So, who enjoyed the hills?
You can put your hands down now, Duncan.
For race 6/52 we made our way down to the sun soaked seaside resort of Helensburgh for the DAAA XCountry Relays. A(nother) fantastic turn out for the club with 2 mens and 2 ladies teams set to take on an unknown course. And what a course it was! Starting off on a grassy rugby pitch and then entering into the woods/trails, this was a course consisting of 2 laps of the leafy Duchess Woods. Apart from the quick splash through a small stream, this wasn’t your typical XCountry race. Firm paths underground, there was no need for spikes: trail shoes seemed to be the preferred footwear of the day with normal trainers being more than able to handle the terrain.
First out the traps for Maryhill were John and Andy who, having run identical times at the recent McAndrew relays, promised an exciting encounter. With Johns tactical approach no match for Andy’s ‘hell for leather’ technique, Andy managed to give team B a convincing lead – even although he nearly embarked on an unnecessary 3rd lap when he missed the turn off for the finishing line.
Next up was Duncan ‘Mountain Goat’ Riddell against Sam (who was making his debut in the Maryhill Harriers colours). Sam entered the woods for his second circuit having maintained a respectable lead over Duncan. Apparently Duncan managed to get up the hill on the second time of asking with only 9 lengthy strides (6 on the way down). This put his team A firmly back in the lead.
The return of the nomadic Chris Hever – who was pitched against unknown entity Gus MacNeil – was the most uncertain of the day’s pairings. Will Chris’ lonesome Shetland training sessions have paid off? Will Gus keep his cool in his first outing for the Harriers? In the end, Gus managed a more than respectable run round a challenging course and helped put further distance between both teams.
Last off was myself with Stephen Jones in pursuit. Although it would have been a big ask for Stephen to make up the couple of minute’s gap that been made between the 2 teams, I still couldn’t help but have plenty of looks over my shoulder to see if Maryhill’s answer to Grizzly Adams was hunting me down through the trees. Thankfully, my burning lungs and quads managed to hold out and make it a convincing victory for the gents A-Team.
Having only one full team – and a second team a runner short – there wasn’t going to be as much competition in the ladies category. Special congratulations have to go to Caroline Jones, who was 3rd fastest lady of the day with a time of 16:58 which was only 35 seconds behind the fastest ladies time; and *ahem* 17 seconds ahead of her main rival – who will remain nameless. I’m sure y’all can work it out for yourselves.
Well done again everyone.
All the photos from the day can be viewed on the Maryhill Harriers flickr page.
Mens Team A
John Weir – 16:27
Duncan Riddell – 16:44
Gus MacNeil – 17:57
Gordon Curran – 16:42
TOTAL – 67:50
Mens Team B
Andy Sutherland – 16:12
Sam Thompson – 17:16
Chris Hever – 21:21
Stephen Jones – 17:15
TOTAL – 72:04
Ladies Team A
Caroline Jones – 16:58
Caroline Hassan – 20:56
Margaret Peebles – 21:52
TOTAL – 59:46
Ladies Team B
Laura Muirhead – 22:41
Susan McAndrew – 26:13
