Stornoway Running and Athletics Club

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SRAC Gazette

Harris Half Marathon 2006  

The final race of the Heb 3 half marathon series took place in Harris last Saturday when 103 runners lined up at the start line in Borve, South Harris, their destination Tarbert, 13.1 miles away. The overcast sky and slight tail wind were favorable conditions for the athletes as race starter Jim Warnock set them on their way towards North Harris.

The race route starts out as a slightly undulating course in full view of some glorious South Harris beaches before runners embark upon a fairly monotonous 3 mile climb out of Luskentyre heading towards Stocinis road end. Once over the summit of the hill, the competitors can begin making a steady decent which takes them through Horsacleit and Cean Dibig and before long they are able to catch a glimpse of Tarbert once they’ve negotiated the bend at the head of Loch Direcleit. By this point competitors have less than a mile to go.

A sizeable crowd had gathered at the finish line at Tarbert School to witness the familiar sight of a brown vested HBT runner taking 1st place at the Harris half as Donald Naylor crossed the finish line in a time of 1:13:10. The next runner to finish was Benjamin Kemp from Portobello who completed the distance in 1:16:13 in order to secure the overall Heb 3 title, just ahead of his closest rival in the series, Terry Coyle from the Mainland Mules who finished in 1:18:13 taking 3rd place in the race and securing 2nd spot in the series. In 4th place was Iain Cullen (Mainland Mules) who crossed the line in 1:19:30 to win the prize of 1st veteran only 30 seconds ahead of his team-mate Davie Atkins who gained 2nd place in the same category. In 6th place was Peter Buchanan from Portobello who took 3rd place in the veteran category.

The 1st female home was Julia Henderson (Helensburgh AAC) who won the race with a brilliant time of 1:26:58. Next female past the post was Lucy Robbie (Team Robbie) who completed the course in 1:33:41, closely followed by Shona Morrison from Benbecula who had yet another superb race in order to finish in a time of 1:36:12. With the 1st three females already home, the race was now on for the prize of 1st female veteran which turned out to be a very close run contest as Mary Hunter from Portobello just finished ahead Maureen Macleod (Garscube Harriers) in  1:42:10 & 1:42:20 respectively. Christine Anderson (HBT) completed the veterans’ prize list when she took 3rd spot in her category with a time of 1:43:15.

There was a decent turn out of Harris runners at this event with a total of 11 Hearachs completing the course with the 1st local home being Adam Johnston who struggled through injury to finish in a time of 1:32:20. The 1st local female to finish was Tarbert super veteran Ethel Mcnally who completed the course in 2:14:34.

The organizers of the Harris Half Marathon and fun-run, “Sport Harris” would once again like to thank Ethel McNally and all the other volunteers who regularly make this event possible by giving up their time to marshal the course, man water-stations, provide refreshments’ and all the many other jobs that are absolutely essential in allowing this event to go ahead. Thank you very much indeed.

Click here to read Portobello RC's view of the Harris Half and Heb 3

The winner of the Harris half, Donald Naylor was a member of the HBT Debris team
which came second in the Hebridean Challenge - a five day adventure race
which finished less than 24 hours before the Harris Half started!