Amazing Who You Meet 10

Minutes after chewing the fat with my new buddy Gus (see "Amazing Who You Meet 9"), I met someone else in Hampden's Millenium Lounge worthy of mention. In the summer of 2014, in rebuilding the Queen's Park first team, we signed a number of players from the junior ranks. The name Paul Woods was immediately familiar to me.

Why was it so? Not only is Paul a fellow East Kilbride resident, we also attended both the same primary and secondary schools in the town, St Vincent's Primary (still open but with a new building) and St Andrew's High (sadly now pulled down and merged into a new school). He was a few years below me but I still remembered him when I saw him in a Queen's shirt. He's improved immensely over the season and has been deservedly named our Away Player of the Year (voted for on the supporters bus after every away game) and Supporters Association Player of the Year. I've become friendly with his parents who attend every game he plays in. When I reintroduced myself (thankfully he recognised me) and requested a photo, he happily obliged.

Above left: Queen's Park Supporters Association Player of the Year for 2014/15, Paul Woods.

Scottish 10,000m Championships, 17th April 2015

A year on from my first ever Scottish individual medal, I returned to the Scottish 10,000m Championships to try and repeat the feat. The event was staged once more at Hutchesons Grammar School on a Friday night with a similar format, several graded heats with pacemakers and the fastest 3 times over all the races earning Scottish medals. Again, on paper, the medallists would be in my race but again, you can never tell.

 

After only a week and a bit of training after resuming from a post Scottish Relay few days off, in truth, I was a bag of nerves before the race and just wanted it over with. I was also a little jaded from the working week but at least I had the prospect of a lie in the next day. Being the last of the 4 races only added to my anxiety. I had a gameplan of feeling fresh(ish) for as long as possible and adjusting the pace accordingly.

 

Generally the race panned out with me spending the first few laps at the back of the pack, taking long strides in an effort to conserve energy. Unknown quantity (to me anyway) William Mackay and clubmate Kyle McLellan followed pacemaker Craig Ruddy, forging a gap, leaving me, Calum McKenzie and Max McNeill running together. I wasn't confident enough to follow the pace and pinned my hopes on William, Kyle or both dropping back. After 9 laps or so, I felt William and Kyle were getting too far away so managed a surge of pace to move clear of Calum and Max. Unfortunately this left me in no man's land with gaps both in front and behind.

 

Above: the loneliness of the long distance runner, ploughing a lonely furrow in a 3rd place no man's land. Photo courtesy of Kerry-Liam Wilson.

 

After initially thinking I was making ground, I felt myself struggling and the gap between the leading 2 and I did not close. I more or less started counting down the laps and keeping track of my likely finishing time. I was hovering around a likely 31:20 finish. A bit of a burst in the later stages saw me finish in 31:17.28 to claim a second consecutive Scottish bronze medal in the 10,000m track event. Unlike last year, there was no negative split, my 5000m splits being 15:29-15:48. William, an Englishman living in Aberdeen for work purposes, narrowly pipped Kyle to gold, clocking 30:30.35 to Kyle's 30:32.31. Behind me, a similarly close battle saw Calum claim 4th in 31:42.98 to Max's 31:44.64. 

 

Above, left to right: silver, gold and bronze medallists. Photo courtesy of Colin Stephen.

 

Overall, a satisfactory night's work with a result about right for my level of fitness on race day, only 10 seconds down on last year's time. You could mention medal candidates who were missing but I think back to a comment one of the commentators made at this year's Inter Counties Cross Country that, in championships, it's those who are there that matter not those who aren't. I agree with that. You have to be in it to win it.

 

Overall, 31 people contested the 4 races. Well done to them all. Thank you also to all the Cambuslang personnel and other acquaintances in the Scottish running scene for their encouragement on the night. When you're struggling in the fog of a 25 lap slog, it really helps.

 

Full results are here.



 

 

 

 

Amazing Who You Meet 9

I haven't had an "Amazing Who You Meet" feature for a while because I never really bump into anyone famous in day to day life. On Saturday 25th April though, I met someone who fitted the bill.

 

That afternoon Queen's Park drew 1-1 with East Stirlingshire at Hampden Park in their penultimate game in the 2014/15 Scottish Third Division season (it's now referred to as League Two for commercial purposes but I refuse to say that because it's a blatant copying of the English league names and sounds stupid). The outcome of the game meant little because we have already secured 2nd place and a spot in the promotion play offs but I never like us losing so I'm glad we didn't.  Being held after the game were the club's Player of the Year awards in Hampden's Millenium Lounge. The awards no doubt had more candidates compared to last season when we finished bottom with 5 league wins out of 36. I shudder at the memory of some of the horror shows I witnessed.

 

Once the prize giving had concluded, I sought out our current manager Gus MacPherson who agreed to my request for a photograph. Gus has a good pedigree having had a successful playing career with Kilmarnock, Dunfermline and St Mirren. In management he has been in charge at St Mirren and Queen of the South before coming to the Spiders. I gave my Dad one of my "stop embarrassing me" looks when he told Gus I was an athlete. However, to my surprise, Gus then spoke very knowledgably about Scottish athletics, rhyming off several athlete names from the 1980s. He also mentioned that his brother ran for Springburn Harriers. The following article refers to a Stewart MacPherson so he certainly wasn't bluffing. Not only is it amazing who you meet, it's also amazing what you learn about people. After a bit of football chat as well, we shook hands and said our goodbyes.

 

Above left: Queen's Park manager Gus MacPherson, a thoroughly nice man.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The High Point- A Synopsis

Often in my training posts I refer to High Point hill reps, for example, "8 x High Point hill reps" without elaborating. It has occurred to me that it may be helpful and/or interesting (okay, maybe not the latter) to provide details of what a High Point hill session entails. This lead me on to researching the history of the East Kilbride area itself. I had been aware of the existence at one time of a Lickprivick Castle in the Greenhills area of the town (where I live) located on grass land beside the Greenhills shops known to locals as the High Point. Having delved further, what I have discovered has proven to be fascinating.

From my web based research I found that settlements in what is now the new town of East Kilbride date back to Roman times. Apparently ancient graves and Roman artefacts have previously been discovered around the Kype Reservoir about 4 miles south east of Strathaven. East Kilbride was originally known simply as Kilbride (it was recorded as such in 1800). The name suggests that the original settlement was formed around an early Christian church dedicated to St. Bride. Settlements included a number of castles, such as Mains Castle, Torrance Castle and Calderwood Castle. I am particularly aware of the latter castle since the site where it once stood is located in a trail where I sometimes train adjacent to the East Kilbride Expressway. This takes me on to my subject of interest, Lickprivick Castle.

While it is unclear when Lickprivick Castle was built, or indeed when the Lickprivick family took possession of the land, Hugh McBrien of the West of Scotland Archaeological Service undertook an investigation of the High Point site in 1999 for the Greenhills Millenium Video Group. His findings suggested that there could have even been two castles, a wooden one then a replacement stone one which became Lickprivick Castle. Another source I've read suggests that the stone castle was built in the 12th or 13th centuries. It is said that the Lickprivick family owned the land since before the time of Robert the Bruce/King Robert I of Scotland (1306-1329) so, by reckoning, the time of building is likely correct. In 1397, the Lickprivicks were granted the hereditary title Sergeantry and Coronership in the Lordship of Kilbride by King Robert III. A timeline, albeit vague, of events thereafter is as follows:-

Early 16th century: a Lickprivick heiress married a Lindsay family member, possibly a son, Alexander Lindsay, 4th Laird of Dunroy.

1540: their own son, possibly John Lindsay, the 6th Laird of Dunrod  exchanged the lands of Lickprivick with Robert Lindsay of Crossbasket, later the 8th Laird of Dunrod, receiving the lands of Linbank in Avondale in return.

Late 16th century: Lickprivick Castle was in ruins.

1733 approx: the ruined Lickprivick Castle was pulled down.

1840 approx: all traces of Lickprivick Castle were gone.

By my reckoning therefore, the transfer of the land which would become the High Point (and a key training venue for me, not that anyone involved in 1540 could have predicted that an eejit would be running up and down the hill every week in all weathers over 460 years later) out of the Lickprivick family's hands by the son of a female Lickprivick family member and her hubby in exchange for other land was the death knell for Lickprivick Castle. I wonder what John Lindsay's motives were. Money? Were the lands of Linbank a more lucrative asset to have than the lands of Lickprivick? How would things have turned out if the transaction didn't go ahead? Would the castle (well, the remains anyway) still be there? Who knows?

The site is now a grassed area, as I say called the High Point, surrounded by housing. It constitutes the highest spot above sea level in East Kilbride, hence the name. A good place to have a castle all those years ago. A large stone structure sits at the top of the hill with markings carved into it. I therefore disagree that all traces of Lickprivick Castle are gone since the structure is a clear reminder of what was once there. The Lickprivick name also lives on with Lickprivick Road being the main road you turn off to reach the High Point. Lickprivick Road is some hill to run up as well! In whatever way the Lickprivick family earned their living, I bet they were physically fit and anyone who wished to invade would have had to be as well.

 

 

 

Above: two photos of the stone structure courtesy of http://trigpointing.uk/trig/6406

So that's the history, what about the modern day? Well I used to sledge on the High Point so it's certainly steep enough. The grass circuit which includes the hill is an accurate 600m in length. For a hill session, I simply run continuous laps without any recoveries, focussing the effort on running uphill to the stone (which sits at the peak) then hard off the top, downhill back to the start. So "8 x High Point hill reps" means I have run 8 continuous laps of the circuit. Whatever number appears is how many laps I've done in that particular session. The most I have done so far in a single session is 14. I often dread the session but I always feel good doing it and even better afterwards. As a superstition, on my last rep in every session, without breaking stride, I run straight up to the stone and tap it on the head before finishing the circuit.

Above: two photos of me training at the High Point in 2012. The first shows me going uphill and, in the second, I'm preparing to descend to the left. The stone is on my right, out of shot.

 

My interest in the history of the High Point has certainly grown so I think this post may not be my last about it. Knowing what I know now, it feels like hallowed turf whenever I'm there. While this has been a different tone to my usual posts, hopefully it has been informative and interesting. Below is a list of my sources of research.

http://www.stravaiging.com/history/castle/lickprivick-castle
http://www.gmvg.org/videos_animation.asp
http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/44978/details/east+kilbride+lickprivick+castle/
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/eastkilbride/eastkilbride/index.html

 

Queen's Park FC- Amateur Club, Professional Outlook

Regular readers (I have a few surely) will have gathered my allegiance to a Glasgow senior football club not named Celtic, Rangers or Partick Thistle. I saw my first Queen's Park match in August 1996 when my Dad took me to Hampden Park to see a Coca Cola Cup first round tie against Ross County. A crowd of 638 saw Queen's win 3-1 after extra time. The first goal I ever saw in a Spiders game was for the opposition when we went a goal down in the second half. My first Queen's goal was the equaliser by centre half Ian Maxwell. If we hadn't won I probably wouldn't have gone back. Incidentally, my second game was a home league match against East Stirlingshire. A 3-3 draw made me realise at an early stage being a Spiders fan wouldn't be a smooth ride.

 

Anyway, I digress. From my second season until starting university I was a fairly regular attendee, home and away, even having a season ticket. Part time supermarket work curbed my attendance for the following 5 years or so. Nowadays, things depend on other weekend commitments, primarily training and racing. I now average between 15 and 20 games per season. Occasionally however, I will also take in one of the club's reserve or youth team games if I have a free evening. At the beginning of April, such an opportunity arose.

 

Before this season, Queen's had a separate reserve team, affectionately known as "The Strollers," and youth teams up to under 19. Now there's an under 20 side which plays in what is known as the Development League West. Home games are played at Lesser Hampden, situated next to the main stadium. Lesser is also the club's training base for all its teams. In its shadow is the club's new headquarters, opened in 2013, called the JB McAlpine Pavilion. The man whose name the facility bears played for Queen's Park from 1919 until 1933, making a total of 547 appearances and scoring 192 goals.  Thereafter he served the club as a Committee member, taking on the presidency from 1953 to 1955. As many will know, Hampden was used for the track and field athletics at the 2014 Commonwealth Games with Lesser serving as the warm up track. This proved a difficult time for Queen's with the first team decanted to Airdrie for home games for 14 months and all the teams training, and the reserve and youth teams playing, at the Toryglen football facilities. We've been back home though since January and can truly lay claim to a Games legacy with the new excellent office and training facilities. The club may only pay the players travelling expenses but the set up is otherwise professional to a tee. The Pavilion can boast a bar and bistro and balconies giving views of the pitch.

 

On Friday 10th April then, I saw the under 20s were playing Queen of the South so, having a night off training, I made the short drive to Glasgow's South Side. Quite an entertaining game ensued and I was equally impressed with the ball control and passing of both sides. Queen's lost the corresponding fixture in Dumfries 6-0 so it surprised me we had the better of the first half. The Doonhamers best chance was a shot off the crossbar which thankfully bounced out rather than in.

 

Above: Queen's Park (black and white) and Queen of the South (blue) under 20 teams in action at Lesser Hampden.

 

At half time, I took the chance to check out our bar and bistro, relaxing with a cup of tea on the balcony. The second half was a bit more even with the visiting Queens team pressing their hosts back more (note a key point here. The "Queen's" in Queen's Park has an apostrophe. "Queens" when referring to Queen of the South does not). The Spiders defence survived a few scares though and stood firm. We even had the last chance of the game, after which the referee immediately blew for full time.

 

0-0 was the final score but it was far from boring and quite a chilled way to spend a couple of hours and kick off the weekend. The next day, I saw the first team beat Annan Athletic 2-0 at "big" Hampden next door. The bumpy ride as a Spiders fan can prove smoother on some occasions.

 

Above: the JB McAlpine Pavilion lit up at night.

 

Training for the Scottish Road Relay

For anyone interested, below is my training leading up to the Scottish Road Relay. I pick it up from the day after the UK Inter Counties Cross Country. A couple of decent weeks then a taper week was the plan. I was struggling mentally for the motivation to complete the training but gave myself the promise of a few days off following the race as an incentive.

Week Commencing Sunday 8th March

Sunday: 7.5  miles easy (48:35)- feeling tired after the Inter Counties, didn't have the energy for a long run.

Monday: Longer run, 10 mins easy then 4 1 2 4 1 2, all with 5 mins jog recoveries, 10.25 miles (1:04:56)- horrendous weather in the latter part of the run.

Tuesday: Club, 8.25 miles easy (51:56), Barrachnie/Baillieston route.

Wednesday: 1/2 mile easy, 1 mile hard (5:26), 1/2 mile easy (2 miles in 12:03) then 10 x High Point hill reps, 7 miles including warm up and warm down.

Thursday: Rest.

Friday: Road, 3 x 10 mins, 30 secs recoveries (average 5:26/mile pace), 9 miles including warm up and warm down- very tough.

Saturday: 8 miles easy (51:22).

Mileage: 50

Week Commencing Sunday 15th March

Sunday: 7.5  miles easy (47:22).

Monday: Longer run, 10 mins easy then 4 1 2 4 1 2, all with 5 mins jog recoveries, 10.25 miles (1:03:14).

Tuesday: Club, 8 miles approx. brisk (49:26), Clyde Gateway route.

Wednesday: 1/2 mile easy, 1 mile hard (5:25), 1/2 mile easy (2 miles in 11:59) then 12 x High Point hill reps, 7 miles including warm up and warm down- felt strong and focussed.

Thursday: 7.25 miles easy (46:27).

Friday: Rest.

Saturday: Road, 3 x 10 mins, 30 secs recoveries (average 5:19/mile pace), 9 miles including warm up and warm down- very tiring, needed a nap later in the day.

Mileage: 50

Week Commencing Sunday 22nd March

Sunday: Longer (Ardochrig/Windfarm), 12 miles easy (1:17:18).

Monday: Road, 10 mins (2 mins recovery), 5 x 1 min on 1 min off, 5 mins (average 5:14/mile pace), 7.5 miles including warm up and warm down.

Tuesday: 6.5 miles easy/brisk mix (40:38).

Wednesday: 8 x High Point hill reps, 5.5 miles including warm up and warm down- felt heavy legged and flat.

Thursday: 7.25 miles easy (46:49)- after the first mile, felt fresher than the night before.

Friday: Rest

Saturday: 1.25 miles brisk (7:49) plus strides- breaking in new racing shoes.

Mileage: 40

Sunday (29th March): Race- Scottish Road Relay Championships, 4th leg (5.8 miles), 29:51, 12th fastest long leg and team bronze.

Having now completed 5 days training after resting up, I am finding that fitness is hard won and easily lost. If only the reverse applied.

Scottish Road Relay Championships, 29th March 2015

As an incentive to keep training for this race, I promised myself a few days off afterwards to recharge. Since 1st February, I had run 4 races, all of them very well and all races I had been very focussed on. I trusted my training for the Inter Counties Cross Country in Birmngham and got the reward. Following this relay, I had a sense of having maybe gone to the well once too many times. It wasn't all doom and gloom though.

My record at the Scottish Road Relay since my first appearance in 2003 has been chequered. On the negative side, I was diagnosed as asthmatic after the 2003 race, in 2012 I lost out on the silver medal in a sprint on the finish straight (though I got my own back on the runner in question in another race not long afterwards) and in 2013 I ploughed a lonely furrow on last leg unfit after an illness induced lay off. On the positive side, after my disappointing 2003  debut I had a few good outings in Calderglen colours, including a strong 11th place team finish in 2008 and, including this year, I've earned 2 silvers and 2 bronzes in the red and white of Cambuslang.

In my 6 Cambuslang appearances at the race this would be my 4th time on a long leg, being allocated leg 4 on this occasion. Legs 1, 3 and 5 are 3.1 miles and 2, 4 and 6 are 5.8 miles. Alistair Campbell had us a close 5th on leg 1, Robert Gilroy kept us in touch, bringing us in 7th on a very competitive leg 2 then Ryan Thomson hauled us up to 4th on leg 3. As the results showed later, I had a 34 second deficit to make up on Keith Hood, running my leg for the 3rd placed Corstorphine team. On reflection, I feel my anxiety to move us into a medal position cost me a faster time since I misjudged the pace. Chasing someone you cannot see can prove tough and there were long spells where Keith was not visible which made me keep pushing harder. I did not wear a watch and there were no mile markers so I've no idea how far I'd run when I caught and overtook him. All I know is it was shortly before going through an underpass under a railway line. The leading 2 clubs, Kilbarchan and Central, were a bit further up the road so, other than lapped runners, I now had no-one else to focus on and Keith was sticking with me.

Above: paying for my pace misjudgement. Photo courtesy of Colin Stephen.

The remainder of the leg proved to be a struggle, all the while knowing I couldn't slack off with Keith keeping close order. Somehow I managed to hold 3rd place by only 5 seconds. Bobby Bristow on leg 5 extended our advantage over Corstorphine to 14 seconds before Kyle McLellan lengthened the gap to 78 seconds on leg 6. It had been a hard won bronze medal. Further ahead, Central's recent domination of Scottish distance running was halted, at least for now, by an impressive young Kilbarchan team boosted by the presence of Derek and Callum Hawkins on legs 2 and 6. Kilbarchan got good coverage in the local papers in Paisley, where I now work, and deservedly so. There wasn't much in it though with Callum having to fend off a determined Ross Houston to seal the gold for his club.

My time was 29:51, slower than I was hoping for but 12th fastest long leg overall. Conditions were blustery, the course was slippery and many people's times were down on previous years so, on reflection, I'm not so disappointed. Keith Hood's pursuit of me saw him clock 30:30.

As I write this, I've had my rest and I'm raring to go again.

Full results from the day can be found here.