West District xc League Race 3 – Barwood Park, Erskine

Saturday 10th February 2024 was the final West District League cross country hosted by Kilbarchan AAC.  The Harriers had 13 athletes racing on the day.  What was really inspiring was that we had 6 of our Juniors competing again.   The underfoot conditions and the weather were kind to the early runners.  

First race on the schedule was the u/11 girls. Charlotte Buchanan had a strong race taking the lead early on and came up the final hill in second place looking strong.  Charlotte pushed herself to the limit but just could not close the gap.  She held on to second place and finished in an impressive time of 4:19.  Next to cross the line was Sophie Lewandoski who finished in a time of 5:12 closely followed by Jessica Prior in a time of 5:56.  The girls finished 7th team overall.  Harry Bell was our only u/11 boy running.  This was Harry’s second cross country and his finishing time was 4:53. Harry did say that this was one of the toughest races he’s done!   Next age category run was the u/13 boys.  This time it was Harry’s brother Callum who was facing the mud and hills in his second cross country race too.  Seeing the finish line at the top of the final climb Callum put in a last push to the end and finished in a time of 10:56.   Finally, it was the turn of Kai Wheeler in the u/17 race.  Kai is experienced in these types of races, running a strong and steady paced race to finish in a time of 19:24. 

Now it was the turn of the senior Harriers, 3 large laps around Barwood Park.  The course was now churned up and looking a lot more boggy.   The weather wasn’t too bad for the start however it was beginning to get a lot colder.  We all made our way to the start line and at 1.30pm the gun went off… Alison and I just about had a heart attack!  This was my first xc race since coming back from injury so decided to keep an eye on my pace.  Tried to keep it steady after the first lap as I had gone off too fast at the beginning.  I soon settled down and ploughed my way through the mud.   

Jordan Stewart was first Harrier home in a time of 25:58 putting in a really strong performance.  Stephen Phimister finished in a time of 30:10 closely followed by Alison Lessells in a time of 32:59.   George Ferguson, Frances Ferguson and Gordon McInally were grouped together on the first lap with Geo acting as pacemaker.  However, halfway round the second lap Geo pulled away and Frances and Gordon were left behind.  Geo finished strong in time of 35:17 (beating Frances again!) Frances finished in 36:10 with Gordon finishing 7 seconds behind, 36:17.  We all remained at the finish line to cheer on Russell who crossed the line in 41:54.  

Thank you to all the parents and coaches for their support and photographs on the day.

Frances