On the summer fixture list we've added the times we will be leaving from Balerno High School to travel to Track and Field meetings (for those living in the Currie / Balerno area). We normally meet opposite the High School, but care has to be taken if parking on the road.

We hope, and expect, that all parents of younger members will take turns with transport and in helping out at meetings.

Included in this Herald are details of three Open Graded meetings at Livingston on the Wednesday evenings of 30th May, 27th June and 29th August. In order to encourage everyone to go along to these informal events there will be no training at Balerno High School on these nights.

The first events start at 6:45, so everyone should be there by 6:15 at the latest to register and get warmed up. Help with transport and with assisting our neighbours at Livingston AC in running this event will be greatly appreciated.

We're now spent the Lottery Award the club received last year on various bits 'n' pieces of equipment. The "fisherman's rain shelters" have already been called into use.

We have also purchased four sets of starting blocks which will be taken to training and meetings, six practise javelins, three indoor shot putts and three speed bounce mats. We've also bought three sets of relay batons, so the training sessions with the cardboard tubes from rolls of kitchen towels should be a thing of the past.

At the time of writing we are still planning for these races. which are part of the Balerno Children's Gala week to be on. However there is an increasing chance that the restrictions will still be in place for parts of the courses and both races would then be called off.

If the Water of Leith race is cancelled we shall organise races in Malleny Park, so local children should come along as usual.

After much chasing around for results, checking the rules and building a humungous spreadsheet to calculate Thistle points scores, we have, at long last worked out LAST summer's Track and Field Champions. These are given below.

For the benefit of new members, and to remind everyone else, the calculations are based on a member's best performances in three disciplines. These disciplines are: Sprints (up to 400m); Middle Distance (800m up to 5000m); Hurdles; Jumps; and Throws. At least one of these must be a field event.

The best performance in each discipline is calculated from Thistle tables. The best three disciplines count towards the total points score.

The T&F meetings which count are; League meetings (including performances in the Women's League as part of the Lothians team); District, National, UK, European & World Championships; Open graded meetings where we enter as a club. There has to be at least one outing for the club in a League match.

Several new members have been asking about club vests and the crop tops for girls. The contact is Norma Mitchell (0131 449 6020). We would encourage everyone to get their own club vest, as although we carry a supply of club vests to matches, they are getting a bit old , and a bit .... er ..... well not exactly smelling of roses.

We've included an order form, which also includes T-shirts, with this Herald. A new supply of vests, costing £12, has been ordered, so now is the time to get yours!

This one is mainly for the mums and dads, but could be extended to others. Bob Douglas's Wednesday night fitness class is continuing during the summer, meeting at Currie Rugby club / Malleny park on Wednesday evenings for jogging and / or mixed running. We will also include speed work, so if the other training nights are unsuitable, or you specifically want to work on speed, come along on Wednesday at 8:00 pm.

Also a reminder that there is a small group who go jogging on Sunday mornings – meet in Balerno High School car park at 10.00 am. New faces will be very welcome.

Paul McDougall finished 24th in the County challenge and 30th including the London Boroughs totalling 300 runners at the London Mini-marathon for Boys 15-17 with Paul still having 2 more years in this age group.

Stephanie Lyall finished 9th in the county challenge and was still 9th including the London Boroughs totalling 300 runners for the Girls 11-12 over the 2.65 miles Mini-Marathon course which is 2 miles further than she is used to.

The Scottish district team finished in 2nd place in the county team challenge. There has been a lot of very positive comments made by many in the sport about the excellent showing by the Scottish team. Both Paul and Stephanie are to be congratulated in contributing to this success with two outstanding performances.

We had a fair turnout in spite of the entry forms and timetable coming out at very short notice. Several were put off by it being scheduled as a day-long event, but fortunately for those who went along we were blessed with kind weather. This meeting will count towards the 2001 T & F championship. Details of performances are given below.

We had our biggest squad and best result in this league for several years. Highlight of a long, wet day at Grangemouth was winning five of the ten 4 x 100m relays, including four consecutive wins on the trot with the U13 Girls (Emma Mitchell, Karen Milligan, Robyn Addinal and Claire Carmichael), the U13 Boys (Paul Brash, Glyn Desport, Kerr Archibald and George McCorkell), the U15 Girls (Stacey Downie, Beatrice McCorkell, Erin McIntosh and Amy Clancy) and the U15 Boys (Tommy Ashby, Shaun Desport, Oliver Kerr and Stephen Charters). The Senior Men extended their winning sequence into a third year. Detailed performances are not available but the final (unchecked) points result for the day was:

We compete in this league as part of the Lothians team. Details have still to be received, but the overall result was:

1 Team West 461, 2 Edinburgh WM 442.5, 3 City of Glasgow 411, 4 Forth valley 395, 5 Lothian 394, 6 Pitreavie 323.5, 7 Aberdeen 316.5 , 8 Tayside 293.5.

Entry forms for SAF Championships are sent automatically to everyone who has registered (/ renewed) with Athletics Scotland, but in case some reminders are needed, the details are given below.

Dates and venues currently known.

Notes:

(C) Meetings that Harmeny is convening. (Note – Inverness on Aug 26th, along with Black Isle)
* Railtrack Scottish Women's League: We are one of several clubs competing as a "Lothians" superteam
** Transport arrangement for the girls in the Lothians team will be given later
*** The Senior Men organise their own transport

In addition to the club based leagues there are various Open Graded meetings These are track and field meetings where any number of individuals can enter the event(s) they chose - ie there is no restriction to two club members per event, and there are no points at stake. For track races entrants are usually seeded to run against competitors expected to do similar times, irrespective of age or gender. The nearest meetings are being held at Livingston, Grangemouth and Pitreavie. Anyone intending to compete should check the event timetable.

Events at Livingston, 30th May: Track 100m (7.00); 300/400m (7:45); 800m (8:00); 3000m (8:15); Field: Long Jump (Male) (6:45); Shot Putt (6:45); Discus (7:30)

Additions / Changes from the last issue are shown in bold.

Notes:

* Sri Chimnoy "Runners are Smilers" races. Entry on the night.
** Races in Dunfermline at Pittencrieff Park. Entry on the night
*** Entry forms will be available from Bob Douglas, or Run & Become, Dalry Rd