Colin Shields Junior Endurance Races

It was perfect racing conditions for the youngsters in round 2 of the Club endurance Championship under the lights at Ravenscraig stadium. The recent increase in Junior numbers were reflected in the competition with a total of 42 youngsters taking part.

The 1st Race opened with all the Under 9s lining up along with the under 13 girls, for the 800m, and what a race it turned out to be! Amelia Butterworth took an immediate lead, with only Cahdlea Hair attempting to match her fast pace, but still lagged behind by 20metres after the first lap. But in the final 200 Cahdlea began to reel in Amelia, and pulled level with 100m to go, the pair exchanged the lead a couple of times down the home straight before Cahdleah somehow managed to find another gear to move clear for the win.

In the Under 9 category the top 4 were all closely matched, but it was Robbie Paul and Faith Bradley that were to take the top places closely followed by Lucy McFarlane and Lucas Davey, all dipping under 4minutes.

In Race 2 it was the turn of the Under 11 boys, although the winner was never in doubt as Elijah Taylor motored round the track, with even paced laps in a very impressive 2.43minutes. The next 5 boys battled hard for the runners up spot, with Sam Fulton holding off Oscar Docherty and his twin Jamie.

Also in the race were the older sprinters, who took the opportunity to get in some endurance work, with Cody Deegan, Abbie Learie, and Gabbie Simpson only separated by 5 seconds.

Race 3 saw the under 13s take to the track to tackle the Mile. The on-form Taguen Maloney dominated from the start, pulling clear early on from the chasing pack to go on to win convincingly. Behind her Stella McCabe’s lead over Orla Trainer had been clawed back to a few metres, and she was made to work all the way to the line to take the runners-up spot by just a second.

Jack Grant came out on top in the boys’ category, 50meters clear of Jay Eardley.

As the under 15/17 & 20s lined up for the final race, Lewis McCrae missed the start by 1minute, and had the task of chasing down those in front. Lucas Gardiner set the early pace, but was gradually being pulled back, although it wasn’t until the home straight that he was finally caught when Lewis Scott put in a turbo-charged effort to take the win. Lewis McCrae had almost pulled off an unlikely win but just ran out of track, but he did have the consolation of recording the quickest time of the night by breaking 5minutes. Evie Harrison continued her good form, winning with a strong run, from Summer Taggart and there was a promising performance from Lucy McGuinness on her debut.

Thanks to everyone who helped on the night with timekeeping, organizing and supporting the youngsters.