Stornoway Running and Athletics Club
|
Stornoway Running and Athletics Club |
|||||
| SRAC Half | Heb 3 | Training Routes | Links | Pace | Club Kit | |
North District XC Championships 2008 SRAC WIN INDIVIDUAL AND TEAM TITLES!
Click here to view Adrienne's photo gallery - Click here to view results spreadsheet Stornoway Running and Athletics Club had a very rewarding trip to Forres on Saturday as the club were amongst the most successful in the number of team and individual titles won at the North District Cross Country Championships! In total SRAC claimed two team championship winning titles three individual titles, two runners up positions and one bronze medal! The clutch of titles a very good result as the squad was without some of its regular runners due to the necessary commitments of exam prelims. On arrival at the venue in Forres’s Grant Park the temperature was minus four degrees and the underground conditions were naturally, rock solid and dry! The course itself was well set out and offered a good variety of terrain and the degree of difficulty was fair but challenging! In the first race of the day the under 11’s ran the undulating perimeter of Grant Park and also a forest track bordering the park. SARC had six girls and four boys line up at the start of under 11’s mixed race against opposition fro clubs like Caithness, Uist, Inverness, Moray, Lochaber, East Sutherland, and hosts Forres. The race brought together some of Lewis and Harris’s potential athletes of the future for the first time as SRAC team mates rather than rivals, as they’ve been in past local races. The debutants did not disappoint, whether running with the biggest smile (Kirsty Thomson) or competing at the front of the race, the young SRAC team put in good effort. SRAC’s top performer and first winner of the day was Peigi MacKellar. Peigi got a good start away from any bumping in the pack and steadily worked her way through the 1,300 meter course. With only 150 meters to the finish line Peigi’s stride lengthened as the front two girls ahead of her shortened and on the line won by the narrowest margin in a well timed effort! In the boy’s race Conner MacLean was the first SRAC runner across the line, Conner had a fine run but let his Caithness rival get too far in front and even with an almighty effort was not going to be able to close the gap. But a runner’s up slot is a very fine run which many would settle for before the starters gun is fired, particularly at a district championship! More SRAC success followed in the under 13 boy’s race for the foursome of Stuart MacDonald, Kenneth MacSween, Ross Allison and Campbell MacDonald. Campbell got himself in good position from the starter’s gun allowing him to dictate the pace as the course narrowed onto the first incline. Campbell led a group of three which was followed by SRAC’s latest “Billy Whiz”, Ross Allison and North League leader Ross Golan of Caithness. Descending form the stiff, leaf covered hill Campbell extended his lead and continued to lengthen his lead in the second climb on Honeysuckle Hill (not such a sweet climb for all the field), where his team mate Allison moved through to challenge for second/third position. When the runners came back into sight the lead was clear, Campbell MacDonald would easily run to a championship win! But the surprise was for Ross Allison to out run Caithness’s Golan and therefore putting SRAC in a very strong position for the team prize! Kenneth MacSween was next to show for SRAC and put in a fantastic sprint finish in which he narrowly missed out on a vital place to an East Sutherland runner much to the entertainment of the crowd! But when the scores were tallied the young SRAC boy’s team won with the lowest team tally of the day! The success of the boy’s under 13 individual and team win set the girls under 15’s up with high hopes and they did not disappoint! In a very tough field of quality runners Ailis Murray followed the front runners Mairi MacLennan, Inverness Harriers, Emma Dunnet, Caithness and Shetlands Katie Bristow. As the race unfolded the individual medal positions appeared as above but the close chasing SRAC pack of Ailis Murray, Holly MacIver and Rebecca Munro piped Caithness to the gold by one point! Returning to good form in this race was Holly MacIver finishing sixth behind Ailis in fourth with only a second separating the pair? Hopefully this girl’s team will go on to do well in February’s National Championship in Falkirk! But before then the MacIver (x 2) and Murray race in the first local cross country race should be well worth watching! The race was combined with the under 17 ladies and Ceit Stewart really did have a good run in this category first time round. Ceit looked easy and well within herself to take the bronze medal, all in all a good week for Ms Stewart following her win in the Pentland Road 10k! The final SRAC win of the day was the blistering run by Robert Jones, who makes it all look very easy. Robert ran to race plan, get out fast, take to the front and keep pushing to see if anyone would take up the chase? Inverness Harriers pair of Craig Campbell and Patrick Urquhart did their best, never giving up the pursuit, but, Jones’s strength again proved to be too much for the rest of the field! Robert Jones winner of the 2008 Lewis and Harris Young Sports Person of the year claims another title and must now step up the performances against the best from the East and West districts at the National Championships in February. Details of registration and entry for the first race in this season’s Alex Murray Construction Lewis & Harris Cross Country Series on Saturday can be found on the SRAC web site. Registration on the Castle Green form 09.15 for under 17, 20 and senior, 10.15 onward for all other age groups. Please park cars at the Lews Castle or Cuddy Point; please do not park on verges round the Castle Green. SRAC would like to thank The Lewis and Harris Sports Council for their support in this highly successful trip to the North Championships. SRAC continue to have large costs to compete on the mainland and welcome any sponsorship assistance, email srac @srac.org.uk A Tupper |
