Senior race roundup 2nd January 2023

First of all, your captains would like to wish you all a very happy new year, and we hope that
everyone has a fantastic 2023 season! Loads of you have certainly ended the 2022 season on a high,
with some really exciting results up and down the country in what is going to be a bumper report
this week.

We start on Saturday the 10 th of December, when John Speirs travelled all the way to
Buckinghamshire for an end of season half marathon. Hoping to run a Gold Plus club standard time,
John came home a happy man with a huge PB of 76:03, 4 th place overall and mission accomplished.
John has had an outstanding season, and has big plans for 2023 – all the best for these John!
Closer to home, a strong team of our U20 athletes were competing at the SAIL match at the
Emirates, and it was a very successful day. Brooke Dunlop finished 2 nd in the 60m (8.35s), 2 nd in the
60m hurdles (10.0s) and 2 nd in the shot (8.37), whilst Isla Raeburn was 3 rd in the 800m (2:42.06). The
men were also on fire, with wins for Josh Smith in the 60m (7.29s), Lewis Tidy in the 200m (22.89s)
and Ally Mitchell in the 400m (53.34s). Ally was also 3 rd in the long jump (5.83m). Rounding up a
really great day for the U20s was Jordan Phillips who was an agonisingly close 2 nd in the 800m
(2:01.21).

On Saturday the 17 th of December we had a sole U20 athlete competing at the Yuletide meet at the
Emirates – Ally Mitchell was 4 th in his 60m race in a time of 7.30s and won his 200m in 22.93s. Well
done Ally, great running!
Sunday the 18 th saw the ever-popular Cyclists v Harriers on Irvine Moor. With conditions on the firm
side it was always going to be in favour of the cyclists, but Jonathon Downey was the best of all of
the runners finishing in 7 th overall and 1 st runner in 28:52. Connell Drummond was next Harrier
home in 34:28 and Alex Lindsay finished in 42:23. Well done to everyone who took part – maybe
next year we’ll get some mud and slow those cyclists down a bit!

On Wednesday the 21 st , Martin Brown combined a trip to the darts in London with an evening 10k
race held at Battersea Park – traditionally a very fast course, where the races attract good fields.
And so it was that Martin ran his best 10k of the year in 31:41 and took the win – a great end to the
season and a warning shot to his rivals in 2023.

Due to some challenging weather conditions, the annual Christmas handicap race was moved from
the 15 th to the 22 nd of December. Being so close to Christmas numbers were down a little, but what
may have been lacking in quantity was definitely made up for with quality and there was some really
exciting racing on the night. Jonathon Downey defied a tough mark to be first back overall (16:03),
and first lady back was Izzy Caufield. Izzy was also the fastest lady on the night (22:49) so that prize
was carried down the line to next fastest runner, one of our newest members Megan Campbell
(23:39) – well done ladies! Fastest man of the night was Craig Ferguson who flew round the course
in 15:52 – well done Craig. Huge thanks to everyone who came out to marshall or otherwise assist –
we cannot have these events without the support that comes from within the club from parents,
helpers and other athletes.

13 athletes limited their excesses on Christmas day in order to put their toe on the line for the
Ayrodynamic Turkey Trot on Boxing Day, and what a day we had as a club with no fewer than 7
category top 3 places! First home and in 2 nd place overall was Craig Ferguson (33:56), with Jonathon
Downey 4 th overall and 1 st U20 in 35:12. Next back in 11 th overall was John Speirs who also took 3 rd
V40. Lorna Baird led the charge for the ladies, and was rewarded with a fine overall ladies win and

16 th overall in 38:51 – huge congratulations Lorna, great to see you at the top of the podium. Ellie
Anderson has been having a really good year and picking up prizes at various events, and she came
home 1 st U20 female in 47:55. Susan Beattie was 2 nd V60 lady in 54:03, and Susan Boyd took 3 rd V60
in 56:57. Well done to Connell Drummond (41:55), David Anderson (42:29), John Tougher (43:34),
Stewart McRoberts (48:35), Stewart McAllister (49:19) and Andy Taylor (56:11) who also took part.
We also had some U20 athletes running the 5k race, with Matthew Monachello taking the win in
18:26 and Melissa Anderson finishing 13 th overall and 3 rd U20 lady in 23:18. Well done also to U15
athlete Lewis Anderson who was 7 th overall and 2 nd U15 – great running from all of you in tough
conditions!

Rounding off 2022, 3 Kilmarnock athletes braved some interesting travel conditions to travel through
to the new Meadowbank for the New Year Sprint Gala. Racing was pushed back an hour due to the
rain, but at the amended start time the sun actually came out although it was very cold and windy!
Jennifer Beattie and Jamie Nix were both competing in the 800m handicap, with Jennifer running off
a mark of 190m and Jamie having a lot more work to do with a mark of 50m. In what ended up a
pretty exciting finish, Jennifer was just able to hold off the incoming pack and take the win on the
day with Jamie finishing in 7 th overall. Young Molly Hunter also lifted prize money on the day by
finishing a fine 4 th place in the junior 200m – well done Molly, great running!
The first race of 2023 saw our athletes continue the rich vein of success carried through from 2022,
with 5 Harriers taking part in the Beith 10k on the 2 nd of January. Conditions were extremely tricky
on the day with ice on the course, but this did not stop Jonathon Downey from recording his first win
of 2023 in an excellent 32:55. 4 th overall and 2 nd V40 was John Speirs (36:48), Stewart McRoberts
was 22 nd in 45:49, Gordon Sandler was 39 th in 50:27 and Jacqui Sandler was 52 nd in 56:09. Great
running and a great start to the year for our athletes!

With another 2 championship races now completed, Craig Ferguson holds the lead for the men with
83 points, closely followed by Jonathon Downey in 79. John Speirs now occupies 3 rd spot with 51.
For the ladies, Amanda Bryden continues to lead the way with 57, with Lorna Baird now taking 2 nd
spot with 40 and Jennifer Beattie holding on to 3 rd with 39. There are 4 races left in the league – two
West League XC matches, National XC and the Allan Scally relays (link here to enter) so still all to play
for. Remember that your best 7 scores will count, and you must complete at least 5 events to be
eligible for a prize. Finally, if you have any club standards times to submit for 2022 please do this
without delay!

League tables – winter points