Callander House, Falkirk 22nd February 2025
The Scottish National Cross-Country Championships at Callander House, Falkirk, presented a new and challenging course for runners this year, with Greenock Glenpark Harriers fielding a strong contingent across various age categories as we competed alongside hundreds of other clubs from across Scotland for the culmination of the XC season.
Most people consider this race the highlight of the season and it’s always a hugely popular event, the National XC is a chance to highlight the individual efforts of the runners, showcasing both seasoned cross-country veterans and runners tackling the course for the first time.
The course had some significant alterations from previous years, being slightly shorter at 6.2 miles with the dreaded climb and long loop toward the high flats and Antonine Wall removed, and an extra turn added into the golf course section; sadly, the muddy charge down into the terrors lurking under the bridge remains consigned to history.
Lots of great running on the day showed our results indicating a spread across the finishing positions, reflecting the competitive nature of the event. We had a great representation across various age groups and categories, particularly in our M40 and M50 runners, with the new course making for some exciting battles throughout the day.
U20’s
Unfortunately, rising star Lewis McCrae had to pull out of the men’s event, meaning our sole representative in this category was Evie Harrison, competing in the Women’s race. Evie has been working hard in training in and despite running in an incredibly tough field was pleased with her time of (36:09) and 43rd overall.
Senior Men’s Race / Counting Finishers:
Our six runners who contested the overall counting places pushed the club up one place from 2024, taking the Harriers to 22nd placed club.
- Andrew McCall (Senior 96 from 314): Leading the charge for Glenpark Harriers, McCall finished agonisingly close to a double-digit position, in 101st place with a brilliant time of 36:00 – McCall continues with his fine run of recent form in his preferred type of racing and his highest position at the Nationals since 2008.
- Neil Lafferty (M40 – 8 from 165): Neck and neck with McCall for most of the race, Lafferty finished in 106th place with a time of 36:06, another fantastic run from Neil in an outstanding season and making the top ten in the M40 age category.
- Dylan Crawford (Senior 146 from 314): Crawford secured 170th place with a time of 37:49, putting in a great performance despite suffering from illness in the week leading up to the race.
- Daniel Doherty (M40 32 from 165): Doherty finished in 206th place with a time of 39:04, continuing the strong presence of our M40 runners. Doherty proving that training really does show rewards as he goes from strength to strength for the club.
- Christopher Mooney (M40 51 from 165): Another runner who is showing fantastic form of late, Mooney’s time of 40:19 placed him 256th.
- Owen Atkinson (M40 87 from 165): A steward’s enquiry was necessary as Atkinson’s time was initially not included in the results; after a recount Owen’s finish (43:32) just ahead of William Taylor (M40 91 from 165) (43:45) put him into the last of the team positions. This was another great battle between the two Greenock men with Taylor also showing some fantastic form lately; it was also great to see Atkinson getting back to fitness after struggling with a virus.
Outside of the counting positions there were some other great performances on the day. William Taylor, Colin McKnight (M40 99 from 165) (44:22) and Stephen Harrison (M50 36 from 108) have competed across several XC races this season and so it continued at Falkirk, with all three men being separated by just one minute over the distance – their finishing positions remaining unchanged from the gun, as Taylor pulled away from McKnight and Harrison early on and held his lead to the finish with the two chasers unable to make any ground on each other.
However, the trio were split this time by birthday boy Stevie McLoone (M60 5th from 43) (44:44) who was shoulder to shoulder with Harrison for much of the course, before his experience with XC shone through and he pulled away for an outstanding finish time, a brilliant run and great to see Stevie competing again.
Coach Alan O’Rourke (M50 84 from 108) had a strong run to finish in a time of (50:40) and commented he had really enjoyed his race for the first time in years. Alan finished just behind (relatively) youngsters Aaron Fulton (Senior 282 from 314) (45:58) and David Thomson (Senior 284 from 314) (46:14). The Glenpark Men’s representation was rounded off with Alan Robertson (M50 90 from 108) (52:28, Ced Chesterman (M50 97 from 108) (53:38) and Gerry Gallacher (M40 161 from 165) in 56:19.
Senior Women
Unfortunately, some late call offs for injury and illness had a big impact on the women’s team, and meant our ladies could only field a team of five runners which put the club outside the leaderboard. That didn’t detract from some outstanding running from the runners who did take part, however.
Story of the day had to be the continuing improvement of Ashley Anderson (Senior 87 from 151) who put in another fantastic effort to head over the line as first female Harrier home, in a brilliant time of 47:05. Ashley is another Harrier who has really been putting everything into her training, and it was great to see this pay off on the day.
Next home was Lorna Mitchell (F40 30 from 73) , one of the club’s most consistent performers, two minutes after Ashley and under the 50 minute barrier with a great time of 49:21. Going well under the hour mark, Heather Lafferty (F40 55 from 73) ran really well and was pleased with her time of 54:33.
Cross-country ever present Sarah Jane Whalen (F50 42 from 47) came very close to the hour marker with her time of 1:00:32 and she was followed over the line by Golden Girl Charlotte McKay in a time of 1:09:11. Charlotte was once again top of her age category, coming in 1st place in the F70 category.
It’s to our credit that Greenock Glenpark Harriers once again demonstrated a commendable presence at the Scottish National XC Champs. The individual performances across various age and gender categories reflect the club’s commitment to cross-country running and the results highlight the strong veteran presence and the solid performances of the senior runners.
Looking forward to 2026 already!
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