Kilmarnock Harriers Senior Event Round Up 31st July 2023

And just like that we are at the end of July! It has been another busy spell for the club with our
athletes competing around the country across a wide range of events, hopefully we’ve captured
everything in the last few weeks but if we’ve missed anything please let us know – we love to report
good news!

We start this week’s report in the hills, where three Harriers took on the challenging Cairn Table
Race at Muirkirk on the 12 th of July. 1 st Harrier home and 1 st U18 was Matthew Monachello who
finished 20 th overall in 40:36. Next back in 28 th overall and 3 rd V60 in 43:54 was Mike Corson, and he
was followed by Roddy Pugh in 32 nd overall and 4 th V60 in 45:29. Well done to all 3 athletes, great to
see the next generation mixing it with the club’s hill running stalwarts.

The 14 th of July saw the start of the Run the Blades running festival at Eaglesham, with Amanda
Bryden the sole Harrier taking on the 10k on what was a horrible wet Friday night. Amanda came
home 13 th lady and 86 th overall in 49:46 – well done Amanda. The Saturday thankfully dawned a bit
more pleasant for the athletes taking on the 50k Ultra distance. Shaun Dunbar was 15 th overall and
3 rd V40 in 4:14:20, and Nick Carter made his ultra debut a good one, finishing 57 th overall in 5:03:03.
On the Sunday we had 4 Harriers take on the tricky half marathon course, with Alasdair Murray first
back in 1:38:03 in 26 th place overall and 2 nd V50. Next back was Lauren Little in 2:07:16 (48 th lady and
208 th overall), Brian McLure in 2:08:27 (5 th V60 and 216 th overall) and Susan Boyd in 2:21:57 (2 nd FV60
and 280 th overall). Well done to all taking on these challenging races!

On the 19 th of July, middle distance runners Jamie and Jordan Phillips made the journey to Belfast to
take part in the BMC meet. Jamie was 10 th in the men’s A race 800m in 1:53.28 and Jordan was 2 nd in
the C race in 1:55.61 – excellent running in very good company.

On the 22 nd of July, Kirsty McNulty continued her comeback with a 14 th place 5k finish at the Couch to
5k race in London, completing the course which started and finished in the Olympic stadium in 23:18
– well done Kirsty!

The 22 nd also saw sprinter Ally Mitchell competing at the GAA sprint meet at Scotstoun. Despite
some very challenging conditions, Ally had two solid runs of 11.49s and 11.63s over 100m on the
day. Meanwhile, U20 thrower Hannah Henderson was at the Throws GP event at Kilmarnock and
won her hammer event with a throw of 36.94m.

On the 23 rd , all roads led to Ayr for the track and field athletes for the final CSSAL league match.
Going into the event we were sitting 2 nd overall, and with the senior teams almost completely full we
were hoping to do some real damage to the points total on the day! The track events for the seniors
started with the 3000m for the men, and with Jonathon Downey finishing 2 nd for the A string, Owen
Walpole winning the B string section and Mark Alexander 4 th in the Masters section we were off to a
flying start. In the 400m, Andrew Baird was 5 th in a really hot A race and Jordan Phillips came out on
top of the B race in an exciting finish. Moving on to the 100m events, Ally Mitchell was 2 nd in the A
race and Josh Smith won the B race, with Robert Lindsay taking 2 nd in the masters A race and David
Anderson making a big step out of his usual comfort zone to finish a fine 3 rd in the masters B race.
Onto the 800m we only had one senior man (Jamie Nix) and there was an issue with the results so
we are not 100% sure of the final standings. In the masters race which was extremely competitive,
Robert Lindsay was 6 th in the A string and unfortunately David Anderson had to pull up with an injury
– get better soon David! In the field events for the men, Robert Lindsay was 6 th in the discus with a
PB on the A card, and Scott Young was 3 rd on the B card gaining us more valuable points. Jamie Nix

was 4 th on the A card for the high jump and Robert Lindsay featured yet again on the B card, finishing
3 rd . Finally in the shot put Robert was 4 th on the A card, with Scott Young 3 rd on the B card.
For the ladies there were fewer events than at previous events, but thanks to all of the ladies who
took part ensuring that the card was completely covered! First up on the track was the senior 400m,
where Jennifer Beattie was 5 th in the A race and Laura Jedrusiak was 3 rd in the B race. In the 100m
events, Brooke Dunlop was 2 nd in the senior A race and Shona McBean-Kyle was 2 nd in the B race. For
the masters, Jennifer Beattie was 3 rd in the A race and Amanda Bryden was 3 rd in the B race. Moving
onto the 800m, Laura Jedrusiak ran a cracking PB to finish 3 rd in the A race and Ellie Anderson won
the B race. For the masters, Jennifer Beattie won the A race and Amanda Bryden won the B race in a
new PB. In the field events Brooke Dunlop won the A card for the high jump and Laura Jedrusiak
won the B card and in the discus Brooke was 3 rd on the A card and Amanda was 4 th on the B card. To
finish off the day, our mixed relay team of Josh Smith, Ally Mitchell, Brooke Dunlop and Shona
McBean-Kyle took the win. Early indications are that we won the match, but will have to settle for
2 nd overall this year. There have been some brilliant performances across all age groups at these
events, huge well done to everyone who has taken part – especially those picking up extra events
that they would not normally do, every point counts!

Wednesday the 26 th saw the next of our summer points races at Kilmaurs 5k, and what a turnout we
had! A total of 32 Harriers completed this tricky wee race in less than perfect conditions and we had
some brilliant results. It is not possible to list everyone (full results are available online) but a huge
well done to everyone who put their toe on the line and represented the club. First back and 2 nd
overall was Craig Ferguson who is having an exceptional season. Craig completed the race in 15:34
which is a new PB, well done Craig! 2 nd back was U17 athlete Jamie Work, another athlete who is
absolutely flying at the moment. Jamie completed in 16:25 in 9 th place overall and winning the M15-
17 category on the night. 3 rd Harrier home was Ross Granger who was 11 th overall in a new PB of
16:58, and a special mention to new Harrier Graeme Quinn who actually finished in the same chip
time as Ross for 12 th overall. First lady back and 1 st lady overall was Kara McKenzie-Tait who
completed in 17:51. Next lady back was Lynsey O’Connor in a new PB of 18:34 for 2 nd V40 lady and
third lady back was Ellie Anderson who finished in 21:09 for 1 st F15-17. Other age group category
top 3 prize winners were Nicholas Latto who was 1 st M11-14, Michael Corson who was 2 nd V60,
Jennie Munro who was 2 nd F15-17, Russell Duncan who was 3 rd V60, Rebecca McNulty who was 2 nd
F11-14, Sussan Boyd who was 1st V70 and Kate Todd who was 2 nd V70. It was great to see so many
blue and white vests on the night!

On Saturday the 29 th , Jamie and Jordan Phillips were at Birmingham Uni BMC Grand Prix once again
competing over 800m. Jamie was 6 th in his race in 1:53.68, and Jordan earned a new PB of 1:55.46
for 5 th in his race. It is fantastic to see the club represented at these high-level events, well done
lads.

The final race for this week’s report is the second club points race of the week – the Cumbrae 10
mile road race which is also the Ayrshire 10 mile championships. Whilst we have not had
confirmation of the Ayrshire medals as yet, there are still some great results to report despite
smaller numbers from the club than usual. Owen Walpole was 1 st Harrier home in 62:10 finishing
11 th senior man and 19 th overall. Next back was Colin Anderson who crossed the line in 68:19 earning
him 16 th V40 and 46 th overall. Nick Carter was next home in 72:07 (29 th senior man and 69 th overall),
with Mike Corson hot on his heels in 72:12 for 4 th V60 and 70 th overall. Richard Beattie was next in
86:19 (5 th V70 and 192 nd overall) and then our sole lady representative Lauren Little crossed the line
in 91:12 (22 nd senior lady and 228 th overall). Well done to all who completed on such a windy day
and hopefully we will have some Ayrshire prizes to report in the near future!

 

In the league tables, Ellie Anderson now extends her lead at the top of the ladies table with 90
points, with Lynsey O’Connor in 2 nd with 67 and Amanda Bryden lying 3 rd with 62. In the men’s table
Colin Anderson now tops the league with 79 points, with Neil Todd in 2 nd with 66 and Jonathon
Downey hot on his heels with 64. Remember that there are age group prizes for U20 upwards
providing that you have completed 5 events, and all of the races (excluding Best Parkrun) count for
the ‘Club Together’ awards so even if you are not sitting in the top 3 currently there is still plenty to
go for! Check out the current leaderboard here – Summer league tables (1)

The next races on the calendar are the Dundonald 10k and the Marymass 10k, and Club
Championships are scheduled for the 3 rd of September. Remember that your best Parkrun, HM and
marathon within the time period will also count.