East District Cross Country, Broxburn, January 12

First race of the season was the third and final race of the East District cross-country, held in scenic parkland just outside Broxburn, one-time home of Scotland’s shale oil industry.

Courtesy of Martin Lewis, we had a minibus to carry our hordes of juniors, who all seemed to have a good time. In the Under-11 boys, Huw ran well to finish 16th in a bunch finish, and David and Ally weren’t far behind. In the Under-11 girls, and Eleanor and Fin, running in their first race for the Harriers put in a fine performance and seemed to be having a whale of a time.

In the Under-13s, Andrew and Levi were battling it out for Harriers honours, with Andrew just pipping Levi by a few seconds, and Daniel ran bravely to complete the set of three East District races. Keir was running well until he came a cropper in the water obstacle! Catriona was our only Under-13 girl and ran well, also completing the set.

Sol was our sole representative in the Under 15s and was battling a bad cold as well as the conditions, and did well to finish in 8th position. Not content with racing on Saturday, he then went off to Glasgow on Sunday for an indoor event!

For the women, Emily and Kerry pushed and pulled each other round, with Emily just proving the stronger on the day, and Susan, as always, did her own thing, loving every minute of it. 

The men had a bigger turnout than has been seen for a while. Will was our first man home, followed not far behind by Andy. Not content with racing on Saturday, these two went off to Ben Nevis and did an ascent of Tower Ridge on Sunday, which did seem a bit excessive to me. Phil T was next home, and after a bigger gap than I would have preferred, I was next, feeling thoroughly puggled. Gordon wasn’t far behind me – I’d spent much of the third lap looking over my shoulder waiting for him to catch me, but I managed to keep him at bay. Ali Bloomer, in his first race for the Harriers, came in just ahead of Jeff, who couldn't quite keep up his blistering start, and the Harriers contingent was completed by Allan. 

Sunday was quite a busy day too, with Phil and I doing a recce of the new Devil’s Burdens Leg 3 – nice and steep up for half a mile from the new handover point above Kinnesswood to White Craigs and then a bit of a helter-skelter down to Holl Reservoir. Meanwhile, Fi, AliM, Cathy and Julia were doing their recce of the new Leg 4, complete with alternative descents off East Lomond, and Alastair was getting lost on the new Leg 1. We weren’t the only ones out - there seemed to be runners heading in all directions!