National Cross Country Championships Falkirk 2010
February 22nd, 2010Gala girls like it cold – that’s official. As the winter temperatures dropped once more to sub zero, Gala Harriers turned up the heat as they prepared for the National Cross Country championships in Falkirk on Saturday….and the girls in particular came back with rich rewards.
Callendar Park in Falkirk provides a wonderful backdrop for this, the culmination of the cross country season. The cold weather had made the ground very firm under clear and calm skies and conditions were perfect for the huge numbers of athletes who are drawn to this major event.
First off for the juniors was Jo Arres in the Under 13 girls’ race in which she was competing for the first time at this level in a big field of 115. Starting steadily, Jo picked off a lot of her fellow runners to finish in a very good time of 17 minutes 08 seconds over the 2 mile course. Paul Henney who was competing in the boys’ under 13 race was carrying a heel injury and bravely battled around about 1/3 rd of the course before having to withdraw.
There was a full Gala team for the U15 girls’ race and the girls were looking to better the bronze medal they won 2 years ago. And better it they did in style. Over the 4 mile course, Lucy Henderson-Morris (16.46) Kerry Sandilands (17.15) Hannah Jones (18.02) Martha Douglas (18.34) and Emily Jones (18.40) all ran superbly competitive races which combined to win the silver medal place, a fabulous result for the girls.
Rowan Marr was the sole Gala representative in the U15 boys and this was his first outing at national level in this age group, making him amongst the youngest in the category. He nevertheless equipped himself well to finish in 15.08 in 31st place out of 110, which he can build upon in the future as he progresses in this age group.
The senior women’s race covers 5 miles of the parkland and 6 Gala women took on the distance, led home in quite scintillating form by Dianne Lauder who finished in an astonishing 11th place out of the 184 field in a time of 30.39. This position represents the highest placed woman Harrier ever and is a remarkable achievement. Rachel Fagan with an excellent run of 33.29 to place her in 35th, Eileen Nicol (37.23) Leanne Haining (37.30) Fiona Shepherd (39.06) and Jennifer Forbes (39.56) all contributed significantly to the well-earned 7th team place for the senior women.
A huge field of 447 senior men included 11 Harriers who took on the 7.5 miles as the last race of the day. In another superb effort, Graeme Murdoch led home the team in an excellent time of 41.12, finishing in 37th position. There were good runs too from the rest of the lads with Fergus Johnson (45.40) Derrick Brydon (50.38) Tony Lunn (51.24) Magnus Inglis (52.44) Alastair Lawrie (52.59) Malky Gowans (53.17) Billy McCulloch (54.06) Dave Nightingale (55.31) David Hunter (57.00) and Scot Forsyth (57.28) all representing their club with great credit.
Photo’s posted in gallery.
Next weekend sees the final leg of the Borders Winter Cross Country series, to be held in Peebles on Sunday 28th February – juniors at 11.30, seniors at 12 noon.
