Club News
September 30, 2007 Ich bin ein Berliner
Well done to William and Elizabeth Martin, who competed in the Berlin Marathon today.
William's chip time was 3.57.35 while Elizabeth came in on 4.00.49.
The word from Germany on Sunday was that she was "a bit disappointed" not to have made it under four hours - an understandable reaction given how close she came.
If you like statistics, William's detailed results are here and Elizabeth's here.
September 29, 2007 New weather alert system for winter
The
winter weather can mean late cancellations of T&F sessions on Wednesday
evenings and Saturday mornings, causing problems for parents and coaches
alike.
To try to avoid people being inconvenienced, the club has put in place a text alert system.
This will mean that in the event of a cancellation, one of the officials is able to send a text message to parents' and athletes' mobile phones telling them not to turn up.
Key to the effectiveness of this system is having as many phone numbers as possible stored in our database and we want to start gathering them now.
Please send an email containing your phone number to markcoyle@motherwellac.com.
There is no cost to you for receiving these texts.
September 29, 2007 Make it a MAC date
Two dates for your diaries - the club's annual general meeting and the annual prize-giving ceremony.
The AGM will take place at 7.30pm on Wednesday October 31. The venue is the Clyde Suite in the Water Sports Centre, Strathclyde Park.
The club officials and committee for the year 2007-2008 will be elected on the night so if you're interested in becoming more involved with the club, please attend.
We're on the look-out for more support from parents as we seek to build on the significant progress made in the Track & Field section of the club throughout 2007.
The prize-giving ceremony will take place in St Bride's Hall, Motherwell, on Friday November 23, starting at 7.30pm. The evening will include drinks and a buffet.
If you won a trophy last year, please make sure it's returned in the near future to one of the coaches.
September 22, 2007 Sign up for Green lunch dates
The first "Run-4-It 3k on the Green" event takes place in Glasgow on Friday September 28.
The series of three runs is aimed at encouraging runners of all abilities to participate in a short, fun race in a city centre location on a Friday lunchtime.
Each is at Glasgow Green at 1pm. The second and third events are on Friday October 26 and Friday November 23.
The organisers want it to be a "simple, fairly informal race that gives you something a little bit different to fill your lunchtime".
The course will be an out-and-back along the River Clyde starting and finishing in the McLennan Arch area, beside the Saltmarket end of the Green near the courts.
Entry costs £2 and are being taken at Run-4-It, 57 Bothwell Street.
There are restrictions on numbers using the Green so anyone planning to take part should get be sure to sign up soon. You can download an entry form here.
Due to the small scale of the event facilities will be limited to those normally present on the Green you should arrive ready to run.
Prizes will be awarded to series winners and a number of other individuals on a spot prize basis. Series entrants are asked to retain the same number for the series.
For more information email glasgowcity@run-4-it.com or call 0141 221 4300.
September 22, 2007 Hurdlers make light of session
By Alex Barr
The
Track & Field junior training session at Wishaw introduced a new discipline
into athletics this week – nocturnal hurdling!
Under the expert tutelage of Sandy Robertson, the Scottish National Hurdles Coach, two dozen of MAC’s finest youngsters, all of whom had been on a strict carrot-based diet to aid their eye-hurdle co-ordination, took to the track.
After a few sessions acclimatising under the Wishaw Sports Centre lights, the serious stuff began and the floodlights were switched off, with athletes taking turns at clearing the specially-painted luminous hurdles. (All children having signed a special disclaimer against radioactive hurdle-contamination).
There was some disappointment amongst the athletes when the full moon appeared from behind the continuous cloud cover blanketing Lanarkshire.
Disembodied
cries of: "This is too easy now, let’s try it with our eyes shut"
and "those hurdles are too bright" were heard across the gloomy
track.
Our intrepid cameraman managed to fire off a few shots in the early part of the session, before the total black-out prevailed but the final shot of hurdling maestro Sandy gives a far better impression of the challenging conditions.
Next week, sessions include midnight javelin catching, blindfold pole-vaulting and 4x400m relays (at night, wearing Ray-bans).
Lastly, and all joking aside, a HUGE thank-you to Sandy (pictured above) – it’s a great privilege to have such a highly-respected coach spend time with MAC.
September 16, 2007 Stirling effort from MAC runners
Well
done to Mhairi Hendry, who was first in the under-13 girls' category in
the Stirling 2k Fun Run today with a time of 07.42.
She was one of a group of young Motherwell AC runners who took part.
Pictured from left to right are: Ruth Ferguson, Kirsty Munro, Jamie Hendry, Hannah Ferguson, Jill Cherry and Mhairi Hendry.
Nearly 350 people participated in the fun run, which was held in torrential rain.
The others' times were: Jamie Hendry, 07:42, ninth under-16 boy; Jill Cherry, 08.28, sixth under-13 girl; Kirsty Munro, 11.09, under-13;Ruth Ferguson, 11.26, junior girl. No time listed yet for Hannah Ferguson.
September 10, 2007 MAC athletes bang the Fife drum
The club's Track & Field members had a good showing at Pitreavie in Fife at the weekend.
Competition
in the event is always stiff but there were creditable performances from
our young athletes.
Some highlights:
Read the full results on the Pitreavie AAC website.
You can see a range of excellent pictures taken at the event by Robert Park, whose children Ross and Gemma were competing for the club.
September 10, 2007 Race marks 'new town' half century
A
handful of club members took part in the Cumbernauld 10k today.
The race was staged to mark the 50th anniversary of the construction of Cumbernauld.
Benny Hands was sixth overall in the race with a time of 36.51.
Next was Brian McLinden, who was 14th on 39.23.
He was followed by Mick Hydes, 50th on 45.04, with Donald McCaffer 73rd on 47.03 and Phyllis Hands on 50.25.
Earlier,
Robbie Barr stormed to victory in the 1k race (right).
He beat about 25 other boys in the P5 race, winning by about 80m.
Robbie was presented with a trophy by the local provost and a visiting twin-town dignitary.
September 10, 2007 Read all about it!
The club has had some excellent press coverage in local Lanarkshire papers over the last few weeks.
It focused on the significant growth in the number of Track & Field athletes over the course of this year.
This was the Wishaw Press story; this was what the Motherwell Times had to say and there was also a report in The Extra.
September 9, 2007 Youth wins the day at Parlauff contest
Some
young pups taught the old dogs a trick or two in the Parlauff 5k competition
at Wishaw track.
Thirteen teams of two runners took part with the winners turning out to be Richard Martin and Daniel Hughes (pictured right, receiving their prizes).
They completed their laps in 16mins 36 secs, leaving their more experienced road runner counterparts in their wakes.
John Hughes, who organised the competition, observed: "Looking at the results if you exclude first and last there was less than one minute between the other 11 teams."
The framed "Paula's pants", which were to have been awarded to today's winners, will be kept and raffled off later, possibly at the prize-giving ceremony.
1. Richard Martin/Daniel Hughes 16.36 |
|
2. Benny Hands/Baver Bari 17.17 |
8. Gordon Murray/Elaine Jamieson 17.51 |
3. Stuart Riley/Mae McIsaac 17.20 |
9. William Martin/Jane Wedlock 17.53 |
4. Scott Marriott/Robert Aiton 17.30 |
10. Scott Dickson/Laura McTavish 18.00 |
5. Russell McCoull/Clare Barr 17.37 |
11. Donald McCaffer/Alex Barr 18.08 |
6. Chris King/Elizabeth Martin 17.41 |
12. Jim Riley/Mark Coyle 18.16 |
7. John Hughes/Jill Strachan 17.43 |
13. Jessie Miller/Phyllis Hands 18.50 |
September 9, 2007 Autumn return for endurance sessions
Next month sees the return of the Glasgow Endurance Sessions at various locations in the city.
The sessions, which are open to any endurance athletes under the age of 17, were established in 2001 to encourage athletes of similar standards to train together.
They run monthly from October to March. Full details here.
September 2, 2007 Great runs at Great Scottish Run
There
was a clutch of great runs by MAC members who took part in either the 10k
or the half marathon in Glasgow today.
Stan Kavanagh lopped six minutes off his half marathon PB, Michael Wedlock set a new half marathon PB and Alan Tait came within seconds of his half marathon PB.
Lorna Gall ran the half marathon for the fourth time and achieved a race best of 1.53.32.
Jill Strachan crossed the half marathon finish line in 1.57.32 and raised nearly £700 for bowel cancer research.
Well done to Wendy Kerr, who ran her first half marathon and recorded a time of 2.12.14.
In the 10k, Scott Marriott and Lesanne Cherry clocked PBs.
See pictures from the day here.
10k |
Half Marathon |
Scott Marriott 41.18 (PB) |
Alan Tait 1.22.08 |
Elaine Jamieson 46.32 |
Stan Kavanagh 1.33.02 |
Clare Barr 48.16 |
Michael Wedlock 1.33.09 |
Pat Allen 53.17 |
Mark Coyle 1.43.42 |
Lesanne Cherry 53.20 (PB) |
Paul Kavanagh 1.46.53 |
Lorna Gall 1.53.32 |
|
Jill Strachan 1.57.32 |
|
Wendy Kerr 2.12.14 |