Club Cross Country Championships 2024

Club Cross Country time again and yes there was mud involved!

No sooner than we were back at training after the Christmas break that it was straight into our Club Cross Country Championships around our usual easy and never-muddy-or-boggy-at-all Kelvin and Maryhill Park route….

Merit League points were up for grabs along with cross country titles and some impressive silverware. The Men’s Champion is awarded the historic 1890 E.W. Langlands Trophy (awarded every year since 1890 apart from during both wars) with the Women’s Champion receiving the Constance Johnson Cup. This is a new trophy from 2023 which replaces the previous winner’s shield (now retired) and honours Maryhill Harrier Ladies runner Constance Johnson who was there at the inception of the SWAAA and Maryhill Harriers Ladies in 1930 and was a multiple SWCCU (Scottish Women’s Cross Country Union) Champion during the 1930s.  

Most pre-race chat focused on the glorious mud/bog section on the Kelvin walkway behind the riding school although this year it wasn’t quite the usual quagmire. It was Amy’s first outing on the course and she delivered a good run – having taken advice beforehand, no new running shoes were harmed during her run.

Thanks to Lynsey who raced to the start from parkrun to cover timekeeping – at the ‘off’ we all charged down the muddy path heading towards the Kelvin, trying to pick the best route around the muddy areas. Once through the Kelvin bog it was onto the icy Acre Path and up into the overgrown old football pitch for a lap before the steep climb up to the running track. Half a lap and then into Maryhill Park for 2 laps before re-tracing our muddy steps back to the start. The cambered, muddy, slippy & mulched-leaf-strewn section up to the trig point was fun 😉.

On the course Craig P took the lead and opened a gap to Scott. On lap 1 Natalie, Derek and Amy were pretty close with Derek making his move off the trig point to overtake Amy and open a gap which kept him clear until the finish. Kenny was just ahead of Alisdair during lap 1 and kept him at bay to the finish. Linda had Alisdair in her sights on the course but couldn’t close the gap – she still nailed 28 points to add to her Merit League tally which puts her 3rd behind Natalie and Cat.

Congrats to our 2024 Champions Craig P and Natalie.

Thanks to Kenny for organising plus course setup, Lynsey for timekeeping and a shout-out to Scott who produced a huge box of chocolate brownies at the end!

The club started with cross country back in 1888 and it’s great to still be ‘enjoying’ it 135+ years later and racing for silverware from that era. Next up is the Scottish National XC in Feb – such was the dominance of the Maryhill Harriers Ladies (1930-1961) & Maryhill Ladies AC (1961-1975) teams that Maryhill are still positioned 2nd in the Senior Women’s All-Time Medal Table for the Scottish Cross Country Championships. No pressure then for Feb!

Results:

1st Craig 29.16 Men’s Champion

2nd Scott 31.47

3rd Natalie 32.54 Women’s Champion

4th Derek 33.50

5th Amy 34.56

6th Kenny 37.56

7th Alisdair 39.10

8th Linda 41.13

Share the Post:

Related News