British & Irish Masters X/C & Borders X/C Series 2011: Gala
November 28th, 2011Another busy weekend for Gala Harriers who flew the flag at the British & Irish Masters Cross Country International in Bellahouston Park, Glasgow and in their own backyard, where they hosted the third round of the Borders Winter Cross Country series.
A wild and windy Glasgow greeted the large field of international competitors from England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic. Two local runners had been selected to run for Scotland in this masters’ (veterans) event – Dianne Lauder and Bob Marshall. Individually and as part of their teams they ensured that the Scottish team placed 3rd overall, as well as third in all the men’s and women’s events taken together. Dianne had a great run to finish in 8th place out of 126 women in an excellent 22 minutes and 15 seconds, which allowed the Scottish F35 representatives to clinch second place in that category. Bob ran well in his M60 class in 34.20 over the longer course.
Closer to home, the fields and hills above the policies in Galashiels formed the backdrop and the muddy underfoot conditions for over 250 runners who had travelled there from all over the Borderland and Southern Scotland for the popular Borders Winter Cross Country series. The course had been rain and wind-lashed as well as trodden by cattle and sheep the previous day but Sunday dawned fair and breezy – although the mud decided to linger. Most of it returned on the legs (and other parts) of the competitors, while at least one running shoe was sucked off and left on the hill. But despite that, and a variety of routes taken, there were some strong performances on the day.
Winning the junior race overall in spectacular fashion was Gala’s Rowan Marr in 10.42 and retaining his top category position. It was a tight finish with Selkirk’s John McLean (10.45) in second place, just beating Moorfoot’s Jacob Adkin (10.47) in third. First girl home for the Harriers was Lucy Henderson-Morris in 12.15. There were too many Gala juniors to mention every individual performance but from within the excellent turnout, Jamie Logan (12.29) and Jo Arres (13.42), as well as Lucy and Rowan achieved first places in their age categories on the day.
The senior race was won by Andrew Crichton of Dunbar in 22.22, just 6 seconds ahead of Jo Symonds from Hunters Bog Trotters – clearly feeling very much at home in the clarty conditions. Teviotdale’s Darrell Hastie was third in 23.46. First male home for the Harriers was Fergus Johnston in 23.58 and first Gala woman was Rachel Fagan in 28.31. Again, there were too many to list individually – 29 in all from the local club, but high placings on the day in age categories came from Mark Bryson (24.39 and 3rd in category) Dave Nightingale (27.11 and 1st in category) Fiona Dalgleish (28.57 and 1st in category) Fiona Shepherd (31.14 and 3rd in category) and Andrea Pogson (31.20 and 1st in category).
(The full results for both juniors and seniors can be found on the Norham Running Club’s website under Winter XC series.)
Gala Harriers would like to thank the Pate family and John Scott for the use of their fields during the race and to record the club’s continuing appreciation of their cooperation which allows this to happen.
From the off-road challenges of Galashiels in November to the searing heat of the Masai Mara in Kenya…..you’d be hard pressed to find anything more different. A rather pink Gala Harrier Kevin Stevenson lined up on the start line in the Gala policies just a matter of days after completing the Masai Mara half marathon in 32 degrees heat. His time of 1.57.10 was nothing short of miraculous despite the temperature and the altitude which is higher than that of Ben Nevis.
SPORTING WEEK AHEAD AND NEXT OUTING FOR THE HARRIERS IS ON 4 DECEMBER AND IS THE 4TH ROUND OF THE BORDERS WINTER XC SERIES AT PEEBLES. 11.30 FOR THE JUNIORS, 12 NOON FOR SENIORS.
