Appropriately for Clackmannanshire, Scotland’s smallest county, we are a small club of 35 adult members, roughly equal in gender split. Any promising local youngsters are re-directed to a nearby Club with specialist youth and childrens’ coaches. With a couple of sub-3 marathon runners, we cater for all standards and, while we like to see our quicker members do well, the emphasis is equally distributed across the Club so that newer, older and slower runners are given every encouragement to improve their fitness and well-being and enjoy the social side of our small, cosy set-up. We participate in road, hill and cross country events locally and nationally, throughout the UK and abroad.
With the “Wee County Harriers” legend emblazoned on our blue and orange vests, we appreciate the encouraging shouts from spectators at such races. Within the Club, our main competition feature is our Grand Prix, which comprises 12 road, 1 hill and 1 cross country race, plus any marathon. The male and female winners are selected from the best 8 of 13 events. In our 10 years existence, the prizes usually go to the most consistent, not necessarily the fastest, performers, which we think is how it should be.
Tuesday evening training sessions usually attract about 20 members, with slightly fewer on Thursdays. The long Sunday runs are generally enjoyed by a dozen or so runners, who meet afterwards for tea and toast in our local Leisure Centre. In addition to the fitness and well-being aspects of training, there is also a strong social emphasis, with occasional nights out in local pubs/restaurants and an annual dinner/disco/prizegiving on the first Friday in December.
Your questions answered!
Where can I find you?
In winter months, Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 6.30p.m. and Sunday mornings at 9.00a.m., at the Alloa Leisure Bowl car park. After the clock change in the spring, the midweek meeting place is Morrison’s car park, on the eastern edge of town, where easy access to beautiful – and often hilly – off road routes is found.
What training do you do?
Tuesday evenings are usually warm up/intervals of various descriptions, including pyramids, followed by warm downs. Key feature of the intervals is the emphasis on recoveries being of equal duration to the preceding effort. Thursdays alternate between hills (streets in winter, off road in summer) and tempo runs.
Sundays are long slow distance from 90 mins. Upwards.
Details are set out in monthly schedules provided by our Scottish Athletics qualified Coach.
Members, many of whom live locally, frequently make their own arrangements for joint training on other days between normal club sessions.
Can I turn up or do I have to join first?
We actively encourage prospective members to attend training sessions to see if our Club is what they are looking for. Most join after a few weeks!
In addition, we have second claim members from other clubs who have been training regularly with us over the years.
I am only looking to train for the Virgin London Marathon, how will I find others to train with?
There is invariably at least one other member training for a spring marathon so finding someone – and, generally, several – with similar aims is not an issue. Fortunately, the Lochaber Marathon is on the same date as London and always attracts the interest of several members, particularly those who were unsuccessful in their London applications!
