Scottish National Relays

🌳 The eagerly awaited Scottish National Relays returned to Cumbernauld Park last Saturday. The weather was very wet and the ground was muddy, slippy, and made for heavy going. The races proved to be challenging and a true test of x-country running.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 26 Harriers toed the start line to try themselves at the highest level.

🤩 Lexie Speirs and Alistair Munro, two of the club's juniors, ran in the early races with both running well on the day.

The club's females fielded 3 complete teams and a team of 2. Kristina Greig, running in leg 1, was the Harriers' fastest female with a time of 17:20 to finish as 119th fastest female. Katherine Hylands picked up a few places to finish in 17:40. Claire McCormick, running third, had a very solid run, crossing the line in 19:22. Emma Roberson anchored the team home in 18:14 cementing their 35th place.

Becky Simister and Claire Fitzsimmons both broke the 20-minute mark. Carys Mitchell improved considerably on her performance two weeks earlier at the West District Championship finishing in 21:13.

The men's race attracted a very large field, with the first-leg runners packed tightly at the start and it made for interesting running towards the first hill.

Greg Templeton ran exceptionally well to claim 70th place overall in a time of 13:20. Mike Holcroft, new to X-country in club colours, ran 14:47. Fraser Armstrong ran 14:22 and Scott Mason brought the team home in 14:34 to claim 34th place.

Lee Shaw, leading the men's second team, ran a fine 14:48. Matthew Brown, newly returned from working in England, ran 15:07.

🙌🏻 Well done to all the Harriers who ran! It's safe to say we are all looking forward to the next X-country outing at the National Short Course Championships in Kirkcaldy on the 5th November – it’s sure to be a day to remember!

📷 - Bobby Gavin & club members