The final race in our 4 race mini 2021 season was the Club Cross Country Championships. A summer cross country race? Really? After the prolonged dry and sunny spell we did think the same but in true Glaswegian fashion the rains arrived to make our course a little more like normal (that being wet, muddy and boggy….).
The first club cross country championship was run in 1890 and hasn’t missed a year apart from the two World Wars hence we were keen to stage the race this year. That meant a summer time-slot and it worked out well. Up for grabs were the men’s and women’s titles with the club’s oldest trophy, the E.W. Langlands Cup, on offer. Instigated in 1890 it’s quite a trophy and includes many of the greats of Scottish athletics as well as Olympians and National Champions.
The route was our usual course incorporating a section of the Kelvin Walkway and 2 loops of Maryhill Park – there was one small route change off Acre path as the usual lap of the field was not feasible as it was completely overgrown. The usual shoe-eating bog behind the Riding School on the Kelvin Walkway wasn’t as bad as previous years but still nice ‘n muddy plus some low-hanging branches and a fallen tree over the walkway made for fun running/climbing. We’d been out the day before and cut a bit of a path through what was Amazonian rainforest so the route was more runnable and hopefully free of ticks (which are prevalent this year).
It was a great night’s racing and Maryhill Park was lovely to run in – freshly cut and not too heavy underfoot. The pace was pretty high all round. Craig P took the men’s title with Natalie taking the women’s title and 2nd place overall. Next up was a close battle between Lynsey and James – that one came right down to the line! Have a look at the pictures in the link at the end to see how close. Cat was next home and continues her good form. Not far behind her was Kenny who had a great run even though he’s focusing on marathon training just now. Chris rounded-off the race and commented how much he’d enjoyed the new tree climb section. We might have to make it a permanent feature – it certainly disrupts the running flow….
Thanks to Finn for the support and looking after our timekeeping. Shout out to Linda as well who was supporting at the start/finish line and on-course taking the images and start line video (see link at end of report).
It was another great night’s racing with quality chat afterwards. That rounds-off our mini 2021 race season. Ultras beckon for various harriers during Aug/Sept/Oct & Nov so plenty to train for.
RESULTS:
1st Craig Perrie 27.57 Men’s XC Champion
2nd Natalie Somerville 31.42 Women’s XC Champion
3rd Lynsey McLaughlin 32.57
4th James Prior 32.58
5th Cat Nisbet 36.22
6th Kenny Henderson 37.07
7th Chris Hever 38.55
Photos & video at Club Cross Country Championships 2021
