National XC Short Course 2021

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🐎 The Scottish National XC Short Course Championship is one of the highlights of the Winter race calendar, and this year on Saturday (6th November) at Lanark, it did not disappoint! Despite driving rain 🌧 and 60 mph gales 💨 - 33 Harriers put on their spikes and Saltire vests to challenge this famous 4K cross country race in an historic location!

🏃🏻Jack Arnold led home our team with Darren McQuade, Scott Mason and Stuart Miller contributing to our team placing. Congratulations to Lee Shaw on his first outing for the club and to Norbert McNamara, Gordon Brady and David Craig on completing their first-ever cross country! Well done! 🙌🏻

🏃 ️Our ladies team, headed by Katherine Hylands and ably assisted by Kristina Greig, Emma Rogerson and Laura Ritchie ran exceptionally well. A big well done to all who ran! Congratulations to Alison McKenzie in her first-ever cross country championship event. 👏🏻

📷 A highlight for a few of our lucky members was a spontaneous photo opportunity with Olympic champion Laura Muir 🏅. She was very generous with her time (off the course, obviously) to stop for these photos! 🤩

🏔 Meanwhile, further north on Saturday, 3 Harriers – Marianne Wilson, Tania Duffy and Anne Williamson – ran a slightly longer race, the Glen Ogle 33 Ultra, in similarly challenging weather conditions! Tania Duffy saw a massive 25 minute PB, an exceptional performance! Anne also enjoyed a PB on the tough 33-mile course: well done, ladies! ✨

🔦 🔁 Fresh from his ultra earlier this year, James Weir raced The Abbey Tiles Argory 6 Hour Challenge (at night!) over in Northern Ireland. James again delivered the goods with an excellent 3rd placed podium finish, covering 52km in the allowed time. Fantastic effort, James!

🌬 The ever-popular and challenging Strathaven Half Marathon saw 6 Harriers compete. A well-measured run of 1:42:47 by Darren Shields was the club’s quickest run on the day and secured him a well-deserved PB. Well done to all who ran! 🙌🏻👌🏻

📷 Photos from Kevin Queenan & club members