WEST DISTRICTS XC RELAY - HERE WE GO!

A late change in venue meant that the hundreds of junior runners lining up for the first cross country of the season were given an easier ride around the perimeter of a picturesque little park in the heart of Kilmalcolm rather than what should have been an agricultural course on the outskirts of Port Glasgow. The reason for the change of venue? The long, dry summer made the ground hard and rutted and hence posed a health and safety risk! Only in Scotland. Anyway, I didn't hear any Harriers complaining as the one lap 2.5k course around the park suited the juniors just fine.

 

First up were our junior girls with mixture of old and new Harriers but new to competitive running. We initially had 2 complete teams however that changed and Megan Anderson had to sadly pull out.  However this didn't deter the other 5 runners and they all approached the race with a nervous disposition but none the less willing and able to do the race.

 

First up for Team A was Lucy Saez who has struck a deal with her Dad to do all the winter races for exchange of some fancy bag.  So Lucy was leading Team A, out with the other first leg runners in (13:12) handing over to Jada Amoah.  Jada is a recent new recruit to the club and has had plenty of experience running these distances with her dog doing cani-fit.  She coped admirable without her dog and completing her leg in (11:55).

 

The Calderglen Harrier B Team had a full compliment of 3 runners. New runner to the club Haleigh Muir on leg 1 lead the team and finished in 13:10. A fine start to hopefully a long running career. Next up was Megan Williamson running her first cross country for the club.  She was racing fellow club runner Jada around and was pipped at the post doing a solid (12:00) leg. Morgan Beaton had the tough task taking over from Megan racing against the under 17 girls.  Morgan did very well in  time of 9:49 which is very impressive.

 

The Calderglen Boys team were Marc McQuade on leg 1 duty doing a great performance against rest of the West in (10:12) and trying to give his team mate Ross Cameron a good start to haul in the leg 2 runners.  Ross was exceptionally fast leg 2 in (9:51) and the final leg was Drew Gordon a stalwart of the Harriers.  Drew completed leg 3 in (11:17) with his water bottle in tow. I am sure that held him back by 10 seconds!

 

Well done to all. It was a great day in the sun. If anyone has photos, please pass them on. My motto for this year is "Winning is giving your best, not a position". All the Harriers on Saturday did their best.

Roll on next race, the Lanarkshire AAA Road Relay Championships.

 

Richard