Gartmorn 6 Trail Race, 10 March

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.

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

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.