February 2017

10th February 2017

The running weekend began with pacer day at Perth parkrun. Nine road runners took on pacing duties covering times from 19 to 31 minutes to assist other parkrunners in chasing new personal best times. Another 27 green vests took part in the run, with David Knight first home in a field of 249 runners in 17:33, while Caroline Jones was second female overall in 20:07. Elsewhere Kevin Riddell finished third in a field of 280 runners at Livingston in a time of 18:25.

The main event of the weekend was the annual club award presentation night at the Royal George hotel, where achievements during the past year were celebrated with medals and silverware, followed by a ceilidh led by local band Can You Reel It. Sonjia Crow and Michael McConnell were the overall club Championship winners.  Holly Bryon-Staples and Kevin Rogers were second, with Sue Jones and Richard Ward in third place. A record 28 runners completed the championship, which involved completing seven from a series of ten races, varying in length from five miles to half marathon. Many runners also undertook a marathon. Fiona Morrison achieved her tenth championship medal in consecutive years.

Julie Ramsay and Stuart Robertson triumphed in the summer series, with Gillian Smith and Stuart Fraser in second. Julie Reid and Ronnie Glen came third, while Fiona Muir, Fiona Morrison and Jean McCullough all completed the series, receiving a commemorative medal for their efforts. The challenging “hills are alive series” was won by Sonjia Crow and Stewart Reid.

Also presented on the night were T-shirts to the 46 club members who completed the marcothon event, which involved running at least 5km or 25 minutes every day in December. Quite an achievement by everyone involved. The group ran an incredible combined total of 5999 miles during the challenge.

The following morning, seven hardy runners travelled to Angus for the tough Forfar multi terrain half marathon. The route comprised a variety of running surfaces including roads, trail and a boggy section with icy water as much as knee deep. Stuart Robertson was first green vest home in fourth place overall with 1:23:48, also winning 1st place in his age category, V40. Kevin Rogers in ninth place, and second V40, with 1:28:20, followed him closely. Richard Ward was third green vest home in 1:37:43, followed by Ewan Jelly in 1:58:35. Bob Brown finished in a time of 2:02:11 and was first in the over 70 category. Peter Ritchie completed the men’s line up in 2:07:00. Gillian Smith was the sole female club representative, finishing one place behind Peter in 2:07:42.  A successful outing was complete with the men’s team being awarded second prize overall.

The usual club meet is Tuesday at Bells Sports centre for a 6:30 start. All new runners welcome.

Club championship winners
Marcothon finishers

3rd February 2017

The weekend began with Hugh Daly and Maria Dale travelling west to race the Buchlyvie 10K along an out and back mainly off road course. Hugh finished in 48:23 whilst Maria finished second in her age category with a time of 55:07.

The final National Masters cross-country took place at Camperdown Park, Dundee.  On a very cold, foggy and snowy day, the men’s masters team finished 4th overall, an impressive achievement in such a tough event. Michael Carroll finished 6th place in 28:34, followed by Stuart Robertson 30:12, David Knight 30:20, Duncan Ryan 31:22, Mark Crawford 31:41, Kevin Rogers 33:17, Richard Ward 35:43, Simon Grieshaber 36:30, Grant Wooler 36:30 and Mike Dales 41:10. The Perth Road Runners were confirmed as the fourth best men’s masters cross-country team in Scotland! The women’s team comprising Fiona Manson 32:44, Tessa Ward 34:44 and Linda O’Neill 37:47 finished in an impressive 19th place.

It was another busy parkrun weekend with 22 green vests lining up in a field of 204 runners who were undeterred by the icy conditions at the North Inch. Mike McConnell finished in third place in 18:21, followed closely by Stuart Fraser in 6th place in 18:45. Gillian McGuire was first female green vest and second female overall in 22:47 with Lorraine MacPherson finishing 6th female in 23:56.

Elsewhere Gillian Smith finished Ayr park run in a time of 29:55 and 5th overall female.  Angela Irving also finished 5th female overall at Falkirk in 21:27. Alistair Gudgin was 3rd overall in a time of 17:30 at Livingston in a field of 280, while Mark Dunn finished 9th overall in a time of 18:22 at Victoria parkrun, Glasgow. Further afield, Kirsty Bogle travelled to Dublin and finished the Waterstown parkrun in 32:46.

Sunday saw the second race of the Trailbuster series. Neil Muir, David Stokoe and Nicola Crowe travelled to Balbirnie park in Fife to compete on the short but demanding 2.5 mile course which including a challenging hill climb in the middle.  Neil finished first in his age category, maintaining his lead in his series age group with one only race remaining in February.

The racing week finished in warmer climes with Paul Grace and Daile Sipple travelling to Madeira for the Funchal half marathon, finishing the sea front course in 1:41:45 and 2:08:34 respectively.

The club meets every Tuesday at Bells Sports centre and Thursday’s at the George Duncan arena for track intervals. Both nights start at 6:30pm. New runners are always welcome.

Daile and Paul at Madeira half-marathon