The 10th of February 2024 saw eight harriers take a short trip up the M8 to a very muddy Barwood Park in Erskine to complete the final West XC league event of the season. A relatively small turnout for those running in the blue and yellow, we were still able to field complete teams in both the male and female masters categories, meaning a place in the rankings might be possible. Going into the event, the ladies were sitting in 4th while the U17 girls had managed to pull their placing up to 3rd with strong performances in event 2. Could they hold on to a medal position in the final race?
The race is a combined one for both male and female categories. First harrier home was Stephen Harrison, with a much improved run from his race in event 2, recording 10th in the male masters category with a time of 28:42. He was followed in by Frank McMahon in 31st (33:42) who just took a photo finish with Jill Aikman, who turned in a superb performance in her first league event – both Frank and Jill recorded a time of 33:42. Suffering from the effects of a cold, Lynne Harrison was next over the line with a time of 34:04.
Ever present at XC Events this year, Gerry Gallacher (36:09) and Sarah Jane Whalen (37:51) both had strong runs – and it was particularly encouraging to see all the team staying at the finish to shout Charlotte McKay home with another fabulous effort in 47:02.
Special mention goes to Evie Harrison. Unfortunately, the other two U17 team members couldn’t make the final event ,so Evie was running solo against an extremely strong field; by virtue of having a harrier running in the category meant we would place in the final results. Evie managed to finish in 10th place in the U17 distance with a time of 22:15. This would be enough to keep the girls in equal 3rd place with 126 league points in a tie with Airdrie Harriers and it was a really close call against Kilmarnock H&C who were only five points behind.
WEST LEAGUE OVERVIEW
Three events made up the league XC season – Kilmarnock, Bellahouston, and Erskine, with GGH fielding 33 runners overall with full masters teams in all events. The Mens team placed 7th overall; alas the ladies missed out on 3rd by only five points from a strong Bellahouston Team. As above, we’re delighted to have the U17 girls place in the medal positions.
Well done to all who took part over the league season – a great effort and a credit to the club.
Next report is the National at Falkirk so watch this space!
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