Last weekend we had 158 runners through the finish line of our race and as a club we are just so happy to have been able to stage our race again. The course signage was out by 9am and the Harriers were in the playing field putting up tents and getting registration open. It was such a great sight to see runners arriving and being met by Gilly and her team and directed to the Registration Hut and the Changing Rooms. It was also great to have the support of so many local people out on the route cheering on the runners.
Max Meres (EAC) was the first man across the line in a time of 34:58 and our first lady was Sara Green (Gala) in a time of 38:11 and also 4th place!
Our race was held in memory of Alan Jones, a proud supporter of our race every year and always there to help with anything. This year his daughter Olivia ran in the race and his wife Fran, a member of the club, carried out various roles, but most importantly she presented the prizes. Georgia was also on hand with Poppy Dog to provide some much needed support at the finish line. Our ‘Cash for Cakes’ stall raised an incredible £363 which the Jones family have asked be donated to the Maggie’s Centre in Edinburgh.
This year, as with other years, we rely on support from many official bodies and other Penicuik clubs. Police Scotland help us with holding up traffic and manning our crossing on the Peebles Road when runners come back to the town. We couldn’t hold our race without their help and the team working with us this year were very supportive and enthusiastic – but are difinitely not running next year – as I suggested they might like to.
Midlothian Council could not have been more helpful ensuring that we had all of the cones and barriers we needed, potholes on the route filled in and Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders in place. They also hosted the Safety Advisory Group meeting I attended with all emergency services to ensure that everyone was aware of the race taking place and ensuring I had all bases covered.
Penicuik Athletic Youth Football Club were more than happy to let us use their ‘Hut’ and helped to organise things inside it, to make it easy for us to have our team give out race numbers. Clubs collaborating and working together makes events that we hold ‘run’ smoothly and really helped in our case.
Our club is hugely grateful to our sponsors who helped to cover the cost of holding the race. Nicol Brothers Coal Merchants were very noticable on the day with their truck and flags and we also had their name printed on the race numbers. The numbers were printed by local firm Colorprinz, who designed and printed our numbers in two days – this level of effort for us was much appreciated.
Carnethy Woodfuel sponsored our medals and coasters for the prize winners – these looked great and I had lots of positive comments about them. They were made by a local company Inspired by Tweed who couldn’t have been more accommodating.
What a joy it was for all of us to have Mel Dunbar with her Brew52 coffee van aka Ruby in the field!! A freshly made barista coffee (at a reduced ‘race rate)’ in the lull between the runners leaving and the runners coming back was just fantastic.
Flowers by Lindsey provided a voucher for the first local lady and Fran Jones Massage therapy gave a voucher for the first local man – both vouchers a perfect treat after competing in our race.
Up and Running, the new running shop in Edinburgh provided us with some vouchers that we used as spot prizes – these were well received.
Michael Philp Photos was there up on the Wellington School road capturing the happy faces of the runners as they got past the half way mark and were ready for the downhill back to Penicuik. He then came back to the field and captured the very happy run to the finish line shots. Here is the link to his page where you can see the fantastic photos – thanks Mike!! https://www.facebook.com/michaelphilpphotos
As a race organiser you are only as good as the team around you. Kenny Cairns is our Head Marshal and despite not living in Penicuik or seeing any of us, he manages to co-ordinate the marshals so they know exactly where they need to stand and what their role is. The Committee and Club Members are so supportive and helpful to me in my role that it means I can concentrate on the form filling and and official paperwork. By me being able to delegate jobs and rely on others to be team leaders and carry out their duties before, during and after the race, makes it so much easier and means that we work well as a team. It was a bit of a mountain to climb this year for me, having two years off and getting things back in place, but now that we are back, it should all be much easier for our race on Saturday 13 May 2023.
Just finally, not only is Dave Cairns amazing at Risk Assessments; his shortbread is pretty amazing too!!
Susie Turnbull Maxwell
https://www.carnethywoodfuel.co.uk/
https://franjonesmassagetherapy.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/brew52coffee/
https://www.flowersbylindsey.com/
It was an amazing day which wouldn’t have been possible or indeed without Susies amazing energy and dedication, or indeed, the support of everyone in the Harriers who did their bit and contributed to the success of the event. My sincere thanks to you all.