Club News
April 28 SYAL squad for Wishaw
This Sunday, sees a Scottish Young Athletes' League meeting at Wishaw, in which a North Lanarkshire development squad will be competing.
The following MAC athletes have been chosen to participate. Please meet at 11am.
- U13 girls - Jenna Sharp, Mhairi Hendry, Stacey McArdle, Hannah Ferguson, Sara McDonald
- U13 boys - Jamie Crossan, Daniel McLindon, David McIsaac, Gregor Donnelly
- U15 girls - Ilona Clark
- U15 boys - Lewis Gibb, Christopher Wattson, David McCrum, Jamie Hendry
- U17 girls - Fiona Parkin
- U17 boys - Scott Dickson, Richard Martin, Billy Clarkson, Chris King
These names include reserves who may not compete on the day but who are an important part of the team. A reserve would be used in the event of an injury to another athlete.
Coach Bob McCrum said: "The event starts at 12 noon with the relays scheduled to start at 4pm but can be much later.
"Please be patient with your coaches, they are not running the event. Look at the event timetable on the MAC notice board."
The other two SYAL events are June 1 at Grangemouth and July 6 at Linwood. Please let your coach know if you can't attend.
There will be other opportunities for athletes not on this list to get into the squad.
April 27 Spring rays greet April guest runners
What must have been one of the best days of the year for running greeted the group who took part in the delayed April guest run today.
Warm sunshine bathed the runners from the start at Bellahouston Leisure Centre and into Pollok Park, taking in a few of Glasgow's best-known tourist attractions on the way.
They went past the Palace of Art, House for an Art Lover, the Burrell Collection and Pollok House, before venturing into the trails in the middle of Pollok Park.
There were, of course, a couple of moments when the group became disorientated (in keeping with the MAC tradition) but after a while they found their way back onto the road out of Pollok Park and back to Bellahouston Leisure Centre.
The total run distance worked out at 7.35 miles, which seemed to fly by in the fine weather.
If anyone has any thoughts for the next guest run, please feel free to raise them.
April 26 MAC two meet at schools event
Two MAC members found themselves running against each other at the Scottish Primary Schools' Cross-Country Championships in Kirkcaldy today.
Mhairi Hendry and Sophie Coyle competed in the Primary 7 girls' race over a mile-long course.
Mhairi bettered her performance in the equivalent race last year and came eighth out of a field of about 180 on a time of 7mins 44secs.
Sophie was 116th with a time of 9mins 30secs.
April 21 Better late than never for April guest run
Don't forget that the re-arranged April guest run takes place this Sunday.
It's on a course which will be between 6.5 and 8 miles, beginning and ending at Bellahouston Leisure Centre, Glasgow, and going round Pollok Park.
The plan is to meet at the Boathouse at 9.30am or 10am at Bellahouston Leisure Centre. You'll find directions here on Google Maps.
All the details are in an information leaflet which you can find here.
It would be helpful for numbers to know who's coming so could you please put your name on the Message Board if you can make it?
April 21 TV fame beckons for MAC
Set your Sky + boxes or your videos for 11.30am on Sunday May 4 to record Landward on BBC One.
The programme is doing an item about the increase in running in the Scottish countryside and you may well see a few familiar faces in it.
April 21 Running life begins at 40!
By our man at Wishaw Track on Saturday morning, who sent the following report on the "Age Groupers' Challenge"
Great turnout and very competitive. The results were as follows: 1st - Forties team of Scott Marriott, Michael Hampson, Kenny Muir and Benny Hands (pictured).
2nd - Twenties team of Russell McCoull x 2, Stewart Riley and Nick Hughes.
3rd - Thirties team of Gerald Hartley x 2, Jim Riley and Matt Graham.
4th - Female team of Jessie Miller, Elizabeth Martin, Mae McIsaac and Carole Munro.
5th - Teenagers' team of Scott Dickson, Richard Martin, Daniel Hughes and Chris King.
6th - Fifties team of John Hughes, Jim Tracey, William Martin and Gordon Murray.
It was a very exciting race with the lead changing hands three or four times on the last lap, with Benny Hands eventually finishing just ahead of Russell McCoull.
The female team just lost out on third place when Gerald Hartley passed Carole Munro in the final 60 metres.
The fifties team finished a disappointing last and team captain William Martin is said to be inconsolable and considering his future in team management following the poor result.
Seriously though it was a great laugh and all the competitors seemed to enjoy the event.
Special mention should go to Gerald Hartley and Russell McCoull who both ran two legs to make up the numbers.
April 20 MAC athletes make their mark in Dumfries
Motherwell AC athletes picked up 11 medals at the Nithsdale AC open graded meeting in Dumfries today, with a few PBs thrown in for good measure.
Click here for a series of pictures taken at the event by Robert Gibb.
Under 9 boys |
Event/Time/Place |
Bobby Crossan |
Cricket ball throw/3rd |
Under 11 boys |
Event/Time/Place |
Lewis Donnelly |
80m/13.1secs/11th |
Lewis Donnelly |
600m/2mins 05secs/5th |
Under 13 boys |
Event/Time/Distance/Height/Place |
Jamie Crossan |
100m/15.3secs/6th |
Ronyn Gibb |
100m/17.7secs/11th |
Gregor Donnelly |
200m/33secs/4th |
Jamie Crossan |
200m/34.2secs/6th (PB) |
Gregor Donnelly |
Long jump/3.62m/4th (PB) |
Ronyn Gibb |
Long jump/2.12m/10th |
Jamie Crossan |
High jump/1m 20cms/3rd |
Under 13 girls |
Event/Time/Place |
Mhairi Hendry |
800m/2mins 43secs/4th
|
Under 15 boys |
Event/Time/Distance/Height/Place |
Lewis Gibb |
100m |
Lewis Gibb |
200m/24.06secs (outdoor PB)/2nd |
Jamie Hendry |
1500m/5mins 19secs/6th |
David McCrum |
Javelin/32.35m (PB)/1st |
David McCrum |
Discus/17.37m/2nd |
Under 15 girls |
Event/Time/Place |
Ilona Clark |
200m/29secs/3rd |
Ilona Clark |
800m/2mins 36secs/2nd |
Under 17 men |
Event/Height/Time/Place |
Billy Clarkson |
High jump/1.45m/1st= |
Billy Clarkson |
1500m/5mins 18secs/2nd |
Under 17 women |
Event/Time/Distance/Place |
Fiona Parkin |
300m/49.9secs/3rd |
Fiona Parkin |
Long jump/4m 26cms/3rd |
April 16 Edinburgh Marathon 'contract' details
The organisers of the Edinburgh Marathon have emailed the club a letter which states in more detail what would be required of members to earn money on the day.
You can see the letter here.
As explained below on Club News, if you'd like to volunteer, please put your name down on the Message Board.
All the names gathered on the board by the time of the deadline of May 5 will go forward on our volunteers' sheet.
April 15 Look back at pics from the Tom Scott
Thanks very much to David Bauchop for flagging up the pictures he took at the Tom Scott on Sunday.
This is one of them, showing (from left) Michael Hampson, Nick Hughes, Russell McCoull and Gerald Hartley.
You can see more of David's pictures, showing more MAC runners, at roadrunpics.com.
He also has images from other road races and if you look at his Alloa Half Marathon pics, you'll see a few familiar faces.
April 14 Volunteers sought for Edinburgh Marathon
The search is on for club members to help out at the Edinburgh Marathon, which will give our own runners a boost and could bring some money into our bank account.
The organisers need about 1,000 volunteers to pitch in on Sunday May 25 in a wide range of tasks such as course marshal, finish funnel crew and water station.
See the whole list on the Edinburgh Marathon volunteers' page.
In return, volunteers receive a t-shirt, lunch, an invitation to a post-race barbeque and massages or skin treatments.
If the club provides a group of 15 or more plus a team leader, the organisers will pay MAC £250.
Phyllis Hands manned an energy station at the 17-mile mark last year and has signed up to do the same this time round.
Phyllis will be driving to the gathering point at Musselburgh Racecourse, leaving Motherwell at 6.45am. She will have space for four other people.
Mark Coyle has also signed up and will be driving through as well. He has space for another three.
If you want to put your name down, you can do so on the club's Message Board.
April 14 Fight to the finish in Tom Scott
Only 10 seconds separated the club's two fastest men in the fourth Road Runners' Championship event, the Tom Scott 10-mile race in Strathclyde Park yesterday.
Benny Hands pipped Brian McLinden to the post, finishing 28th and 30th respectively out of 171 competitors.
Carole Munro was MAC's first woman across the line.
Full results here and club results below.
Men |
Time |
Benny Hands |
1.01.44 |
Brian McLinden |
1.01.54 |
Gerard Hartley |
1.05.34 |
Russell McCoull |
1.06.00 |
Michael Hampson |
1.09.41 |
William Martin |
1.15.42 |
Donald McCaffer |
1.15.56 |
Peter Knudsen |
1.18.41 |
Women |
Time |
Carole Munro |
1.12.09 |
Elaine Jamieson |
1.19.12 |
Phyllis Hands |
1.21.53 |
Jill Strachan |
1.22.08 |
Elizabeth Martin |
1.25.53 |
April 14 And Robert makes it two in London ...
Apologies to Robert Owen, who also ran the London Marathon but slipped under the website's radar.
Robert finished on 3.47.09. His split times are here.
April 13 MAC man tackles London Marathon
Only one MAC member braved the London Marathon today.
Stevie Murdoch made the trip south despite suffering from a heavy cold earlier in the week and finished in a time of 3.03.
That was down slightly on his 2.56 time in 2007.
See his split times here.
April 5 Relay good time in Livingston
The club entered four teams in today's National Road Relays in Livingston.
Two men's teams and two women's teams participated along with clubs from across Scotland on two courses, one at 3.3 miles, the other 5.85 miles.
The swirling wind made conditions more difficult along with the uphill parts of the course, which covered mainly roads and paths.
Have a look at the long course route and its profile.
The overall results show that the men's Motherwell A team was 30th out of 47 complete teams and the men's B team was 43rd out of the same number of teams with 13 incomplete teams coming after them.
The women's A team was 14th out of 29 complete teams and the B team 29th out of 29, followed by eight incomplete teams.
Jo Clark was upbeat about the outcome: "I think that's pretty fair and actually we should use it as a motivator for others to put their pride aside and step out for big race meets like this.
"We certainly shouldn't feel embarrassed to be there - quite the contrary - I think it shows how gutsy our runners really are!"
Full men's and full women's results.
Each competing member received five Road Runners' Championship points.
Men A |
Time |
Stuart Riley |
18.46 |
Alan Tait |
38.00 |
Scott Marriott |
19.29 |
Benny Hands |
34.43 |
John Hughes |
19.02 |
Brian McLinden |
36.11 |
Women A |
Time |
Cheryl McAlpine |
22.51 |
Jessie Miller |
38.29 |
Carole Munro |
21.38 |
Jo Clark |
40.17 |
Men B |
Time |
Michael Hampson |
21.02 |
Gerald Hartley |
38.11 |
Nick Hughes |
20.43 |
Mark Coyle |
43.42 |
Stan Kavanagh |
21.20 |
Donald McCaffer |
44.50 |
Women B |
Time |
Anne Hughes |
26.59 |
Mae McIsaac |
44.53 |
Catherine Wotherspoon |
26.28 |
Elaine Jamieson |
46.01 |
April 5 Second date change for guest run
The April guest run has been moved again, this time to Sunday April 27.
The problem this time was that some members who wanted to take part in the event had entered the Great Edinburgh Run 10k on Sunday May 4.
This is the "final" date for the guest run.
April 3 A moment in time
This is the amazing moment during the senior men's race at the World Cross-Country Championships in Holyrood Park when Kenenisa Bekele lost his shoe - and John Hughes looked on in disbelief.
Bekele was leading the pack when his ankle was caught and his shoe came off as they went round a bend. His icy glare at the other runners tells its own story.
John's reaction as he cheered the runners with Peter Knudsen was captured on camera by Harald Bartl, from Kilmarnock Harriers, who kindly sent this and other great pictures to Motherwell AC.
Harald also caught Jill Cherry during the relays on the Saturday and you can see all of his pictures on flickr.
April 2 April guest run postponed
This weekend's guest run has been postponed until the first Sunday in May.
The decision was taken because the number of people able to take part had been reduced by the Easter holidays.
The new date is Sunday May 4. All the other details remain unchanged.
April 1 Spring arrival brings field programme
This week sees the beginning of the Field Event/Hurdles coaching programme, which runs until September.
The sessions will be led by Joanne Nicoll on Wednesday evenings at Wishaw Track and will take the same format as the Shine Awards, with groups moving round the different events.
The session on April 2 is javelin with long jump and the triple jump the following week.
The full programme is here and athletes or parents wanting more information should speak to Joanne.