Senior Event Round Up 25th May 2023

And just like that we are nearly in June! Roon the Toon is just around the corner for our road
runners, the summer league tables are hotting up and championship events are on the horizon
across the board. The last few weeks have seen Harriers competing at a number of different events,
and as always we have plenty of excellent performances to report on.

We start this week with the Scottish Open events which ran parallel with the Scottish Athletics West
District Championships for our younger athletes. The middle distance and throws athletes were at
Grangemouth and the sprinters and jumpers were at Kilmarnock on the weekend of the 13 th and the
14 th . The weather on the 14 th in particular was challenging, but we still had some great performances
from our U20 and senior athletes. On the Saturday Jamie Phillips was 3 rd in the 800m in a PB time of
1:53.29, whilst Callum Campbell was 6 th in his 1500m with a PB of 4:45.09. Logan Mitchell had a busy
weekend throwing as an U20 athlete. He was 1 st in the shot throwing a PB of 15.89m, 1 st in the
discus in a season best performance of 41.18m and 1 st in the hammer for another PB of 52.11m –
some fantastic results from this young athlete who has just been picked to represent Scotland at the
Loughborough Pathways International this weekend. Also throwing hammer was Hannah
Henderson who was 3 rd in her pool with a PB of 38.28m. Meanwhile back at Kilmarnock on the
Saturday there were the 100m sprints. Douglas Dickson was 4 th in his race in 14.02s, Lorne Kerr was
6 th in her race in 12.69s and Hannah Burn was also 6 th in her race in 14.13s. On the Sunday in the
howling wind and rain these athletes were back out for the 200m. They were joined by Ally Mitchell
who was 5 th in his race in 22.96s. Douglas ran a season best of 29.51s for 7 th in his race, Lorne ran a
season best of 25.64s for 3 rd and Hannah also ran a season best for 3 rd in 28.14s. In the field events,
Ally Mitchell jumped a season best of 6.08m for third in the long jump, and Sara Barbour won the
pole vault in fine style, clearing 3.49m.

Also that weekend, Sunday the 14 th saw the Scottish 10k championships take place at the Shettleston
10k (one of our summer league races). 7 Harriers descended on Glasgow Green and were rewarded
with some great times. First back was John Speirs running a PB of 34:45 for 69 th overall and 8 th V40 in
a very competitive field. Next back and first lady was Lorna Baird in 38:00, closely followed by
Lynsey O’Connor who ran a big PB of 38:11. Colin Anderson crossed the line in 38:52, followed by
Neil Todd in 40:12. Scott Lyden finished in 44:31 and Megan-Jane Campbell rounded up this great
set of results with 46:44.

Saturday the 20 th of May was a busy day for the senior track and field athletes with the second of the
CSSAL league meets taking place at Grangemouth. The final results have not yet been published, but
there were some fantastic performances throughout the day with the highlight probably being the
senior men’s 1500m. Both A and B strings were run together, and Jamie Phillips ran an exceptional
4:03.11 to be 2 nd of the A string athletes and Jonathon Downey came absolutely screaming down the
last 100m to be 3 rd overall and 1 st B string athlete in 4:06.36. I believe these both to be PB
performances but regardless of times this was an amazing race to watch! Special mention must go
to your men’s captain Robert Lindsay who certainly led by example and competed in an incredible 6
events, but as always we are grateful to all the athletes who turn up and represent at these events,
often picking up events that are not their first choice to get valuable points for the team. For a
relatively small U20/senior/masters team (Robert Lindsay, Ally Mitchell, Colin Young, David
Anderson, Jonathon Downey, Jamie Phillips, Natalie Sharp, Lorne Kerr, Isla Raeburn, Katy Orr, Ellie
Anderson and Jennifer Beattie) it looks like we gathered up a huge amount of points – well done all.
Also on the 20 th , our very own Roddy Pugh was taking part in the Goatfell race on Arran. He got to
the top and back down in an incredible 2:06.54 to take 3 rd V65 prize – well done Roddy!

 

Sunday the 21 st saw some of our U20 throwers back in action at the Throws GP at Grangemouth.
Logan Mitchell was once again in fine form, winning the shot with a 13.13m throw and the discus
with a PB of 39.79m. Hannah Henderson was 4 th in the hammer, throwing 36.82m. The throws
squad are having a great run of success at the moment, a huge testament to the hard work of
athletes and coaches. If you get the chance you should try and take the time to watch some of the
throwing at training or events – it really is an art form!

Wednesday the 24 th was another one of our championship events – the Land O’Burns 10k held at
Ayr. Conditions were good, and there was some excellent racing on the night. A total of 14 Harriers
completed the race, and it was great to see a number of prizes going to athletes in blue and white.
Jonathon Downey was 1 st Harrier home in 3 rd place overall and 1 st U20 in 33:24, followed by Colin
Anderson in 39:21 (19 th overall) and Neil Todd in 40:31 (23 rd overall). Just behind Neil was John
Cairns who was 1 st V60 in an excellent 40:32. John Tougher completed in 41:50, then Ellie Anderson
was our first lady back in 43:44 (2 nd U20). Sasha I’Anson was next lady back in 47:03 (3 rd U20) and
then Izzy Caufield in 51:22 made up our trio of ladies competing. Also completing were Drew
Lambert (52:06), Brian McLure (52:46), Richard Beattie (52:58), Kevin Beck (54:31), Kieran MacCann
(55:12) and Stuart Nibloe (58:11) – well done to all who took part.

With two points events having taken place since our last report, there have been some changes in
the league tables. Ellie Anderson now tops the ladies table with 44 points, with Megan-Jane
Campbell chasing on 40 points in 2nd and Lorna Baird in 3 rd on 30 points. In the men’s table Neil
Todd continues to hold the lead with 60 points, with Colin Anderson currently in 2 nd with 51 points
and Jonathon Downey occupying 3 rd with 44 points. This weekend sees a bonus club points event
with the Jim Young Breakfast race at Craufordland on Sunday morning – there is still time to sign up
if you have not already done so! We are also incorporating the Rowallan Rose Bowl into this event
so here is your chance to get your name on this famous trophy. Our next event after this is Roon
the Toon – if you are not signed up please consider volunteering on the day or in the days before the
event, it’s a great way to be involved in the race atmosphere without having to actually run.

Full league tables here – Summer league tables (2)