A fantastic response from the Harriers to this second race in the West XC League produced the desired result with the Harriers approaching the top of the team placings for those categories in which we were represented. The course at the back of the Ayrshire Athletic Arena was partly familiar to us having been used for various events in recent years, however, a lingering hard frost and large frozen puddles required a last minute modification to the course to avoid the solid ice. Even so, most of the course was solid just under the surface with only a few areas of the deep mud for which this venue is notorious. So it was a day for short spikes!
The Seniors/Masters combined Male/Female race was contested over 3 laps totalling about 7.75km. The men and women ran together which our ladies preferred as it meant that the field did not become completely spread out, as is often the case in ladies only races and there was always someone to aim for ahead or pushing from behind.
Our 4 ladies (Julie Beveridge, Karen Allen, Alison Lessells and Julia Pechlof) ran very strongly, holding the same order throughout the race. Julie and Karen finished close to each other in 32:45 and 32:58 respectively. Alison ran strongly and had a bit of a battle with two other ladies in the final 200m. As positions equals points in this league (least points wins), every position counted and Alison did well to hold position to finish in 35:19. Julia Pechlof was our fourth counter and gets stronger with the experience of every race. Julia finished in 37:09.
We had 8 men running (Davie Watt, Duncan McKellar, Gerry Connelly, Jason Grant, Jim Holmes, Gordon McInally, Kenny Leinster and Russell Couper). Unfortunately, Jason had stomach problems and had to stop half way through the race but the other 7 battled on to the finish, working hard for every position. Davie Watt had resolved to do more races this year and brought the spikes out of storage to finish first Harrier in 29:21. Duncan McKellar, after feeling unwell at last week's British Cross Challenge in Scone, was back to good cross country form this week, finishing in 29:45. Gerry Connelly demonstrated consistent form, having competed in most of the XC races this year. Having just returned from Belgium, he would be glad of a relatively flat course, finishing in 30:27. Jim Holmes was happy with how he paced this one, saving enough for a fast finish over the final 300m, crossing the line in 35:42. Gordon McInally is on the way back after injury and "the lurgy" and felt he was not quite firing on all cylinders. However, this was the first hard step back and he finished in 37:33. Kenny Leinster is taking the same approach as me with his long-term knee injury (in other words, carry on regardless) and looked to be running well until the last lap when he faded a bit. Kenny crossed the line in 38:42. The bonus was his knee was OK this time. Russell Couper was a bit isolated in the latter stages but was clearly pushing hard, finishing in 42:21. Well done to all.
The way the league works is 4 to count for a senior or combined team and 3 to count for a Masters team (over 40) in both the ladies' and men's competitions. Where a team is incomplete then penalty points are assigned for each "missing" team member. The penalty points per missing runner equals the total number of runners in the race category (i.e. Senior M, Senior F, Master M, Master F) plus 10 points. Anyway, I won't explain further other than to say we achieved the following results:
Senior F (Karen, Alison, Julia) positions: 5, 11, 16, 1 x penalty gives total score 61 and 2nd position
Masters F (Julie) positions: 3rd + 2 x penalties gives total score 43 and 4th position.
Ladies Combined Seniors/Masters (Julie, Karen, Alison, Julia) positions: 8. 10, 18, 24, no penalties, total 60 points and 3rd team overall.
Senior M (no Calderglen finishers)
Masters M (Davie, Duncan, Gerry) positions: 11, 12, 15, no penalties, total 38 points, 2nd position.
Men Combined (Davie, Duncan, Gerry, Jim) positions: 39, 46, 49, 80, no penalties, total 214 points 12th position.
The above results demonstrate the team spirit that has always been the characteristic of Calderglen Harriers; a strong team club. When we need team members to put in a shift for the club; they always do and we finish well up for a small club. So well done all. Unfortunately, we don't figure in the overall league as we couldn't participate in the first race of the league at Strathaven which clashed with the Brampton weekend (which was another huge club representation). But let's see how we do in the third and final race of the league at Bellahouston Park on a date that is yet to be confirmed. Ideally we should aim to fill all the teams and not pick up any penalty points which will give us a chance to move even higher up the race rankings. I'll post a sheet for names when we know when it is.
Some photos from Kilmarnock are in this album.
Alan
1 comment:
That was a good event and ladies definitely benefited from the mixed field…. plus it meant less ‘hanging about’ for everyone including spectators on a cold January afternoon.
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