It was probably the fastest conditions ever seen and Cumbernauld for the National XC Relays at least for a good number of years anyway. We had 7 Ladies running and 10 Men with both needing 4 legs run per team. First up was the Ladies and off on leg 1 was Kay Conneff for the A team and Allison Lessells for the incomplete team. Both found running with the main field on leg one tough but very rewarding posting times of 16.49 and 17.44 respectively. Next up was Kirsty promoted to the A team after an excellent run at the Lanarkshires last week and Sandy running for the incomplete team. Kirsty had another excellent run with a time of 16.46 pipping ahead of Kay by 3 secs and Sandy not at her best running 20.34. Onto leg 3 and with the A team now in 31st place we had Karen Allen who started to move through what was becoming a well spread out field bringing the team up to 27th place with a time of 17.03. On the 3rd leg for the incomplete team we had Lorraine Buchanan who had the biggest improvement on the day from everyone with a time of 18.44. Last leg and just Julie Beveridge to run for the A team running the fastest time from our Ladies with an impressive 16.22 and securing 26th place for the team. Well done to our 7 Ladies who all ran and competed well.
Onto the mens race and two and a half teams. First up for the A team was Andrew Buchanan, For the B team Jim Holmes and the incomplete team Gordon McInally. Again the first leg can be tough and rewarding as you have to battle through the initial stages but also without the gaps get involved in good racing. Andrew coped best with this posting a great time of 14.39. Jim ran a very strong race to finish in 17.00 and Gordon improving week by week and getting some good form back finishing in 19.25. Onto leg 2 and Martin Howell running for the A team, Richard Lawton for the B team and Russell Couper for the incomplete team. Martin has a habit of focusing so much on his finish he sometimes forgets to stop his watch and guess what he did it again so we had to wait for the official results and Martin ran a great 16.25 and very close with Julies time. Richard who seems to keep his best running for races again didn't disappoint with a great time of 17.22. Russell found some form here and had a very close call with Gordon running his fastest on the course since 2003 with 19.26.
Onto leg 3 and the battle of the Alans that's Alan Cullie for the A team and Allan McLellan for the B team. Alan didn't by his own admission have his best run but still managed a fine 17.26 allowing Richard a 4 sec victory over him. Allan McLellan on the other hand had a flyer running 16.19 pipping both Martin and Julies time by a few secs. Last leg and for the A team Mark Saez and the B team Billy Buchanan. On the provisional results Mark was down for 32.03 so I am claiming a scalp ( sorry Mark it has to be claimed and ive got the printout to prove it ) Now the official results are out Mark ran 14.38 just one sec faster than Andy and our fastest time of the day bringing the team home in 94th. Billy had a fairly lonely run but still put in a fantastic performance with 18.40 and 111th place. Watch out Billy as Lorraine was just 4 secs away from you and closing in. Some very close times in here and its going to be interesting at the short course xc as its head to head and beyond that at Brampton. Good racing from everyone involved and long may it continue.
1 comment:
Great report Russell - thanks. Yip, I think I need a mousetrap on my lug to remind me to stop the watch at the finish line. Two weeks in a row now, must do better!
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