7th October 2016
Perth Road Runners had a busy weekend starting on Saturday with the parkrun takeover, which involved club members carrying out all the volunteering roles and pacing duties. The pacing helped 59 of the 206 runners achieve personal best time for the 5k course. Lorraine Macpherson was also celebrating an impressive 100th parkrun, with the majority being at Perth since it began in 2013. Three road runners finished in the first five, with Michael McConnell second in a new personal best 16:37, Greg Simpson third in 17:32, followed closely by David Knight in 17:35. Marianne McLevy 22:29, Cheryl Gahan 24:20, Ruth Johnson 25:01 and Stephanie Boyd 26:37 also achieved PBs. Perth Road Runners recognise that parkrun has had a huge influence on the clubs recent popularity, so it’s only fair the club repays the favour by helping out.
The Great Scottish Run took place in Glasgow where seven roadrunners completed the 10K and 24 competed in the half marathon. It was perfect running conditions, starting in the mist at George Square and finishing in warm sunshine on Glasgow Green. The 10K saw Michael Carroll finishing in an impressive 6th overall with 31:39. Mark Crawford finished in 53rd position with a new personal best time 36:23. Stephane Reid also achieved a great new personal best finishing 1:01:04, taking seven minutes off her previous best. Sally Newton finished closely behind in 1:01:18.
The huge field of runners and great support from the locals inspired the following green vests to achieve new best times: Duncan Ryan 1:19:29, Kevin Riddell 1:22:18, Stuart Fraser 1:26:00, Arlene McWalter 1:38:38, Stewart Dallas 1:40:11, Holly Byron-Staples 1:48:43, Nina Roberts 1:53:08, Gillian Smith1:56:43 and Caroline Hogarth 2:08:19. Other results were Kevin Rogers 1:20:31, Allison Brown 1:57:51, Ronnie Glen 1:26:01 and Stewart Reid 1:34:41.
On Sunday, Simon Grieshaber completed his tenth Marathon at Chester where he finished the historic and scenic course with a new personal best time of 3:25:59. Paul Grace 4:12 also completed Kielder Forest marathon where the route was almost entirely off-road for the duration of the 26.2mile course in Northumberland.
Tuesday is the usual club night meeting at Bells for a 6:30pm start. All new runners welcome. The darker nights mean Thursday nights move back to the George Duncan arena for track sessions.
14th October 2016
This week four club members travelled to Dunoon on the Cowal peninsula for a 55 kilometre ultramarathon with stunning scenery around Loch Eck. Kevin Rogers was first green vest back in an impressive 4:37:47, finishing third overall while averaging 8:10 minutes per mile. Gillian Smith 7:23:45, Margaret McIntosh 8:10:56 and Caroline Ness 8:40:50 also completed the arduous course.
Stuart Robertson headed statesidefor the Chicago marathon, one of the world marathon majors. Finishing in a stunning time of 2:49:08, Stuart was 320th overall in crisp autumnal conditions among over 40,000 runners.
At the weekly parkrun on Saturday morning in the North Inch park, 30 club members participated in the 180 strong field. Greg Simpson crossed the line first in 17:28, with Kevin Riddell 18:00 and Martin McEwen 18:13 third and fourth respectively. There were also new personal bests for Heledd Rheinallt 22:38, Gillian Douglas 22:48 and Scott Connor 23:42. Four club members also volunteered. Roberta Hewitt took part in Harrogate parkrun, finishing in 30:51.
Mark Crawford completed Oxford half-marathon in 1:23:08 on a flat course in unseasonal warm conditions. Elsewhere, Robin Wombill finished the undulating Croydon 10k in 1:07:28.
On Thursday 6th October, there was a strong turnout by club members to celebrate Ben Smith finishing his challenge of 401 consecutive marathons. The club raised £160 for the anti-bullying charities, Stonewall and Kidscape.
Tuesday is the usual club night meeting at Bells for a 6:30pm start. All new runners welcome. The darker nights mean Thursday nights move back to the George Duncan arena for track sessions.
21st October 2016
This week it was the first cross country league meeting of the season in Stirling. A strong team represented the club with the women’s team finishing 6th overall in the following order: Angela Irving, Sonjia Crow, Claire Douglas and Fiona Manson. The men’s team comprised: Myles Bax, David Knight, Mark Crawford, Kevin Rogers, Simon Grieshaber, David Sinclair and Richard Ward, finishing 15th overall on the tough, muddy course.
On Sunday, nine club members travelled north for the Aviemore half-marathon. In a field of over 1200 runners, the mixed terrain race started at Badaguish, following trails around Loch Morlich before finishing back on the tarmac in Aviemore. Sonjia Crow was first green vest home in an impressive personal best time of 1:34:03. Nicola Crowe 1:42:15, Hugh Daly 1:48:56, Ella Webley 1:49:20 and Gillian Smith 2:14:26 followed. Eleanor Paul achieved a new personal best time of 2:14:31, with Caroline Hogarth 2:15:11, Fiona Morrison 2:36:14 and Robin Wombill 2:36:13 completing the line-up.
Jean McCulloch was the sole green vest to take part in the Aviemore 10K, which followed the second part of the half marathon route along the road.
The wet and windy conditions on Saturday did not prevent twelve hardy road runners taking part in parkrun. Stuart Fraser was first green vest home in 20:08 and 8th overall. Lorraine Macpherson was 2nd female overall in 22:13. On tour, Kevin Riddell finished 3rd overall at Ayr parkrun in 19:58, while slightly further afield, Ronnie Glen finished 13th at Clermont waterfront parkrun, Florida in 21:01.
Michael McConnell ran his first marathon at the TCS Amsterdam Marathon, starting and finishing at the Olympic stadium in sunny and calm conditions. He finished the fast and scenic race in 2:51:49.
Stuart Fraser was the sole green vest at the Lochore 10K, taking place at the Lochore Meadows country park in Fife. Stuart finished strongly in 9th position with a time of 39:31
Daile Sipple, Duncan Ryan and David Wood travelled west for the Loch Rannoch Marathon, Daile finished 4:52:37 and David 4:45:21. Duncan, who was in 9th place at the time, unfortunately had to withdraw after mile 18 due to injury.
Tuesday night is the usual club night meeting at Bells sports centre for a 6:30pm start. New runners welcome. Thursday night is now at George Duncan arena for a track session.
28th October 2016
The main event for the Perth Road Runners this week was the cross country in Cumbernauld. On Saturday 22nd October, where two teams from the club competed in the Scottish National XC Relays, joining 193 other teams in the muddy hills of Cumbernauld. It was the most successful turnout for the event in 24 years. The Senior Men’s team: Michael McConnell, Myles Bax, Richard Ward, Mark Dunn, finished in 58th place with 58:54.The Master’s team finished in 59:19 and in 7th place overall. The masters comprised of Dave Knight, Ronnie Glen, Kevin Rogers and Mark Crawford.
Earlier, at a damp and cool parkrun, 31 road runners lined up at the North Inch in a 172 strong field. Alistair Gudgin was third overall and first club member home in a new personal best time of 17:34. Other personal best times included, David Sinclair finishing in 12th place with 19:25, Colin Wilcox 21:28, Stuart Neillands 21:42 and Scott Connor 23:14. Caroline Jones was first female home in 20:52.
Parkrun tourism saw two road runners travel to the capital for the Edinburgh parkrun. Kevin Rogers ran the fast, flat route in a new personal best time of 18:05, finishing 10th overall in a field of 577 runners, also achieving his gold standard over the five-kilometre distance in the process. Gillian Smith also achieved an impressive new personal best time of 23:37. In Dundee, Stewart Reid finished 12th overall out of 137 runners at Camperdown park in 21:24.
Tuesday night is the usual club night meeting at Bells sports centre for a 6:30pm start. New runners always welcome. The Thursday night session is now at George Duncan arena for track intervals throughout the winter.