A bumper crop of 15 Harriers turned out for this year’s Club Cross Country Championships, with faces new and old pulling on their spikes and trail shoes. Kenny was out bright and early to inspect and mark out the course, checking in to see what damage Storm Eowyn had done to the rarely trodden paths along the Kelvin and the far side of Maryhill Park. Thankfully the course was deemed safe to run, although we were advised that some clambering may be necessary at points. Thanks to Kenny for checking out the safety of the route, armed with his handy bag of flour and carrier bag flags to mark the edges of the football pitch. Big thanks to our sponsors, Homepride and TK Maxx.
After a quick briefing from Kenny, we were set off by the day’s timekeepers Ben and Sam! Ross and I took advantage of our no fear attitude and shiny new spikes to canter off away together, stretching out a small lead along the first section from the start by the stables to the Kelvin, closely followed by Derek and Amy. After weaving around some low hanging branches and hurdling some fallen trees, I began to stretch my legs out a bit and built up a comfortable lead over the other three as we headed into the park. Only a little further back, John, Heather and Alisdair were nip and tuck as they sought to chase down Derek, Amy and Ross. As we started to loop back around the park and get a look at the whole field of runners, you could as always see little battles forming amongst the Harriers; Alisdair and Heather both were on storming runs as they battled for the final top 5 position, Cat and Claire were closely matched, as were Linsey, Stephen and Pamela.
After heading back round the running track, I headed back down onto the Kelvin pathway, clambering over the fallen trees a little less enthusiastically than I had on the way out, the tough camber up to the trig point at the top of the park having sapped the strength from my legs. One last look over my shoulder before the final 500m, expecting to see Derek in my rearview mirror but he was nowhere to be seen. As soon as I could see Sam and Ben down by the start/finish line, I put on the afterburners and came into the finish to reclaim the title I won 5 years ago!
Only a little further down the path, Derek and Amy were closely matched. This was until Amy’s shoe came a cropper in a boggier section of the path, Derek unknowingly taking advantage of this to claim 2nd place before Amy came in a minute later to take the Women’s title. Next in was John, an incredibly strong performance pu8shing Amy all the way to the line. Heather was next in, a blistering run from her, before a trademark Ross sprint finish kept him just ahead of Alisdair. Cat and Claire were next, mere seconds between them, Cat admitting this was down to Claire getting lost but brilliant runs from both regardless. Kenny was next across the line, followed by a close battle between Linda and Steven, and a final flurry of finishes as Linsey, Stephen and Pamela rounded off the day.
Brilliant performances all round, plenty of debuts, plenty of course PBs, and two new club champs! Thanks again to Kenny, Sam and Ben for their help on the day!
1st – Finn Boyd, 28:48 – Open Club XC Champ
2nd – Derek Muirhead, 33:25
3rd – Amy Watson, 34:28 – Female Club XC Champ
4th – John Willis, 34:50
5th – Heather Stevenson, 36:16
6th – Ross Trearty, 37:00
7th – Alisdair Kinniburgh, 37:26
8th – Cat Nisbet, 39:04
9th – Claire Glancy, 39:07
10th – Kenny Henderson, 40:48
11th – Linda Sinclair, 41:38
12th – Steven Leighton, 41:46
13th – Linsey Willis, 43:34
14th – Stephen Watson, 43:38
15th – Pamela Leighton, 43:41
