Glen Lednock race, 8 May

A torrential downpour an hour before the race start wasn’t enough to put off the 30 adults and 22 children for the Glen Lednock race on Sunday morning, and by the time the race started, the conditions were close to ideal for this annual race run for the Margaret J Gordon Art and Craft Trust. Harriers were out in force, and very grateful for the shelter offered under Graham’s gazebo-thingy. This was the fifth race in the club championship, and we had ten runners competing in the main adults’ race. There were also assorted juniors races and a shortened adults race. All way too confusing.

The adults’ race, run from Carmichael’s Yard at the foot of Monument Road in Comrie up the glen to Invergeldie and back down again, was won by Paul Acari in a very fast time of 45:31 for the 8.5 mile course. I hung on to Phil M’s heels for the first 5 miles or so and then managed to open up a gap on the downward half, and I was first Harrier to finish 9th overall in a time of 57:08, about 5 minutes faster than I’d managed last year. Phil was just under a minute behind, finishing 10th in 58:03, followed by Andy G in 14th position, in 62:29. John Davidson, James and Gordon finished close together in 17th, 18th and 19th positions.

For the Harrier’s women, Angela won the women’s race in a time 59:35, with Kerry second in 63:14, and Nicola fourth in 66:52. Karen G and Jayne M completed the Harrier’s turn-out a wee bit further down the field.

The Junior race started at the same time as the adults race but followed a different route up the steep path towards the Deil’s Cauldron, with a turnaround up the hill to give a 1.5 mile run. The race was won by Dominic M in an exciting sprint finish with Lewis following just 10 seconds behind, with Sol in 3rd place.

In the girls 13-15 race, there were great performances with Poppy Robertson finishing first girl in 6th place followed by Maddy in 8th place with Sav having a great run finishing 10th. The girls 9-11 race was won by Abigail, followed by Catriona and Morgan in 13th and 14th place respectively. There were good performances from all the other junior Harriers, including Chris Martin, Sammy Wake, Levi Sweeney, Daniel Saunders and Jessica Martin.