Vertical Mile - The Grand Prix Decider

Andrew Buchanan receives the Vertical Mile plate from the club president

An average sized field of Harriers made their way down to the bottom of Auchentibber Road for the annual finale to our Grand Prix race series, The Vertical Mile. Conditions were mild and relatively windless, so pretty good for running flat out up a very steep hill! Furthermore, the bottom section of the course had a nice fresh layer of tarmac on it, effectively raising the bottom of the hill by an inch. Every little bit helps!

All the main Grand Prix contenders were there except for Jim Holmes who I trust was seeking out a hill of similar dimensions on Corfu to simulate the burn of the Vertical Mile. With the assistance of Davie Searil to drive me from the start to the finish, the race started with a mad sprint up the steepest part of the course, eased a little in the middle before a final steep climb to the finish beside the war memorial.

Julie Beveridge finishing

In form Andrew Buchanan was firm favourite for this event and, doing his best Davie Herbertson grunt which we could hear a quarter mile from the finish, powered to the line in an excellent 6:35, a pb by 28 seconds! This also confirmed Andy as the club scratch championship male winner.

Julie Beveridge continues to get faster with every race and flew up the course within sight of Andy to finish second overall and first lady in a time of 7:19, also securing the club scratch championship for ladies.

Not far behind, Joanne McEvoy kept something in reserve as this would be the first of 6 races she is competing in over the next 7 days with the 5 races of the Tour of Fife starting on Wednesday evening. Joanne finished in 7:40, which even so was 4 seconds faster than last year. Club president, Kenny Leinster, is in excellent form right now and was next to cross the line in 8:04. Richard Lawton had been a strong contender in the Grand Prix until injuries side lined him two or three months ago. However, Richard is on the way back and finished strongly in 8:13, significantly faster than last year.

Grand Prix winner, Kay Conneff leads Kirsty Wilson and Frances Maxwell to the line

A very competitive ladies Grand Prix series was won in style by Kay Conneff for the first time, who crossed the line next in 8:15 chased all the way by fellow Vertical Mile first timer Kirsty Wilson (and first race in the Grand Prix) in 8:21 with fast finishing Frances Ferguson just behind in 8:23. Frances secured third place in the Grand Prix with Julie second.

Gordon McInally completes the 16 race GP series and wins it!

After a succession of injuries, finally Billy Buchanan is back running injury (but not pain; that's not possible in the Vertical Mile) free. Billy crossed the line in 8:43 after his characteristic 100% effort.

The man under most pressure was Gordon McInally who could snatch victory in the Grand Prix from absent Jim Holmes if he finished high enough tonight. Gordon finished in 8:54, 17 seconds faster than last year and secured a first time Grand Prix victory in the process. Not only that, Gordon was one of only two Harriers to compete in all 16 races in the series; a fantastic display of consistency and dedication.

Andy Henderson had not realised the Vertical Mile was on tonight, having recently returned from holiday and so found it a bit of a shock to the system, finishing in 9:05. Sandy Hayden had been doing more swimming than running recently. As there are not many hills in the pool, this was also a shock to Sandy's system. However, she looked strong as she crossed the line in 9:51. An injured Russell Couper did enough to complete his 16th race of the series in 10:10, securing third place in the Grand Prix, just behind Jim Holmes. The Grand Prix veteran winners were Richard Lawton for the men and Joanne McEvoy for the ladies.

Both the men's and ladies' Grand Prix were well supported this year with 13 women competing in at least one race in the series and 31 men. This is probably the greatest number of ladies we have had competing and illustrates the strength in depth we are now developing. It was also great to see first time winners of both Grand Prix series. Now we have a break until the Autumn when the Grand Prix starts, hopefully in more summer-like weather than this Grand Prix ended!

A special thanks to David Searil for documenting the Vertical Mile in photographs (complete album is here) and George Stewart for helping with the timing on the finish line.
Alan