Senior Round-Up 4 th December 2023

And just like that we’re in December – how on earth did that happen? Although the weather has
been challenging our athletes have still been out and about representing the club in fine style.
Firstly an addition to our last report – at the Athens Marathon we also had John Tougher running but
he was missed in the original report, sorry John! John completed the course in a fine 4:05:52, well
done!

Saturday the 18 th of November was the first match of the West League XC held at the AAA. The
weather was challenging to say the least, but nevertheless we had a great turnout of Kilmarnock
athletes in the senior races which incorporated U20/senior/masters athletes in the one race. For the
ladies, Amanda Bryden was first back in 23 rd overall, followed by Izzy Caufield in 28 th and Kirsty
McNulty in 38 th . This left the ladies in 8 th place overall after the first match – great running! For the
men, Jonathon Downey took the win after making a late surge past some senior athletes in the
closing stages. Craig Ferguson was 5 th overall, with Owen Walpole next in 23 rd and Graeme Quinn in
26 th . Following them was Nick Carter in 53 rd , a welcome return to racing for David Anderson in 62 nd ,
Gary Martin in 79 th and Ken Monaghan in 89 th . With the top 4 scores counting, it was great to see
the Kilmarnock men topping the table – let’s see if we can continue this throughout the league, no
pressure guys!

Friday the 24 th of November saw the return of 3k on the Green. We had 3 Harriers turn out on the
day, with Adam Todd first back in 13 th overall (10:17). Next back in 25 th place and first lady overall
was Laura Haggarty (10:40), followed closely by Lynsey O’Connor in 30 th and second lady overall
(10:46) – great running from everyone.

Sunday the 26 th saw more Harriers descend on the Green, this time for the Glasgow Mo Run event.
Ross Granger was 6 th overall and 3 rd V40 in the 10k race with a great time of 36:13, and in the half
marathon Catriona Hastings ran a big PB of 2:17:45 to finish 370 th overall and 11 th V40 lady – well
done!

The weekend just gone saw the West District XC take place at Strathaven. Overnight snow made the
course even trickier than normal but 8 U20/senior athletes put their toe on the line to take their
chances. In the U20 men’s race Jonathon Downey finished 4 th , with Jamie Phillips not far behind in
9 th – great running from both athletes in a strong field! For the ladies, Bethany Ross showed us all of
her facial expressions whilst completing the course in 61 st place, with Amanda Bryden not far behind
in 66 th . For the senior/masters men, Craig Ferguson was first Harrier home in a very competitive
field in 30 th place. Next back was Greig Glendinning in 143 rd , with Nick Carter next in 148 th and Mark
Henderson rounding up our quartet of athletes in 179 th overall.

There has been a bit of movement in the senior league tables with the last 2 XC events taken into
account. Craig Ferguson still leads the way for the men with 69 points, but Nick Carter is hot on his
heels with 59. Owen Walpole now takes on 3 rd spot with 33 points. For the ladies Amanda Bryden
still leads with 61, with Bethany Ross 2 nd with 33 and Kirsty McNulty now moving up to 3 rd spot with
23. In the U20 leagues Jonathon Downey still heads up the men’s table (52) with Jamie Phillips
second (33). For the U20 ladies Izzy Caufield continues to lead (59) with Sasha I’Anson second (24). See

the full table here  – winter 23 24 league

The next events are the Christmas Handicap which will be held on Thursday the 14 th  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdlejVx_UIks6BrF4OVhg2ngdUN_64JuXW01YNU7OysM0erpw/viewform– please fill out the form if you wish to compete.

Following this is the Turkey Trot on the 27 th Turkey Trot  and the Beith 10k Beith entries.