West District XC - Russell was not Last!

We had several motivational performances on a cold and soggy course by Inverkip on Saturday. Not least was a strong, agricultural run befitting the venue from Russell Couper who declared with a huge grin "I was not last" to anyone who would listen having passed David Wardrope within a few km of the finish and managing to hang on by some 50m to the end. The other motivational performance was from David himself who surely will now be motivated to get his training back in gear and not let that happen again!

Russell Couper ploughing through the mud

The event had a record entry throughout all the age groups. The Inverclyde Athletics Partnership handled the organisation well, including the logistical problem of the course being 3 miles from the sports centre where registration was held. However, a slick bus shuttle was in place and there were no problems getting to and from the course. As all of our women members were allegedly preparing themselves for the evening club dinner/dance (any excuse to get out of cross country), only the Calderglen men were represented in the senior events. On the face of it the course looked very flat but complex, skirting the perimeter of 3 or 4 individual fields and taking two laps to cover the 10km race distance. However, this was not a fast course despite the lack of hills. Most of the course was at the very least soggy and at worst almost knee deep in tractor track mud baths. There was even some ice in a shaded corner of the course. The only firm, non-icy section of the course was a slight downhill section along the edge of a field, however this was only dry because the water had run off it to make the bottom edge of the field even wetter.

Andrew McCaffery quickly established himself as the lead Harrier and although he felt he was struggling, he looked strong all the way to the finish. Eddie Reid found the going tough, as did all the Harriers, and needed a few gee ups to keep him going through the second half of the race. David Herbertson and Andy Henderson traded places throughout the race, David generally the stronger the deeper the mud and Andy the faster on the slightly firmer sections. At the end David pulled away from Andy. Jim Holmes would normally be challenging David and Andy but was somewhat isolated today and thought it was possibly the toughest cross country race he has ever done. Kenny Leinster had a good run and a particularly strong finish, with a very impressive sprint to the line which arrived sooner than he thought. However, Kenny is now next on Russell's radar! Then it was Russell followed by David who seemed to be struggling from the start.

Well done to all on a fantastic effort on a tough course. More photos here.
Alan