Senior/U20 events report 18th October 2024

The nights are certainly drawing in, we have been training under the lights for a couple of weeks now and XC season is now in full swing – Autumn is definitely here!  Since our last report there have been some outstanding performances by our athletes both up and down the country and indeed internationally – if we have missed anyone please let us know as we love to report good news.

It seems fitting that we start off this week with our in-house XC trials, held at the Kay Park on the 19th of September.  We definitely had better weather this year (for those of you who remember the thunder and torrential rain last year!) and a total of 22 Harriers from U17 through to V70 turned out to compete around 3 laps of the traditional 1360 course.  Fastest on the night was Jonathon Downey (14:00), followed by Connor Scobie (14:15) and Ross Granger (14:17).  For the ladies, Eilidh Ballantyne set the standard at 16:52, followed by U17 athlete Eve Starritt (17:19) and Katie Vallance (17:21).  Well done to everyone who took part, marshalled or otherwise supported on the night!

On Friday the 20th, Jonathon Downey travelled through to Linlithgow for the increasingly popular Flat n’ Fast 5k which attracts some of the fastest runners in Scotland.  Jonathon was seeded in the Elite Mens race where he finished a very credible 36th place in a scorching 15:14.2.

The weekend of the 28th/29th saw some of our Harriers take on some further distances! Saturday the 28th of September saw Mark Henderson run the Two Breweries Race – a 30km hill race between Traquair House and Broughton over some tough terrain and serious elevation.  Mark finished a very credible 108th place in 4:49:23 – well done Mark.  Also this weekend, Sunday the 29th saw Louise Baillie take on the Loch Ness Marathon, where she completed this scenic but tough course in 4:18:49 – well done Louise!

The 5th of October heralded the start of XC season, with Kilmarnock hosting the West District relays.  For the ladies, our A team of Laura Haggarty, Kat Kelly and Amanda Bryden finished a fantastic 9th overall, with our B team of Jennie Munro, Morgan McBurnie and Mhairi Ballantyne finishing 30th.  Though an incomplete team, it was great to see Paula Wilson back on the XC field alongside teammate Jackie Duncan, and both ladies had solid runs.  For our men, the A team of Jonathon Downey, Matthew Monachello, Connor Scobie and Ross McNaught finished 11th overall, with the Masters team of David Anderson, Scott Martin, Alistair Craig and Robert Lindsay finishing 27th overall.  Our partial team of Gary Martin and Russell Duncan also had great runs – well done to all who took part.  There have been a lot of issues with the provisional results for this event but they should all be correct on final posting.  

Also on the 5th and enjoying a bit more warmth than we had in Kilmarnock, Richard Beattie completed the New Hampshire 10k in 52:57, taking the V70 age category prize in the process – well done Richard!

For a lot of our other athletes, this weekend was also a big one – the Great Scottish 10k and Half Marathon.  In the 10k race, 6 athletes posted results under the club banner with Shaun Dunbar first home in 39:56.  Sasha I’Anson was next back and first lady for the club in 41:50 which I believe to be a PB?  Well done Sasha!  Bethany Ross was next in 43:41, followed by Izzy Caufield in 44:58, Stephen Emerson in 46:38 and Susan Boyd in 55:12.

In the half marathon we had a total of 35 athletes entered under the Kilmarnock Harriers banner.  There are too many to cover off in the one report, but we had some really excellent performances with 4 of our men finishing in the top 100 (David Sherrington 42nd in 1:14:46, Craig Ferguson 62nd in 1:15:52, Scott Masterton 78th in 1:16:54 and David McLure 96th in 1:17:44) and our top 3 ladies Eilidh Ballantyne (1:38:58), debutante Lynsey Jamieson (1:39:11) and Amanda Bryden (1:39:29) all running PBs.  The biggest shout out however must go to all of the team who doubled up on the day for Team Bambi, raising money for MacMillan Cancer support for the support they have given fellow Harrier and friend Dawn McManus – great to see so many of you out there on the day.  At time of writing an incredible total of over £9000 has been raised – if anyone would like to make a contribution the link can be found here: Luke McManus is fundraising for Macmillan Cancer Support (justgiving.com).

As we move through October, the weather has started to be less than cooperative as anyone at the Ayrshire Relays at Rozelle this weekend will confirm!  However, although the weather might have been cold and wet at times, our teams were nothing short of red hot and there was some really exciting racing.  Our men’s A team of Matthew Monachello (1st place leg 1), Connor Scobie (3rd place leg 2), and Graeme Quinn (2nd place leg 3) set the scene perfectly for Jonathon Downey to stalk the Ayr Seaforth athlete on the last leg before making a decisive move through the woods and bursting clear to take the team to victory by nearly 30s.  Jonathon also ran the fastest lap by any athlete on the day (11:42) to see the men lift the trophy for the 3rd year in a row.  Not wishing to miss out on the fun (or the medals!) our B team of John Speirs, Tom Flood, Robert Lindsay and Shaun Dunbar all had great runs to take the bronze medals.  Our 3rd team was sadly 1 man down, but Scott Martin, Nick Carter and Murray McDonald all had fantastic runs also.   Our ladies definitely did not want to let the men have all the bragging rights however, and our A team of Laura Haggarty, Eilidh Ballantyne and Kat Kelly absolutely ate up the course to reclaim the ladies trophy for the first time since 2021 with a huge margin of close to 90s ahead of the runners up.  The B team of Izzy Caufield, Bethany Ross and XC newcomer Katie Vallance did more than enough to claim the bronze medals, and C team Jennie Munro, Mhairi Ballantyne and Susan Ballantyne (who stepped up on the day of the race to compete) finished 4th overall.   A hugely successful day all round, well done all!

Also getting battered by the weather, we had a number of athletes competing at the Glasgow Uni 5 mile road race.  This race attracts some really fast athletes, and despite it not being the flattest course in the world it does produce some great racing.  First home in the blue and white was Craig Ferguson in 17th (28:25), followed by Sasha I’Anson in 55th (32:51), Mike Corson in 85th (35:37), Russell Duncan in 108th (38:45) and Jackie Duncan in 149th (43:41).  Well done to you all in some really tough conditions!

Sunday the 13th was marathon day for a few of our runners.  Lynne McCaffrey was competing at the Rannoch Marathon, where she completed this undulating course in 4:28:49, finishing 49th lady overall and 6th in her age category – well done Lynne!

A little bit further away, another two of our senior ladies were in Chicago to take on the prestigious Bank of America Chicago marathon.  Lorna Baird completed in 3:09:48 and Amanda Bryden crossed the line in 3:41:59 – great running ladies and another star ticked off for the both of you.

Coming up in the next few weeks we have National XC relays (entries closed), National Short Course XC on the 2nd of November (entries close 17th – you need to enter this one independently through the SA portal), Ayrshire Champs on the 9th of November and West Champs on the 16th of November (names for both through TeamApp please).  The winter league races have been announced and league tables will be updated after the conclusion of the National Relays.