Senior Event Round-Up 9th May 2023

It has been a super busy couple of weeks since our last report – we have seen the start of the CSSAL
League, the third of our Summer Championship events and a number of other events with
Kilmarnock Harriers making their mark. The season is well and truly in full swing!

We start off this week’s result with a trip to Manchester where U20 multi eventer Isla Raeburn was
participating in the BUCS Outdoor Championships at Sportcity. Isla ran a 400m PB (63.40s), achieved
a high jump PB of 1.55m, a javelin PB of 29.09m and just for good measure also threw 9.20m in the
shot- what a fantastic set of results, well done Isla. Also making a trip south this weekend was U20
athlete Ally Mitchell (representing 2 nd claim club Preston) who was 3 rd in his 100m race in 11.94s and
5 th in the 200m in 23.65s at the Upper YDL Northern Premier West match in Liverpool.

A little closer to home, we had a strong team of U20/senior/masters athletes competing at the first
CSSAL League match at Crownpoint on Sunday the 30 th . Despite somewhat miserable weather
conditions, our athletes were in top form and ready to defend our title. The first race of the day was
the ladies 3000m, where the senior and master’s athletes ran together. Taking 2 nd place in the
masters category and 3 rd place overall in the race was Lynsey O’Connor in a PB of 10:45.78. Ellie
Anderson continued her run of form with a strong 4 th in the senior A category in a PB of 11:32.67 and
Izzy Caufield gained really valuable 2 nd place points in the senior B category with 13:14.32. Great
running ladies! We then moved onto the 400m events where unfortunately we did not have a full
squad, but Andrew Baird was 5 th in the men’s A race with 52.25s and Lorne Kerr decimated the field
in the ladies A race with a brilliantly run 56.50s. Next on the track were the 100m races, where Josh
Smith was 4 th in the A race with 11.46s, and Lewis Tidy was 2 nd in the B race with 11.44s. For the
masters men Douglas Dickson had an excellent run for 4 th place in 13.88s. For the ladies Lorne Kerr
was once again dominant, stopping the clock in the A race in 12.56s. Hannah Burn had an strong run
in the B race for 2 nd place in 13.47s. For the masters ladies it was a 2 nd in the A race for Jennifer
Beattie in 15.02s and Lynsey O’Connor was 3 rd in the B race with 17.26s – no mean feat after a
3000m! The next track events were over 800m and again unfortunately we were a bit short on
numbers, however the athletes that did take part gained some good points and there was an
excellent win from U20 athlete Jonathon Downey in particular, who took the men’s A race in fine
style in 1:59.12 which I believe to be a PB. Brian O’Connor stepped up to the plate to run the
masters men’s A race only weeks after his marathon and finished a very credible 6 th in 2:46.79. We
had no senior ladies, but Jennifer Beattie won the masters ladies A race (issue with the results meant
no time as yet!).

Onto the field events, Josh Smith opened the scoring for the day with 5 th place in the long jump
(5.15m) and was 3 rd in the B string for the shot with a throw of 6.76m. Andrew Baird took 3 rd in the A
string shot with 8.45m. Unfortunately we did not have any athletes in the high jump. For the ladies
Brooke Dunlop was 1 st in the A string long jump with 4.94m, 3 rd in the A string javelin with 24.73m
and 5 th in the A string shot with 7.72m. Lynsey O’Connor was 3 rd in the B string javelin with 15.82m
and Jennifer Beattie was 4 th in the B string shot with 5.60m.
To end the day off was a mixed 4×100 relay, and our senior team of Jennifer Beattie, Josh Smith,
Lorne Kerr and Andrew Baird saw off some hot competition to take the win in the final event of the
day. Huge thank you to all of the athletes who took part on the day, many picking up extra events
that would not necessarily be their preference to ensure we got as many points as possible – great
team spirit! We are looking for athletes for the next meeting on the 20 th of May at Grangemouth,
speak to Jennifer or Robert or sign up through TeamApp.

 

Also on Sunday the 30 th , we had John Tougher competing at the Monklands Half Marathon. John
completed in 1:33:45 for 51 st overall – well done John!

Wednesday the 3 rd of May saw the third of our Summer Championship races take place – the ever
popular Troon 10k. Runners were treated to dry, warm and calm conditions which resulted in some
excellent racing with PBs galore. A total of 39 Harriers took to the roads and paths of the town, and
7 of our athletes were rewarded with top 3 category finishes. First Harrier home and 2 nd overall (1 st
U20) in 32:59 was U20 athlete Jamie Phillips, who was closely followed by fellow U20 athlete
Jonathon Downey in 3 rd overall (2 nd U20) in 33:05. Third Harrier man back was Scott Masterton in 8 th
overall (35:46). For the ladies, Amanda Bryden was first home in a huge PB of 41:51 (7 th senior lady
and 11 th lady overall). Second lady back also in a big PB was Ellie Anderson who ran 42:16 for 13 th
lady overall and 1 st U20. Making up the top 3 Killie ladies was Megan Jane Campbell, who fresh from
a PB at London Marathon ran 44:54 to be 16 th senior lady and 25 th lady overall. Other top 3 age
group runners were Susan Boyd who won the V70 ladies category in 52:46, Jennie Munro who was
2 nd U20 lady in 45:52, Michael Corson who was 2 nd V60 man in 42:29 and Susan Beattie who was 3 rd
V60 lady in 50:50. Link to full results can be found here, league tables have been updated.
Friday the 5 th saw a small team of Harriers head east to Edinburgh to take part in the Scottish 5k
Championships held at Silverknowes. This event is extremely popular due to the flat and fast course,
and the standards are high (for some context it took to nearly 400 runners before a time over 20
mins was registered). Conditions were not ideal as it was cold and breezy, but at least it stayed dry!
First Harrier home was John Speirs who ran a PB of 16:41 for 13 th V40 man. Also running PBs and
having outstanding runs were Laura Haggarty (17:54 and 17 th senior lady) and Lorna Baird (17:55 and
18 th senior lady), with Jennifer Beattie final Harrier home in 19:57 and 12 th V40 lady.
On Saturday the 6 th , U20 athlete Jonathon Downey travelled to Ambleside for the English Junior
Championships for hill running, where he finished an excellent 2 nd place in the U19 age category.
There cannot be many athletes who can win an 800m in under 2 mins, finish top 3 in a road 10k and
then finish 2 nd in a hill championship all within 7 days – huge congratulations to Jonathon and his
coaching team.

Finally on Sunday the 7 th we had a team of 6 Harriers travel to Cambuslang for the Dick Wedlock
Memorial 5 mile race, many of these athletes no doubt looking to secure one of their club standards
times for 2023! First Harrier home was John Speirs who was 4 th overall and 1 st V45 in a PB of 27:35.
Next back was Ross Granger in 8 th overall and 3 rd senior man in 29:32. He was followed home by
Scott Martin (11 th overall and 2 nd V50 in 31:20), then Amanda Bryden (2 nd senior lady and 2 nd Fire
Service in 18 th overall in a PB of 33:31), Murray MacDonald in 22 nd place (34:52) and Russell Duncan
in 33 rd overall and 3 rd V60 in 37:29. Well done to all!

The summer league tables have now been updated, with Neil Todd holding his lead at the top of the
men’s table with 34 points and Jonathon Downey and Scott Masterton hot on his heels with 29 and
27 points respectively. The top of the ladies table sees a two-way tie with Amanda Bryden and Ellie
Anderson with 29 points apiece, and Megan Jane Campbell is currently 3 rd with 27 points. There is
still a long way to go however! – Summer league tables (1)

The next races in the league are as follows (links to entries where applicable)
Shettleston 10k (Scottish 10k champs) 14th May – https://entries.runabc.co.uk/e/babcock-shettleston-10k-8837
Land O Burns 10k 24th May – https://www.entrycentral.com/form/101067
Club event Sunday 28 th May (details soon!)