that he is still not slim. Personally,
I was trilled to hear that Jamie Thin also honours the spuds. Hey
Jamie – don’t
fall in love too much – we all know what happened to the millions
of Irish when they grew fond of this marvellous vegetable. Bob Waterhouse’s
Selkirk Grace sounded more like a soliloquy from a Coronation Street
character. Sam Hesling shared some of his mortal memories with us.
It was the first
time I had seen somebody having a go at Olly Stephenson – most club
members are of the understanding that we can’t afford to lose a good
race organiser.

My interest was aroused during Bob Johnson’s toast when he swore that
a woman’s bodily hair and a flymo make a great match. I could see Joanne
Thin trying to distract young Sinead when she heard what came next from Bob.
Joanne’s comical reply was polite in contrast. Bill Gauld once again
used the supper as an annual test of how bad his tinnitus has progressed.
Michael Baldock and Moira Stewart gripped the audience with the piano
and a song. Also well done to Sinead Thin, Margaret Forrest, Richard Lathe,
Mark
James, Gio MacDonald and Hilary Spenceley. An even bigger well done
to all those who offered time to finish the 12 year Highland Park, you have
contributed
too. An open waist coated Nigel Fawthrop (the MC) wound down the proceedings
and wished us well.
Shane
- 24th January 2010
Devil's Burdens Relay, Lomond Hills - Sat 23rd
Jan
This was the first big event of 2010 (just a
few weeks before the next, the Carnethy 5 race) and Carnethy were out
in force with 7 teams of 6 (i.e. an amazing 42 runners from the club
! ); made up of 2 Women's teams, 1 Senior Mens, 2 Men's V40, 1 Men's
V50 and a Carnethy Allstars. All teams got round in good spirits, often
with close racing and competition between teams. The first Carnethy
team home were the Mens V40 A team who were first V40 team and a very
impressive 4th overall (behind Shettleston, Bellahouston and Ochils)
out of the 120 teams running. The Senior Men's team picked up throughout
the race and ended not much further back, then followed the V40 B team
and, close behind, the Allstars team and V50 team. The Women's B team
was in an earlier start half hour ahead of the main field (a perk for
the slower teams! ), and the Women's A team gradually pulled them back
until both Women's teams were neck and neck coming towards the finish
- good incentive for both teams.
Report and photos
(please send your reports to the web team - women's reports very welcome!)
and Results
here.
Carnethy Runners:
Over 40s A (4th and 1st Over 40s): leg 1 Bruce Smith&Steven Fallon;
leg 2 Adrian Davis; leg 3 Stewart Whitlie&Adam
Ward; leg 4 Ronnie Gallagher
Senior A (17th): leg 1 Shane Bouchier&Andy
Millard; leg 2 Sam Hesling; leg 3 Andy Fallas&Matt Davis; leg 4
Cameron Burt
Over 40s B (25th): leg 1 Gregor Heron&Paul Ritchie; leg 2 Gio MacDonald;
leg 3 Olly Stephenson&Mick James; leg 4 Bruce Milne
All Stars (33rd) : leg 1 Willie Gibson&Jamie Hardie; leg 2 Jon
Ascroft; leg 3 Cameron Scott&"Harry" Neil Gilmore; leg 4 Tim Darlow
Over 50s (58th) : leg 1 Bob Johnson&Andy Spenceley; leg 2 Brian
Howie; leg 3 Keith Burns&John Blair Fish; leg 4 Jonathan Whitehead
Women's A (71st & 8th F): leg 1 Jessie Gebhard&Kim Martin; leg
2 Lucy Hailey; leg 3 Jacqui Higginbottom&Helen Bonsor; leg 4 Lucy
Colquhorn
Women's B (102nd): leg 1 Margaret Forrest&Kirsty Loudon; leg 2 Joanne
Anderson; leg 3 Anne Nimmo&Joanne Thin; leg 4 Hilary Spenceley

- 20th January 2010
The Bobscaper - Banshees and Trolls
A splendid evening, with spectres, trolls and
banshees, not to mention incandescent swords, sparklers, and, for good
measure, some sheet ice on the run up to the top of Caerketton.
The organisers report:
Twenty or so runners turned up for this historic event celebrating the
Celtic creatures of the past. Some had a notion of what to expect but
the innocent and naïve were totally clueless. Two teams took to the
slopes to face the wild squawking banshees, screeching kelpies. Some
runners encountered strange hairy beasts which on closer inspection
turned out not to be Willie. The closely contested challenge enabled
intellectual runners to seek out ancient trinkets hidden on the haunted
hill of Caerketton. They were rewarded with bountiful biscuits, brews,
beverages. After a shaky start and some wayward thinking of a younger
member of their team, the trolls recovered to take the trophy and celebrated
by eating not their usual fare of billy goats but the Steading's finest.
Our newest international atheletes were perhaps surprised by the event
and described it as 'very fun' . Will they join us again? We hope so……
Cali, Bob & Mike
- 20th January 2010
Cross-Country Championships 9th January

Carnethy helped out again at the International
Cross-Country, but the marshalls look rather warmer than the runners....
Joseph Ebuya (Kenya) won the men's, followed by countrymates T Mbishei
and E Kipchoge. Kenenisa Bekele of Ethiopa had a disappointing finish
at 4th. First GBR was Chris Thompson, only a minute behind over the
9 km. For the women, double Olympic champion Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia)
was followed by V Cheruiyot (Kenya) and K Gezahegn (Ethiopia) - but
the brits did a grand job, with positions 4,5,7,8 for the home team,
led by Hayley Yelling only 14 seconds behind the winner over the 6 km
course. Commentary here
- 13th January 2010
Wednesday Sledging and Slogging Slowly over the
Snowy Slopes

Two weeks of wednesday night to report on. Last
week with a lethargic feeling brought on by over indulgence over the
festive period, I decided that a night of sledging on The Braids was
more appealing than a run. Somehow my email didn't go out,
I turned up with two sledges and the 7 other runners that turned up
were keen on the idea. After a hard run to the Braids Pistes there was
a bevie of hill reps interseprsed with sledging. A great night out.
Tonight some fourteen of us gathered to run the golf courses. The slushy
snow led to a tiring run, only 5.6 miles but it felt harder. A bit slippy
but still bright with no need for torches. We ran to Braids and circumnavigated
Mortonhall before returning over Braids summit. A very pleasant pint
at KB ended a fine evening.
- 3rd January 2010
Junior Senior Relay - Flotterstone
A good turnout of runners braved the snow for this years relay.
Deep snow caused the courses to be shortened, as going off route led
to deep snow drifts.
The race was won by Lauren's Lurchers.
Results and full report are
here
- 2nd January 2010
Culter Fell on New Year's Day
A recent change in plans allowed me to do something
this year that I've always wanted to do but never had the opportunity
- an ascent of Culter Fell on New Years Day, with the possibility of
being first to the top (easily verified in snow!) So, while revellers
were sleeping off the excess of the night before I jumped into the car
for the short drive to Birthwood at the foot of the fell. My usual training
run is clockwise up King's Beck to the top of the fell then back down
past Fell Shin and the shooting butts. As I left the car I entertained
notions of including Cardon and Chapelgill tops (not the race route!)
but very shortly this plan was kicked into touch, and a few times as
I fell through crust into deep drifts and underlying bogs I wondered
whether I would even get to the top. However, I eventually got there,
stopping to take pictures of Chapelgill and the ice rime features on
the fence that separates Peebleshire and Lanarkshire. Tinto looked awsome
in full snow cover and I must admit to hoping that the 2010 race has
more favourable conditions. On the way down I met the members of the
Upperward Mountaineering Club who were out on their annual New Years
Day trip up the fell, and enjoyed a chat with a few of the group leaders,
turns out a few of them also live in Carluke not far from me. While
they were kitted out in full mountain hill gear I think some may have
had reservations about me being clad in hill running kit, and about
10 years ago I would have felt the same. However, I now believe fast
and light is probably safer in the long run, at least in the Border
hills. Plus, I've been up there many times over the past 30 years, in
all conditions (physical and weather). Having been first up Culter Fell
this year and decade, the next logical move is to be last up on both
occasions. I've already started planning but will leave the choice of
tent and sleeping bag until nearer the time, and as I start another
decade of hill going I hope that it's as much fun as the last three
have been. The picture album is here.
Cheers, Cameron
- 2nd January 2010
Blizzard on the Circo Recce
Michael and I got whited-out on reccying the
circum-edin route, a new track around the other side of the substation
(where on the pub run we all encountered a horrid new fence), more old
railway, local lads artistically active under the bypass, and some scenes
of winter wonderland. Drive back tonight was treacherous sheet ice,
2 mph, a passing runner waved as he sped past, and it's still snowing…
Richard
- 2nd January 2010
Greenmantle Dash
A lower than usual number of runners arrived
in a snowy Broughton for this year's Greenmantle Dash. The course was
also slightly altered, taking a track behind the school thus missing
out the wall and burn crossing, although one bonus of the recent weather
was that the swamp before the first road section was solid. We set off
from the brewery in a heavy snow fall and followed good tracks of compacted
snow across the fields to the foot of the climb. Thankfully the front
runners had broken trail for the rest of us through the deep snow on
Ratchil Hill so the climb wasn't as bad as it looked from the bottom.
A quick descent and the usual dash along Dreva Road saw us back at the
finish behind the village hall, where food and free bottle of Broughton's
finest awaited us.
Six Carnethies took part: Tim Darlow, Bruce Smith, Gregor Heron, Cameron
Scott, Dougie Shiell and Craig Henderson.
Cameron Scott
Results to follow on SHR website.
Not only was I at Greenmantle Dash (accustomed
as I am to being overlooked) but as second M60 I was awarded a small
prize ...
Rod Dalitz
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