Strathearn Harriers’ first championship weekend

The 2013 Championship series got off to a flying start with two races over the weekend of 16 and 17 February. On Saturday, Rhian Evans, Andy and Emily Greaves raced in the classic Carnethy 5 hill race on the Pentland Hills. This is one of the most prestigious races in the Scottish hill-racing calendar and attracts a very high quality field. Andy was first Harrier home as 114th man. Rhian just pipped Emily on the final section, with Rhian finishing as 37th woman, and Emily in 39th position in the women’s race.

On Sunday, we hosted a new race in our race calendar, a special 5 kilometre race on Lady Mary’s Walk. On a perfect February morning, a total of 21 seniors and 9 juniors turned out in what is hoped will become a regular part of the racing season. There are not many races when juniors and seniors can run together, so this proved an ideal opportunity for the youngsters to show what they’ve been up to with their regular training sessions.    

Winner of the men’s race, in a very fine time of 17.37, was Patrick O’Kane. In his debut race for the Harriers, Chris Clark was second, followed in third place by Sol Sweeney. Sol is still a junior but is more than capable of showing a clean pair of heels to most of his older club mates. In the women’s race, Maddy Watson was first home in a very good time of 21.27, followed by Steph Niven and Emily Greaves.

As is customary with Harriers events, the race itself was followed with a splendid spread of cakes, organised with great aplomb by Lesley Johnston, making a Harriers debut of a different kind!

So, after the first weekend, the Championship looks like this:

Men
Andy Greaves 24.7 (1+1w) Patrick           16.1 Phil T              14.7 Tony                14.1 Chris               13.4 Jim A              13.1 Jon                  12.9 Andy Gall        12.9 Allan                10.2 Al                     9.8 Ally                  7.5 Colin T             4.4 George            4.1
Women
Emily     23.2 (1+1w) Fiona M  14.8   Steph     14.7 Cathy    14.3 Maddy    14 Liz          12.5 Rachel    12.2 Mary       10.5 Rhian      9.1 (1w)