It’s been a few weeks since our last report, and it’s safe to say there has been a LOT going
on – we’ve had National Championships on the track and across the country, warm weather
half marathons and even some National and World records!
We start this week at the first of the National events – the Lindsays Scottish National
Masters XC Championships held at Camperdown Park in Dundee on Saturday the 8 th of
February. A small but perfectly formed squad of 4 athletes went on the road trip which
proved to be very successful! Our ladies both brought home medals, with Kat Kelly taking a
hard fought silver in the V45 category and Susan Boyd claiming gold in the V75 section. Ian
Gebbie was 5 th in the men’s V75 and Brian McLure rounded up a great day with a 20 th place
finish in a very competitive V65 section. Well done all, looks like it was a great day!
On the 9 th of February, U20 athlete Logan Mitchell was at Sheffield competing in the England
Athletics U20 Championships, where he claimed the silver medal in the shot with a fine
14.75m – great to see our young athletes medalling at these high level events!
Our next athlete to head south was Laura Haggarty who travelled to Lee Valley in London for
the prestigious Ayo Falola Dream Mile meet on Wednesday the 12 th . Laura made the trip a
very worthwhile one, running a superb 5:02.79 for 6 th place overall in the ladies B race and
smashing the British V40 indoor mile record in the process – huge congratulations Laura!
Joining Laura in the blue and white vests at this meet was south based Robert McHarg who
finished 5 th in his race in 4:50.22 which was (sadly very briefly!) a world indoor mile record for
the V60 category. This record was smashed again in the following race, but was definitely a
sign of things to come as you will see later in this report!
Sunday the 16 th saw Robert back at Lee Valley, this time for the England Masters Athletics
Association indoor Inter-Area Challenge where he was representing team Scotland in the
800m. In a huge front running effort, Rob not only sealed the win and maximum points for
the team but also smashed the world V60 indoor 800 record in the process (2:09.11) –
massive congratulations to Robert! Joining Rob at this meet was your ladies captain
Jennifer, representing team Scotland in the 400m and 800m events. A season opening
65.77 400 was good enough for 2 nd in her heat, and a 2:30.47 800m took 4 th overall.
Also on the 16 th was the rescheduled New Year Sprint meet at Grangemouth where we had
a couple of athletes competing. Adam Todd was in the 110m heats where he ran 13.17 off
of 9.75m – sadly this was not enough to qualify but great run regardless! Laura Haggarty
was in the senior 800m where she ran 1:56.64 off a mark of 115m which was good enough
for 5 th place and a cash prize – well done Laura!
The weekend just gone saw all roads lead to Falkirk for the big one – the Scottish National
XC at Callendar Park. The weather has not been kind on the lead up to this event, but the
sun shone on the day for our squad of U20 and senior athletes. First out were the senior
women, with Kat Kelly first home for the team in 55 th place overall and 10 th V40 (42:20). Next
back was Morgan McBurnie in 131 st (47:54) and then Eilidh Ballantyne in 159 th (49:01) –
great running ladies! The U20 men were next out on the course, with Jonathon Downey
tearing it up for 12 th overall in 25:22 and Matthew Monachello showing his huge versatility
(we usually report on him running 800m and doing pole vault!) finishing in 42 nd (28:33) – well
done lads. Our sole U20 lady Izzy Caufield had a great run, finishing in 41 st place (35:44)
and taking the maximum league points. Finally out on the course were the senior men, with
a strong squad of 8 taking on the course which by this stage must have been incredibly
difficult underfoot! First home was Craig Ferguson in 109 th overall (36:08), followed by Tom
Flood in 268 th (40:28). We then had Ross Granger in 276 th (58 th V40) in 40:38, Robert
Lindsay in 324 th (16 th V50) in 42:18, Ross McNaught in 344 th (42:48), Jamie Nix in 424 th
(45:16), Gary Martin in 460 th (46:13) and Nick Carter in 482 nd (47:06) – brilliant running guys!
Whilst the XC runners were enjoying the sunshine in Falkirk, three of our Masters athletes
were back in London for the British Masters Indoor Championships at Lee Valley. On the
Saturday, Robert McHarg opened the account for the club in the 800m taking the gold in
2:09.79 – not far off his world record from last week and the second fastest of all time V60
indoors. Not content to let Rob have all the fun, Laura Haggarty came out in the V40 800
meaning business, with a gutsy front running effort resulting in a gold medal and a PB
2:18.71 – great running Laura! In the same race, Jennifer Beattie claimed the silver medal
with 2:28.71. On the Sunday, Laura continued her gold medal streak with a win in a tactical
1500m (4:47.97) and Rob also doubled up his bling, not only taking the win in the V60
1500m but also smashing yet ANOTHER world indoor record with a blistering 4:20.32. In
the 400m, Jennifer took silver with 66.39 – all in a very successful weekend for our club on
the national Masters stage!
By Sunday the weather at home was definitely not as pleasant as it was at Falkirk, and a
total of 7 hardy/mad Harriers took on the Hillbilly 10k at Dalmellington – I saw the pictures,
you’re all absolute warriors as it looked grim out there! Following up his excellent XC on
Saturday, Jonathon Downey claimed 2 nd prize on the day (38:37), with Graeme Quinn taking
3 rd (42:02). John Speirs was 5 th overall (1 st V40) in 45:41. Next back was Gordon Sandler in
95 th (1:02:06), Louise Baillie in 107 th and 5 th Senior Lady (1:03:50), Lynne McCaffrey in 110 th
(5 th V40 lady) in 1:04:02 and Jacqui Sandler rounding up the results in 161 st (10 th V50 lady) in
1:09:37. Huge well done to all of you!
Enjoying far more pleasant weather on Sunday morning, Richard Beattie ran the Malta half
marathon where he posted a fantastic time of 1:48.29 for 5 th V70 man on the day – well done
Richard!
For the winter league we are now very nearly at the end of the season with only the Allan
Scally relays left to add to the results – however things still have the potential to change! In
the senior ladies, Kat Kelly maintains her lead with 93, with Eilidh Ballantyne hot on her
heels with 85. Currently in 3 rd spot is Laura Haggarty with 34. In the U20 ladies, Izzy
Caufield cannot be caught with a total of 81. Mhairi Ballantyne retains 2 nd with 46 and Jennie
Munro is in 3 rd with 14. For the senior men, Tom Flood retains the top spot with 70, with Nick
Carter in 2 nd with 50 and Craig Ferguson in 3 rd with 48. For the U20 men, Jonathon Downey
cannot be caught with 84 points, with Matthew Monachello in 2 nd with 42 and Connor Scobie
in 3 rd with 23. We will announce the final standings and prize winners next week after the
Scallys, but in the meantime don’t miss out on tickets for the awards night – https://pay.collctiv.com/kilmarnock-harriers-awards-2025-60425
Full league tables can be found here – Winter points 24.5 (3)
