Senior Race Roundup 5th August 2022

There has been a fair bit going on since our last report, and given that we have had two Summer
Championship races in the space of 4 days it only felt right to have another roundup this week!

First up was the Around Cumbrae 10 mile race held on Sunday the 31 st of July, where 15 Harriers
made the trip over the water to compete for Ayrshire medals and more importantly points on the
league table. With this race being held earlier than the usual September date conditions were much
warmer than usual, but this did not stop our team from returning some excellent results as ever.
First home in 3 rd place overall was Craig Ferguson in a scorching 55:44. Craig also lifted the trophy
and title of Ayrshire 10 mile champion as first Ayrshire club runner home – well done Craig! First
lady home was the ever consistent Lynsey O’Connor who ran 69:07 for 3 rd V40 lady overall. From an
Ayrshire championship perspective, blue and white vests were dominant on the podium – as well as
Craig taking the overall Ayrshire title, there were medals for David Sherrington (2 nd Ayrshire V40 in
62:18), John Speirs (3 rd Ayrshire V40 in 62:56) and team gold for these three alongside Ross Granger
(64:21). Lynsey took the Ayrshire V40 silver medal, and it wouldn’t be an Ayrshire race in 2022
without Michael Corson winning the men’s V60 gold (71:07). The ladies team of Lynsey, Louise
Baillie (86:11) and Kirsty MacKay (87:14) also took the ladies team gold. Well done to all Harriers
who took part, some really excellent times in hot conditions.

Whilst it wasn’t quite as dry and sunny on Wednesday night, conditions were still muggy for the 20
Harriers who put their toe on the line at the Dundonald 10k. It was an outright win for young athlete
Jonathon Downey in 35:30 – this young man is having an excellent season and it was fantastic to see
him lift the trophy this week. Next in was Colin Anderson (39:55 and 11th), with Alex Curran (41:02
and 16th) rounding up the top 3 Harriers men. First lady home for the club was Viv Lambert in 49:34
(65 th overall and 3 rd V40 lady) – great to see you back out competing Viv! Second lady back was
Sasha I’Anson in 50:06 (71 st ) and Susan Boyd completed our top 3 ladies (56:57 and 111 th overall, I
believe 1 st V60 lady also!). Michael Corson was 1 st V60 man in 42:26.

After these two races there has been a change at the top of the men’s table, with Paul Black now
edging ahead of Mark Lyden with 79 points. Mark is currently on 74, with Michael Corson and Colin
Anderson still very much able to challenge with 65 and 61 respectively – things are starting to get
exciting! In the ladies table Kirsty Mackay continues to dominate with a total of 95 points, her
nearest challengers Sasha I’Anson and Louise Baillie both sit on 62 points. Still plenty to play for with
3 club bonus point events still up for grabs! See the tables here – summer points league

Next on the agenda is the Rowallan Rose Bowl next Thursday night (11 th of August). This is a really
good fun club event and we would encourage everyone to take part – names to John Gebbie please.
This race is now forming part of the club summer championship points after we had to take
Kirkmichael out, and bonus 5 points are available for everyone who competes. As an added bonus,
Great Scottish Run have offered us two free places in their race (either the 10k or the Half
Marathon) this year, and we have decided that the best way to allocate these places is to have a
draw which anyone who either competes or volunteers to help at the Rowallan Rose Bowl is entitled
to enter – simply fill out the entry slip at registration and put it in the box and it will be drawn at the
prize giving (if you wish to help out then please let us know or make yourself known at registration).
Remaining Club Standards awards are also being presented at this event – be sure to give these guys
a huge cheer on the night as they have all worked very hard to achieve these standards.