February 22, 2010 No snow slow-coaches on MAC Highlands trip
Another year, more snow. These were the conditions this year's intrepid band of Running the Highlands explorers found in the Cairngorms.
Snow covered trails, blue skies and temperatures well below freezing formed the backdrop for another winter weekend on the Balmoral Estate.
Friday saw the runners set off on a challenging hill run through the estate forest and the day ended with hilarity and singing in the common room thanks to Gordon and his guitar.
Saturday was dominated by the 10-mile run through spectacular scenery with the guides pointing out the wildlife en route.
On Saturday night icicles kept the drinks cold and happy people kept the atmosphere warm.
Club chairman William Martin sends the group's thanks to Jo Clark, who organised the weekend for the second year in a row, and to Neil and the team at Running the Highlands for their care and hospitality.
See more of William's pictures.
February 21, 2010 Benny flies MAC flag in nationals
Three MAC runners participated in the Stewarts National Cross Country Championships at Falkirk yesterday.
Benny Hands and Graeme Kennedy lined up in the tough three-lap, 12,000m senior men's race but only the former crossed the line in a time of 52mins, with Graeme dropping out because of a stitch.
Luke McIlvenna ran the u20 race in 33mins 24secs.
A combination of injury and a bad cold prevented Phyllis Hands and Clare Barr from competing.
Read a report about the event and see the full results.
February 15, 2010 MAC scores big turnout at ATHelite races
There was another healthy turnout of MAC vests among the participants of the ATHelite 5k and 1k races at Chatelherault at the weekend.
Jo Clark (21.24), Carole Munro (21.59) and Clare Barr (22.27) were first, second and third in the women's race.
Graeme Kennedy was fourth man home overall on 18.08.
David McIsaac was first and Owen Leach second in the 1k race.
Joseph McCluskey was third, Lawrence McCluskey fourth and Kirsty Irwin sixth.
Full results are on the ATHelite site.
The 5k was the first points-scoring event in this year's Road Runners' Championship. The men's and women's tables have been published along with the new league tables.
February 8, 2010 RR championship series updated
Two more championship races have been added to this year's series of points-scoring events - the Whangie Whizz hill race at Carbeth, near Glasgow and the Loch Leven Half Marathon.
Road runners' sub-committee chairman Jim Tracey, seen in our picture laughing after adding the hill race to the list, explained why the races had been included.
"The Whangie Whizz hill race has been included on April 28 and is on a Wednesday night. This is a 6.8k race with a climb of 240m so a nice introduction to hills for our runners.
"The main news for the revised championship rules is a u-turn on the marathon points system. The marathon points rule had been changed to points being awarded from 10 to one depending on placement across the season and this could constitute one of the eight from 14 races.
"After much consideration and hair pulling by the sub-committee over the new rule, it was decided to implement an enhanced version of the previous rule from last year, ie. one marathon or ultra run (containing the marathon distance) during the championship season gains the athlete five additional points.
"Why the change? It was agreed that the new rule was a step too far, as it unfairly penalised those who took time out from the race calendar to train for the marathon and that originally the points where to reward those dedicated few who represented the club at these challenging events.
"Can I also add my thanks to the members of the Roadrunning Sub-Committee who gave up their time and did the work to get us here."
See the updated list of races on the RRs' Championship page.
February 7, 2010 If the shoe fits, match it
This is the pile of shoes lying at the back door of Alan and Gayle Tait's house in Lanark after today's guest run.
Your task is to decide which shoe belongs to which runner.
You can click on the picture on the right to see it in more detail and you can see a picture of those who took part in the run by clicking here.
There's no prize for matching the shoe to the runner (so far) unless someone wants to come up with an offer.
February 3, 2010 Full info on Highlands weekend
This year's Running the Highlands weekend is not far away now and the organiser, Jo Clark, has final details for everyone who's going.
You can download a document containing all the information.
Any queries, please email her.