COUNTY AND NATIONAL XC RELAYS, AND SOME OTHER EVENTS AS WELL

RELAY SEASON IN FULL FLOW

AYRSHIRE RELAYS
The past few weeks have proved busy for everyone who likes to race, and the Ayrshire Cross Country Relays were held at the fields behind the Ayrshire Athletics Arena on Saturday 17th October.
Always an ultra competitive event throughout the age groups, Kilmarnock had already struck gold in the Under 11, 15 and 17 Boys age groups, with a large number of medals to compliment this and as the Senior Women and Men set off together for the 4,000 metres course hopes were high to add to this tally.
Ayr Seaforth were always going to be the Team to catch at both events, and leading from the off it was always a tall order to catch the cross county rivals who had fielded particularly strong teams in 2015 with a mixture of youth and experience working brilliantly for them.
In the Women’s Race however, the” A” Kilmarnock team consisting of Colleen Tait, Bethany Ross, and Laura Haggarty dug in well to secure a deserved Bronze medal and with a large number of back up teams a bit behind it leaves Captain Paula in a good position of having healthy competition for places in the coming weeks.
Kilmarnock times were –
D Team (3th) Colleen Tait 15.55, Bethany Ross 16.30, Laura Haggarty 16.46
A (Vet) Team (5th) Lindsay McMahon 16.06, Liz McDerment 17.29, Paula Wilson 18.34
B Team (8th) Michelle Goldie 18.46, Laura Carruthers 19.24, Stephanie Hewitt 17.40
C Team (9th) Chloe Adams 20.29, Kirstin Dale 19.20, Alanis Bryden 18.14
E Team (14th) Janice Millar 25.40
In the Senior Men’s Race, Ayr Seaforth proved a class apart from the rest of the field to end a run of 4 consecutive County Titles for Killie and it was to be a cracking fight to the end for the Silver and Bronze medals between the Ayr B Team and Kilmarnock’s top 2 Teams.
A tough pre race team selection dilemma was to prove correct for Captain Cammy Wilson as there were a matter of seconds between the fastest 8 Killie runners, and despite giving up their title the Club were consoled by the fact the guys did come through to medal in 2nd and 3rd.
Killie Mens Times were –
B Team (2nd) Cameron Mackie 13.29, Neil Walker 13.36, James Wales 13.31, Cameron Wilson 13.11
A (Vets) Team (3rd) Gordon Reid 13.26, Scott Martin 13.28, Robert Lindsay 13.22, Connell Drummond 13.42
C Team (9th) Ross Connelly 14.25, Terry Mullholland 16.39, Stewart McAllister 15.33, Charles Lines 14.52
D Team (14th) John Parker 15.42, James Dalziel 17.45, Stewart McRoberts 16.26, Les McDerment 16.05
F Team (17th) Graham Cairns 16.47, Ronnie Dalziel 16.17, Kenny Neilson 19.35, Colin Souter 15.00
E Team (18th) Ken Wales 16.49, Darren Ridout 17.52, Stephen Emmerson 16.10, Ian McAughtrie 19.16
National Cross Country Relays
This weekend (24th October), the Club followed the Ayrshire’s up with the last of the three quickfire weekly Relays at the blue riband event – the Scottish National Cross Country Relays – which were held at the traditional venue of Cumbernauld.
Once more, despite numbers being down slightly from the huge turnout the previous week, Kilmarnock Harriers were well represented, and again it was the Juniors who set the ball rolling as the day progressed throughout the age groups. Again, all competing Juniors coped superbly with the truly tough course and with some great performances set a marker down for the Senior athletes.
In the women’s race, there were again a number of debutants for Kilmarnock and finishing just outside the top 30 was the Kilmarnock A Team.
Special mentions go to Janice Millar who – as per the previous week – ran in an incomplete Killie Team and continues to build up her endurance over some tough cross country courses.
Times on the 4,000 metres course were –
A Team (34th) – Colleen Tait 17.28, Stephanie Hewitt 19.30, Bethany Ross 18.26

B Team (42nd) – Jacqueline McConnell 18.59, Liz McDerment 18.56, Kirsteen Salisbury 19.16

C Team (52nd) – Paula Wilson 19.37, Rosemary McMillan 21.19, Stephanie Dale 25.01
Incomplete Team – Janice Miller 27.49.
The final event of the day was the Senior Men and Kilmarnock had 7 athletes in this, over 2 teams.
In a race which was successfully defended by Central AC, Killie aquited themselves well and times were –
Team A (55th) – Neil Walker 14.31, Connell Drummond 15.08, Ross Connelly 16.05, Stewart McAllister 17.17
Incomplete Team – Stewart McRoberts 17.44, Les McDerment 17.21, Ken Wales 18.59.
Well done to all, with a reminder that the Kilmarnock Harrier and AC Open Races are being held on Sunday November.
Although much attention recently has been at Cross Country, nevertheless there have been some excellent performances elsewhere, and none more so than at the recent York Marathon.
Mark Alexander of Kilmarnock Harriers was competing in his second 26.2 miler of the year, and despite pre race injury which ultimately meant that he fell short of a repeat of his sub 3 hour clocking in April, he still had an excellent run.
Cheered on by his family, Mark stopped the clock at an impressive 3.06.50 and with better preparation looks to be well on target for a big lifetime best in the near future.
Connell Drummond too had an excellent recent race. Running at the Antonine Trail Race around the Kelvin Valley Area, Connell finished the 13.8 mile course in an excellent 3rd place overall which was an excellent effort the day after the Ayrshire Cross Country Relays.