SENIOR SECTION UPDATE MAY 2016

Kirsteen Runs Excellent Debut Marathon

On Sunday May 29th in the Nation’s Capital, Kilmarnock Harrier athlete Kirsteen Salisbury saw months of tough training come to a head as she took part in the Edinburgh Marathon.

Having only started running in the past year or so, Kirsteen decided to take the 26.2 mile challenge on a few months ago and despite some fierce Winter months had stuck to her task as she built up the long hard miles in prep for the weekend.

On the day, the Harrier fared excellently, smashing the 4 hour barrier by running 3.56.52 and can be rightly pleased with her efforts, as well as the fact she raised a lot of money for charity in doing so and can now look forward to her upcoming wedding with some pride.

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Stacie smashes steeplechase pb

Congratulations to Stacie Taylor who was selected to represent Scotland at the Loughborough international last weekend in the 3000m Steeplechase. Stacie is on scholarship in America but started her athletics career at Kilmarnock Harriers and can be seen regularly at the AAA when she returns home.

Stacie ran an excellent race by finishing 2^nd, and deservedly ran a new pb of 10.32 in the process.

VALLEY DASH 2016

Overcast skies and torrential rain saw 32 intrepid athletes take on the Kilmarnock Harriers first club handicap of the year – The Valley Dash – a challenging 7.25 kilometre circuit which features a combination of road, hill and trail racing.

Starting and finishing in Galston, the hill section of the course pretty much begins from the start as it heads uphill past the Maxwood and Windy Hill towards Newmilns, before the flat section along the river back to Galston and the finish. Remarkably, this year’s winner Gordon Sandler outfoxed the handicappers projection by over 5 minutes to come first over the line in a fantastic run.

Second home was local man Stewart McRoberts, in only 14 seconds slower than last year’s time despite the adverse conditions, while finishing strongly was Jacqueline McConnell in a spirited third place.

As per usual, the handicaps caused a great deal of banter, with a fair spattering of light-hearted moaning, although thankfully, Russell Duncan spared the handicappers blushes by finishing in 1 second of his projected time.

Fastest man on the night was Gordon Reid and fastest woman home was Laura Haggerty, and hopefully all athletes can take this form into the Roon the Toon 10K and secure team wins for both male and female Killie teams.

Thanks to all the volunteers who helped make it a successful night, despite the rain.

Polaroid 10K Race Series

The Polaroid 10k Series has started in the past couple of weeks and Connell Drummond took part in Helensburgh, Clydebank and Dumbarton. Connell clocked 36.52 in Helensburgh for 25^th place overall, while a week later improved this by over a minute in 35.36 and 32^nd position at the quick Clydebank course. At Dumbarton last week he clocked 35.45 which placed him 38^th while also at Dumbarton was Stewart McAllister who clocked an excellent seasons best of 39.28. Next up is the Series Finale at Balloch on Sunday for the Vale of Leven 10k.

Land o’ Burns 10K

Last Wednesday was the evening of the Ayr Seaforth organised Land o’ Burns 10K Road Race and as ever a number of Kilmarnock Harriers crossed the county to take part.

First home in the blue and white vests of Killie was James Connelly in an excellent 8^th position overall, while Doreen Wales was first woman to cross the line for the Club.

Huge mentions to Kate Todd for being first in her category, with Matt Dodds and Karen Quinn also placing in their age groups.

Killie times were –

8^th James Connelly 37.18, 21^st Alasdair Murray 41.04, 41^st Stephen Emerson 43.42, 49^th Stewart McRoberts 44.49, 60^th Matt Dodds 45.44, 62^nd Douglas Thorburn 45.54, 71^st Russell Duncan 46.40, 79^th Matt Ferguson 47.03, 107^th Doreen Wales 49.13, 109^th Kate Todd 49.35, 118^th Marlyn Graham 50.22, 129^th Derek Middleton 51.22, 132^nd Douglas Dickson 51.37, 135^th Geoff Robertson 51.51, 136^th Karen Quinn 51.56, 172^nd Stephanie Dale 55.52, 177^th Viv Lambert 56.08, 178^th Jacqui Sandler 56.09, 184^th Alison Wales 56.54, 186^th Chloe Adams 57.07, 204^th Mark Lyden 60.23

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 Finally, Harrier John Tougher put recent injuries to one side as he took a jaunt to Prague where he took part in the City’s annual Marathon.

Running purely for enjoyment, John clocked 3.52 which, although a bit shy of his pb for 26.2 miles, was an excellent run and John finished the race with a big smile on his face as he carried a saltire across the finishing line.