Ladies Team
Last weekend the club travelled to Falkirk to the National Cross-Country Championships.
The wintry sun welcomed this year’s competitors to the pinnacle of the cross-country season. The sunshine and cold, the cow bells and cheers all helped stir up nervous excitement for the team as they arrived and warmed up.
The Ladies’ race had just over 300 competitors. Scout Adkin representing Moorfoot Runners won with a decisive 8 second lead over Alice Goodall of Edinburgh University Hare and Hounds.
Following a competitive race last week at the Willow Bowl where Jill Knowles smashed the Ladies course record and Lorna Mitchell, Cheryl Thomas, Marian Monk and Vicki Smith finished within a minute and a half of each other, it was clear the Ladies were all in great form coming up to ‘The Nationals’.
Although not competing at Falkirk on the day, it was lovely to see Jill Knowles and her partner with new-born baby Elli there to cheer on the Team.
All four ladies helped push each other along, with Marian and Lorna closely followed by Cheryl and Vicki. Marian, who has been steadily improving over the last few weeks following a bout of flu, finished 1st counter (50:10) and 12th out of 37 in the ladies FV50 category. Next in for the club was Lorna (51:32), finishing 15th out of 35 FV45s. Cheryl (51:49) with an excellent 2-minute PB and Vicki (51:59) were next in. Ashley Anderson (53:15) started really well but dropped off the pace in the second and third laps to finish 20 places behind Vicki. Sixth and final counter was Lynne Harrison (53:54).
Overall, the Ladies Team finished in 18th place.
Another notable performance came from Charlotte McKay (1:11:23), with a 10-minute PB! Lisa Boonsanong (57:55) ran exceptionally well despite her lack of racing of late, whilst Lynsey Mooney (1:01:27), who picked up a calf injury bravely hobbled the last 2 miles of the course to the finish line. Mary Robinson (1:14:42) was the final runner in for the Ladies.
Results here.