Senior Race Round Up 17th November 2021

It has been another couple of very busy weeks for the seniors, with athletes taking to the road, XC and hills across Scotland and having some great results!

Saturday the 6^th of November was the National Short Course XC championships, held at the old racecourse at Lanark.  The weather could certainly be described as true Scottish XC weather, but this did not stop the 6 hardy U20/senior athletes who put a toe on the line (alongside Olympic athletes no less!).  The ladies race saw Sharon McNicol cross the line first of the Harriers in 17:19, followed in close succession by Jennifer Beattie in 17:34, Eilidh Ballantyne in 17:43 and Amanda Bryden in 18:09.  This saw the team finish 17^th overall, great running ladies in some challenging conditions!  For the men, John Speirs was first home in 14:54 and Brian O’Connor also had a great run, though a chip issue sadly meant no official time.   It was a shame that we had so few athletes representing at this national level event, hopefully next year the numbers will be better – despite the weather this time around it really is a good event with a great atmosphere!

Coach Colin Glencorse also raced on the Saturday, with the added bonus of elevation to add to the delightful weather faced by the athletes at Lanark (!) for a top 50 placing at the Tinto Hill Race – well done Colin.

On Sunday the 7^th, two Harriers headed to West Kype Farm for the Strathaven Striders Run with the Wind Half Marathon, run over a new course this year.  Craig Ferguson was 4^th Senior and 6^th overall in a time of 1:18.53, with John Tougher 9^th M40 and 33^rd overall in 1:30.11 – great running guys!

On Saturday the 13^th, a total of 8 men and 4 U20/senior ladies descended on Rozelle Park at Ayr for the Ayrshire XC Championships.  The weather was far more kind this weekend, and following some excellent performances from our junior members the pressure was on for the seniors to produce the goods.

For the men, Martin Brown was 2^nd in 29:38, with Craig Ferguson in 6^th in 31:04, David Sherrington 10^th in 33:22, John Speirs 12^th in 33:48, Paul Lafferty 15^th in 34:20, Connell Drummond 20^th in 35:05, Nick Carter 35^th in 39:35 and Stuart Nibloe 41^st in 50:43.  Unfortunately the Irvine team once again showed their strength and depth to take the team Gold, but the Killie men fought hard for a well-deserved team Silver (Martin, Craig, David, John, Paul and Connell counting scores) to go along with the individual Silver for Martin.

In the ladies race Morgan McBurnie had a fantastic race to take the individual Silver medal in 37:33.  Eilidh Ballantyne was 7^th in 43:04, Amanda Bryden 8^th in 43:48 and Victoria McDowall 9^th in 44:28.   The ladies also took the Silver team medal (Morgan, Eilidh and Amanda counting scores) behind a strong Ayr Seaforth team.  For most of these athletes this was their first attempt at the 9k long format, great running ladies!

The next race is West District XC on the 4^th of December at Balloch.  Cyclists vs Harriers (19^th December) has also just been announced this week and will sell out quickly so get your entries in for this one soon if you want to take part.