OUT IN FORCE AT LAND O BURNS, KIRKMICHAEL, SHETTLESTON, EDINBURGH AND LIVERPOOL.

Last midweek, the annual Land o’ Burns 10k took place with host Club Ayr Seaforth laying on another fantastic event which takes in a lot of the south side of the town on a fairly undulating course.

In warm conditions it was to prove a successful night for Kilmarnock Harriers with the top 2 performers in particular having reason to celebrate. Richard Mair was one of the pre event favourites in a competitive field and this prediction was to prove correct as by the end of the race he cut the tape first in a marginal personal best time for 10k and a winning margin of around 40 seconds. Also on the pb trail was relatively new Member Craig Ferguson who, having not broken 40 minutes until Boxing Day, starts to fulfil his potential with a great sub 36 minute clocking and an 8^th place finish in the process.

First Kilmarnock Female on the night was the consistent Rhona O’Neill and with this being a Club Championship Race there was a huge contingent from Kilmarnock Harriers, with times and positions being as follow.

1^st Richard Mair 33.07, 8^th Craig Ferguson 35.47, 26^th Mark Alexander 39.21, 34th Scott Lyden 41.48, 41st John Tougher 42.50, 42nd Ali Neil 42.57, 51st Douglas Thorburn 44.11, 66th Gordon Sandler 45.17, 70th Stuart Nibloe 45.44, 72nd Matthew Dodds 45.46, 78^th Russell Duncan 46.28, 85^th David McGill 47.03, 101^st Rhona O’Neill 48.53, 109^th Lynne McCaffrey 49.46, 113rd Amanda Bryden 50.00, 116^th Matt Ferguson 50.51, 132^nd Mark Lyden 52.47, 140^th Kenny Neilson 53.27, 152^nd Eve McClurg 55.09, 153^rd Malky McGregor 55.09, 158^th Jackie Duncan 55.37, 161^st Jacqui Sandler 56.03, 185^th Alan Anderson 57.59, 200^th Alison Wales 59.55

Two days later saw the next Club Championship event at the extremely hilly Kirkmichael 10k and it was Past Winners and Ayr Seaforth duo Kenny Neil and Laura Wallace who were to claim the honours. First over the line for Kilmarnock however, were David White and Amanda Bryden, the duo claiming the maximum 15 points on offer for leading their team mates home. Davie also took the honours in the Vet category in an excellent race for the Galston based Harrier.

Times and positions were –

5th David White 40.37, 6^th Scott Lyden 42.01, 14^th Stuart Nibloe 47.35, 15^th Gerry Dodds 48.55, 16^th Stewart McAllister 50.00, 17^th David McGill 51.07, 20^th Amanda Bryden (3^rd Female), 21^st Lynn McCaffrey 52.55, 22^nd Alex McGhee 52.57, 28^th Mark Lyden 54.43, 30^th Laura Carruthers 57.07, 31^st James Dalziel 58.34.

On Sunday, Connell Drummond took on the Shettleston 10k which took place in and around Glasgow Green. Connell placed 55^th overall in a solid time of 38.19 to continue his comeback from injury.

On the same day, in Edinburgh, Mark Hamilton was running the gruelling Edinburgh Marathon and again did so well. Mark clocked 3.38 and although a bit shy of his best, this was still another fine run.

Finally, Scott Martin travelled South on Sunday to take part in the Rock n Roll Liverpool Half Marathon for the first time along with a field of over 8,000 runners. Scott finished 20^th overall in a time of 1.18.54, and although slightly slower than hoped for he was pleased with his run and 1^st position in his age category.

(Picture of Richard en route to winning Land o Burns 10k courtesy of Kenny Phillips)