Congratulations from all the club members to Gill and Scott Cairns whose baby son Jamie arrived just before midnight on the 8th of December.  

Jamie weighed 7lb and Mum and baby both doing well and home now. Gill & Scott already have Lewis who I think is nearly 4 years old.

The weather forecast didn't look too bad for Saturday, but when
I arrived at Broxburn Academy it was cold, overcast and drizzling.
I judged how much clothing to take up to the start (lots) and
started to jog out of the car park. Ah good, two more Harriers -
Chris and Gordon - a better turnout than last year. We managed to
locate Dave in the gloom to collect our numbers and started to
warm up. Although 'warm up' was not an accurate description as
the rain got heavier. At the last minute I reluctantly shed longs
and Harriers top and huddled amongst 200-odd other runners. The
time-keeper was also apparently unimpressed with the conditions
and had to be called a couple of times.

We were off! Oh, what's this? A path!!! It didn't quite feel right
for cross country and I avoided it and ran on the grass for a bit.
Not quite back to full fitness after a cold, I ran quite steadily
with no heroics - which was slightly depressing with seemingly
hundreds of runners in front. The course was 3 x 3km laps of path,
grass and only a little bit of mud (how disappointing). There was
also a short lung-bursting hill which was good for dropping people.

Due to the lack of ice and snow, and a new path, times were
quicker than last year and I finished in 34:21 (87th out of 228).
Gordon finished in 40:49 (181st) and Chris in 42:23 (195th). Well it
wetted the appetite for the Border XC Series (probably with more
mud). The EDL #3 race is on the 15th January at Livingston - not
Dunfermline like last year (probably with more snow!).

Thanks to Dave for entering the team and for standing around
for hours in the cold refereeing.

Duncan Ball.

Hello, this is my first post, eventually...  Today I climbed Mt. Warning at Murwillumbah, New South Wales.  This was a 4.4 km hike through rainforest (and oh yes it chucked it down!) to the summit.  Initially the rain was very refreshing starting out at 3am, to catch the sunrise over the national park.  This is where you can see the sunrise first in Australia (over the winter months).  The climb wasn't too bad, alhough every rustle in the trees made me paranoid that some animal would jump out at me.  It was so exhilarating though hiking in dense rainforest with only a head torch lighting your way.  400m from the top there is a chain you can use to pull yourself up over the rocks, mjuch neeeded today as the rocks were so slippy. At the summit I was about 30 minutes early for the sunrise and as you can imagine I cooled off some what in the relentless rain.  When the sun finally broke through though it was even more spectacular than I dreamt.  Above the clouds you could see nothing but fog, apart from a 30 second window when the sun arrived. I have video and photos of this moment where the sky is light up and you can see the other ranges through the clouds, like a scene from lord of the rings, just breathtaking... (uploaded photos to facebook and will load to here shortly)  On the way down I tried a spot of running (once I got past some school kids who were constantly panicking!) and I'm glad I did because the rain came on really heavy towards the bottom.  Back at the bottom for 7.30am. For the rest of the day I will be going to Springbrook National Park, taking me over the border into quedensland, where I hope to encounter some great waterfalls and more stunning lookouts.  See you sometime in the New  Year. All the Best. Kenny

Three Penicuik Harriers (Chris D., Gordon and Gilly) braved the difficult muddy conditions to attend the 29th annual Lasswade open cross country race meeting. The weather and facilities were excellent as we made our way to the start line, where a professional looking starter in his whites with red blazer was ready with his starting pistol to send the races on their way. The 6 different juniors races had been in succession adding more mud to the course which added to the challenge. First up was the Senior Womens race with Gilly getting off to a flying start. The race grouping were such as to also include the under 17 men in this race, which consisted of 2 small laps followed by a 1 big lap of the course which in all made 3.8 miles. Chris and I were able to cheer her on along the route along with a few other residents from Penicuik who turned up to support the races. Gilly did very well finishing with the time of 35.29 well ahead of a few of her counterparts.

Next up was the Senior Mens race including the under 20 men. The route consisted of 3 big course laps, 6 miles. Chris D. and I started off in the middle of the pack. The laps were along parkland down into a wooded area with various looping tracks before heading back up to the parkland to complete one lap. By the time of the third lap we where just running straight through the big puddles of mud and water without a care, by which time I started to really enjoy this race. However it was a bit difficult to run through during the first two laps for some reason. Running along this last lap Chris was making up a lot of ground and I heard his voice behind somewhere. It was not until the finish line, when I crossed it, he was more closer then I thought as he was the next one to finish after me. It was a close Harriers race there!. The times were Gordon 52.38, and Chris D. 53.11 . Good support from the marshals and spectators shouting on Penicuik

Gordon Campbell

Having vowed not to do another road marathon, for the time being anyway, in a moment of weakness a colleague persuaded me to enter the Snowdonia Mararthon not your usual road marthon but we'll come to that in a minute.
Drove down on the Friday and stayed in Caernaforn, can recommend a really good Italian if anyone is down that way.
Marathon started at 1030, the following morning in Llanberis about 20 mins away.
About 1500 hardy souls started in what turned out to be the only sunny moment of the day, gentle first mile then the Pass of Llanberis about three miles uphill. Once over the top your greeted by the most spectacular view of any road race I've done, a sweeping panorama of the valley below and the descent to follow, oh and the rain started, not your normal rain but really heavy Welsh rain!!
The race basically circles Snowdon.
After the descent, there followed a fairly flat fast section to about 16 miles and some gorgeous scenery, I got completly carried away and clocked 1.31 at halfway, I should no better even pacing and all that.
From 18 miles to the finish can be only described as torturous, with the killer hill from 21 to 24 miles.
There then follows a brutal, semi of raod descent back into Lanberis and the finish, not helped by truly awful weather, think hailstones,  thunder and lightning and you get the picture.

Finished in 3.33.17, 160 out of approx 1300 finishers.

This is a terrific race if you fancy a marathon in some truly stunning surroundings and arent looking for a PB this is the one, its reckoned to be the toughest road marathon in Britian and I wouldnt argue with that.
However all the pain is but a distant menory what will linger was the truely awesome support, punters out with the home baking sweets, you name it, whole villages cheering, car horns blaring it was great stuff.

Apres Race

Saturday night in Chester say no more