Gala Harriers Cross Country Championship Results
November 10th, 2007The warm late autumn sun shone on Gala Harriers on Saturday as they held their annual Cross Country Championships alongside the Neil Potts Handicap race from Boleside to Hollybush. In near perfect conditions, both underfoot and weather-wise – and despite some overly-friendly cows, a superb turnout of 28 Harriers revelled in the sunshine over the 6 mile riverside and Southern Upland Way route. This event, part of which is held in memory of the late Neil Potts, a popular Harrier who was tragically killed in a road traffic accident is always a favourite in the club racing calendar and this year, was characterised by some stunning performances.
The main race was won by Graeme Murdoch who continues to thrill with his excellent results, finishing in 37 minutes and 55 seconds, almost 2 minutes ahead of second placed Fergus Johnson, running on home territory again in 39.48. The third place went to Gala’s international star, Kate Jenkins who completed a great run in 41.17, just nudging out Magnus Inglis in fourth place with a time of 41.46, winning a tussle with 5th and 6th placed Martin Clarke and Dave Nightingale in 41.54 and 42.08 respectively. Kate Jenkins won the ladies’ race and in silver and bronze positions were Rachel Fagan in an impressive 44.18 and Fiona Dalgleish in a stylish 46.13.
The joy of a handicap race is that it is wide open and anybody putting in a good performance on the day can steal the attractive Selkirk Glass Neil Potts trophy. This year it was Graham Jones, aka the Handicap Bandit who regularly confounds the handicappers and ran away with first place in 44.43, followed by first-timer Dawn Grant, whose time of 54.23 reflects her hard work this year, beating Douglas Paton (47.50) into a well-deserved third place.
The full results can be found on the link below.
