Fine Conditions in Cumbernauld

Julie Beveridge powers through the field on leg 1.

Official Times added some of which look a bit suspect. Frances' photos added to those of Joanne and me (28/10/13).
Perfect conditions greeted another record field for the National Cross Country Relay Championships at Cumbernauld on Saturday 26th October. For the fifth week in a row, Calderglen Harriers men and ladies were out in force for this important annual fixture. The course provides a perfect blend of cross country conditions with hills of varying severity, large sections of firm grass with fast downhill descents and the odd muddy section for the mud-pluggers.

The ladies and M50 men compete over 3 x 4km laps whilst the senior amd M40 men do 4 laps. Calderglen had 2 complete ladies' teams and 3 men's teams, one of which was an M50 team of 3. Julie Beveridge got our ladies A team off to a flying start with a very powerful run, smashing her previous best time on this course by 40 seconds to finish in a fantastic 16:53 (16:53). Frances Maxwell led off the ladies' B team and definitely showed that she is on the way back to form, finishing in 18:20 (18:20), some 34 seconds faster than last year. After a fine performance in the Lanarkshire road relays last week, Alison Lessels retained her place in the A team and ran a competitive 17:43 (17:44). Karen Allen is still making good progress on the comeback trail and did a great job chasing through the field on leg 2 for the B team, completing in 18:12 (18:12). On the last leg for the A team, Joanne McEvoy was also running strongly, despite an illness through the week and finished in 17:44 (17:45), more than a minute faster than last year. You can't ask for more than that!

Ruth Kelly in her first Cross Country race.

Finally, making her cross country debut, Ruth Kelly was on leg 3 for the B team and although not going as far as to say she enjoyed it, kept her form going throughout to finish in an estimated 22:30 (22:30). As official results are not available and as there are some close times in there, the club Grand Prix and scratch championships will not be updated yet. Well done to the ladies and great to see two complete teams out there.

David Herbertson led the men Vets A team off, the idea being to use David's physical presence to establish a good position in the general melee in the huge field contesting leg 1. As usual, there was a slight timing uncertainty with David on crossing the line but we think it was around 16:40 (actually 16:17!). However there was absolutely no doubt that this was over 1 minute faster than last year, so a great performance. For the B team, Jim Mearns was also running his first ever cross country race, never an easy transition to make for a road runner, especially wearing shoes with little grip. However Jim got his first one out of the way with no problems, running strongly to finish in 18:19 (18:18). The M50 team was led off by John McBride, worried about a swollen knee and the stress of a mystery tour of Cumbernauld which Hugh Simpsonsubjected him to en route to the course, and also disputing that someone so young looking should be selected for an M50 team, despite all that, John ran well, taking over a minute off last year's time to finish in 18:55 (18:38).

David Herbertson battles on the first leg

On leg 2 a man in form, Andrew McAffery was here at his local race for the third year in a row and once again improved, this time by a substantial 23 seconds to finish in 15:31 (15:25), pulling the M40 team through the field. Richard Lawton was obviously inspired by his daughter Emma's silver medal winning performance earlier in the day, finishing in 18:04 (18:06), 1:32 faster than last year. Andy Henderson pulled the M50 team up closer to medal contention with a finishing time of 16:45 (16:47), a minute up on last year. Alan Derrick took over on leg 3 for the M40 A team feeling somewhat under par since Thursday. Also wary having not completed the course last year due to straining a hamstring on the first descent, he nevertheless was encouraged by overtaking many people in a lap of 14:50 (14:58), some 20 seconds slower than two years ago but not bad all the same and making up many places in the M40 competition. Hugh Simpson is well up in the Grand Prix, having contested all the races so far this year and did his challenge no harm at all finishing in 19:27 (19:29). The final leg for the M50 team was taken by Eddie Reid who is struggling to get back into training but does now seem to be injury free. Eddie was pleased to get around pain free in 16:29 (16:30).

Finally, Jim Holmes was on the final leg for the A team and was put under some pressure by being handed the virtual baton about 10 seconds in front of local rivals EKAC's vets team. However, fear is a great motivator and Jim extended that lead to finish in 16:30 (16:37), a full minute faster than last year, Russell Couper was very much patched up for this run but all the same ran well to finish significantly faster than last year in 22:30, despite the forecast rain starting during the lap.

Jim Holmes on leg 4 for the A team.

Some adjustments to times and grand prix positions will follow when the official results come through. Some photos from the day are here with more to come. A big thanks to Stuart and Maud for their support at a great event. Huge thanks too to Frances and Richard for manhandling the club tent into position early in the day and to the many hands who made light work of dismantling it at the end. Roll on the Scally next weekend!
Alan