Lindsays Scottish National Cross Country Relay Championships
Cumbernauld House, 19th October 2024
Perfect weather and the usual amazing atmosphere greeted the Greenock Glenpark Harriers teams heading up the short distance of the M8 to Cumbernauld House, for one of the most popular events in the XC Championship Calendar. Friday’s rain gave way to cool and sunny weather, leaving the ground soft underfoot and conditions perfect for an amazing afternoon of relay racing. It was great to see new faces wearing the famous blue and yellow vest, representing the club for the first time and getting a taste of cross country running, as well as some outstanding performances from our more seasoned runners.
YOUNG FEMALES
In the early race of the day over the shorter distance, our young ladies all had really strong performances, placing a creditable 51st out of 64 teams running. Taking on Leg 1 in the U13 category was Orla Trainer, with a great effort over the distance to run the fastest time for the team with a time of 13:32. Orla has been training really well and this really showed in her performance on the day. Next in for the Harriers was Nuala Quigley, four seconds behind Orla’s time with 13:36. Bringing the girls home was U17 Summer Taggart with a fine run of 13:36, completing the team’s day with an overall 40:44. A great effort from the girls, and a really positive outlook for the future!
SENIOR LADIES
The ladies senior A team was led off by Ashley Anderson, completing the first leg in a time of 19:04. Ashley had a great battle round the entire 4k with our B team first leg runner, Melissa Wilson. Both ladies went shoulder to shoulder around the course and a thrilling final climb up the last hill put Ashley just in front heading down the long stretch to the finish, eventually going over the line three seconds ahead of Melissa who finished with a time of 19:07. Running XC for the first time, Melissa loved the experience and said, “hearing the encouragement from the other Glenparkers definitely kept me motivated and kept me going. And I’d do it again!”
Ashley and Melissa battling it out
Evie fighting through the pack
Next out for the A team was Evie Harrison, stepping up to the Senior race for the first time. Evie was pleased with her run, going round the course in 18:29 and moving the team up 9 places as she did so. Liz Heywood tackled Leg 3, going over the line just under the 20 minute mark with a time of 19:57, and notching up a further 6 places. It was great to see Nicola Doohan turning out for the club once again in Leg 4, running in her preferred position and doing a great job of chasing the pack down. Nicola crossed the finish in a time of 17:29, taking 5 more positions, and giving the team a total time of 1:15:01 and an overall finish of 35 from 73 teams.
After Melissa in the B Team, Ladies Captain Lynne Harrison continues to improve her fitness and race condition after a long struggle with injury, going round in 21 minutes dead. She was followed by Kirsten Robin, getting muddy for the first time in over 20 years – she said “it was a tough course, but I did enjoy it – the encouragement from the team kept me going!” Kirsten singled out coach Alan O’Rourke who seemed to be appearing all over the route shouting support. XC Stalwart Sarah Jane Whalen ran the fourth leg with her usual determination in a time of 23:53, pulling in a few places to bring the team into 54th position.
A last minute reshuffling of the ladies team allowed Glenpark to field a ladies Masters Team of Marianne McKay, Ladies Vice Captain Cheryl Thomas, and Lynsey Mooney – all ladies performed really well in a very tough field, with Marianne running the fastest leg in a time of 21:31, Cheryl in 22:22 and Lynsey with 22:53, putting the team into 9th place from 10 teams. Finally for the ladies, we had Alison Smart, Lorna Macmillan and Mary Robinson making up a v50 team, with Lorna running an outstanding race in 26:14. Alison fell just outside the sub 30 with a time of 30:37 and a good run from Mary in 31:16 put the team into 11th from 12 with a total time of 1:28:08.
SENIOR MEN
John Logan heading down the big hill
In the mens race, the A Team was led off by Club Meritorious winner John Logan – amazingly, running his first XC for the club. John is used to running much longer distances, but took to the fast, hard effort really well with a remarkable time of 14:34 over the distance and handing over to Chris Mooney for the 2nd leg. Chris is another Harrier who has really been upping the training, and it showed as he brought the leg over the line with 16:17 on the clock.
Stevie Campbell pushing for the finish
Next up for Leg 3 as another newbie to the mud, Andrew Blair, putting in a great shift at 16 minutes dead and moving the club up three places. Another notable Ultra Runner, William Taylor was handed the unenviable task of going out in fourth and he did really well to hold on for at time of 17:28, finishing the Glenpark effort in a total time of 1:04:21 and 61st from 115 teams.
Our B Team was subject to some last minute shuffling of names and start orders due to some call-offs, meaning the team had something of a veteran feel to it! Leading off in Leg 1 with a great run was V65 Micky Dunn – a particularly notable effort as Micky hasn’t run since the Glasgow Half and was carrying an injury to his calf as well. Graham McGrattan picked up 2nd leg and put in an amazing 19:24 round the 4k, pulling the club up 8 places in the process. Coach Alan took over from Graham, and despite being disappointed with his time of 20:01 also managed to take another 8 places off. Another XC stalwart, Gerry Gallacher’s time of 20:16 also pushed the Harriers Team up a further 6 places in the leaderboard, finishing in 88th position with a time of 1:19:49. The late call offs meant Stuart Crawford had to take on the 1st leg of an incomplete team, but that didn’t mean he put in any less of an effort, with a great showing at 21:58.
The final Team for Glenpark was our MV50, which is becoming quite an exciting age category for the club! Leading out in his preferred position, Stevie Campbell put in an absolutely amazing effort to bring the 1st leg home in a time of 15:05, only 40 seconds off the overall lead in the category, and 3rd place for the team at that point in the afternoon. A brilliant tactical run from Stevie, using the course and the conditions to move through the pack, and his time would end up putting him in the top ten overall for the V50 group. Neither of the following pair of Gavin Morrison in 2nd Leg and Stephen Harrison in 3rd could hold the placing – the top four teams in the category all recording multiple sub 15 minute runners within their Legs – but Gavin ran really well after coming back from illness, with a steady 16:51 holding the team to 5th; Stephen ran a PB for the course with 17:19 in his least favourite type of racing, bringing the V50 team home in 7th place from 25 teams and a time of 49:16 overall.
