Gartmorn near Alloa, was invaded on Sunday by hordes of
Harriers for the Gartmorn 6 and Juniors Trail Races, organised by the Wee
County Harriers. There has never been such a big turnout of Harriers to an
event before, and it was great to see so many blue-and-white vests and hear so
much cheering for the Harriers from their vociferous supporters.
For the Seniors, the Gartmorn 6 was the second Championship
race, with points at stake for the overall Club Championship. The race started
in sunshine, and for the first mile or so wound its way on a wooded trail
towards the dam. Cresting the dam, we were met with a full-on blizzard, with
horizontal snow driven across our faces. Fortunately we were back into cover
soon, and for the rest of the race we had sporadic sunshine to see us back to
the finish.
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| Jim enjoying his day out |
Out in front were Patrick, Andy and Chris, with Jonathan
putting in a strong show. I had Jonathan in my sight for about 3 miles before I
finally caught him in the woods and was able to pass him with about half a mile
to spare. First Harrier home was Patrick O’Kane in the very fast time of 35.58.
Patrick was 8th overall and was first V50 runner. Next home was Andy in a time
of 37.59, in 22nd position, with Chris not far behind in 26th position in a
time of 38.10. For the women, Angela was first Harrier home in a very good time
of 42.28 in 7th position in the women’s race. Maddy continued to show great
promise after her first place finish in the club 5k, with a terrific run,
finishing just 40 seconds behind Angela in 10th position, and Emily continued
her strong start to the Championship series with a time of 44.08, in 13th
position. In total, we had 21 runners in the race, second only to Carnegie
Harriers who fielded the race winner Andrew Wright, who won in a time of 32.26.
We pretty much dominated the Juniors race, with five of the
top ten finishers wearing the white-and-blue. Sol was racing less than 24 hours
after representing East District at the Inter Counties Cross-Country
Championships in Birmingham but still managed to win with a clear margin in a
time of 12.25 for the 1.75mile route. Next Harrier in, in third place was Lewis
in a time of 13.29, with Huw next, in 14.05, in fifth position, just ahead of Levi.
For the girls, Catriona was in fifth position in the girl’s
race in a time of 16.08. Savannah was next, in a time of 16.55, although this
would have been faster if she hadn’t very generously slowed down to help one of
her clubmates who was struggling a wee bit in his first race. In third place
for the girls was Ciara Maslin, in 17.37. In all, the Harriers had 24 of the 88
runners in the Juniors race.
Full results are as follows:
Patrick O’Kane 8th, 35.58
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| The biggest bunch of Harriers seen at one race - ever! |
Andy Greaves 22nd, 37.59
Chris Clarke 38.10, 26th
Tony Wayte 41.17, 45th
Jonathan Beck 41.36, 48th
Danny Mestecky, 42.27, 58th
Jim Alexander, 42.45, 62nd
Gordon Morrison, 44.35, 83rd
Al Nicholl 47.12, 100th
Colin Tipping 58.25, 192nd
Angela Mackenzie 42.28, 60th
Maddy Watson 43.06, 69th
Emily Greaves, 44.08, 80th
Kerry Sweeney 47.26, 103rd
Wendy Taylor 47.26, 104th
Cathy Tilbrook 47.50, 110th
Karen Prentice 48.36, 121st
Nicola Watson 49.38, 128th
Susan Saunders 51.47, 146th
Rachel Gallagher 52.13, 148th
Fiona Lyle 56.00, 175th
Mary O’Kane 1.01.49, 202nd
After the first two championship races, Andy is heading the
men’s championship on 37.5 points, followed by Patrick on 30.5 points and me on 26.1 points. Emily is
in front for the women, on 34.7 points, followed by Maddy on 25.7 points and
Cathy on 25.4 points. Full Championship placings can be found on the website.
