4 and 5 November 2006

There was an improved turnout and once again some excellent running at the second of this season’s Central Athletic Club’s Junior Cross Country Series held at Airthrey Castle, Stirling University on Saturday 4 November.

In perfect conditions it was Tom Watson who imprinted his speed and strength on the race coming home to win in 4min 15secs over a course a little under one mile.  Ross Milne has been showing good form all season and once again looked good as he finished only a few strides down in 4.22.  David Hutchison worked hard again throughout the race but had to settle for third here in 4.25 with Alexander Couborough in close pursuit for a pleasing 4.29 clocking. Catriona Buchanan was another to underline her recent excellent form in winning the Girls race in 4.31 while Lorna Cameron looked to have shaken off her recent ankle injury to finish in 4.42.

It was unfortunate that the next group of athletes had taken a wrong turn to inadvertently cut the course slightly and it was Becky Hay who led this group into the finish in 4min 48secs, closely followed by a tight grouping of 5 athletes all finishing in 4min 50secs. It was Fiona Cameron who prevailed in this group with youngster Kirsty Buchanan within a stride and the even younger Jack Kerr, his smile beaming as ever, a further stride behind. Philip Wright showed improved form as he raced through equal with the fast finishing Adam Hinton.

Shona Buchanan did run the whole course and was another to come home smiling and in fine style in 5min 33secs.  Sam Fraser continues to enjoy his running and finished here in 5.37, just ahead of Rebecca Stewart and Aimee Bilsland with all three youngsters given the same time.  Emily Greenan showed enough ability to prove she will be a useful addition to the Club as she finished in 5.45 and although Gordon Milne was the final finisher on this occasion it was noticed that he had completed the full course.

The third race in the series is in Alva Woodland Park at 11am on Saturday 2^nd December, a great opportunity for the Club’s youngsters to stretch their legs a week before the Scottish East District Championships.

Elsewhere it was good to see Lewis Lewis Millar coming home in second place in Sunday’s Templeton Woods, Dundee 10 mile Road Race, breaking the hour with a storming run of 59mins 1sec. Liam McCabe also performed well to finish 37^th overall in a highly respectable 65mins 54secs.

Central’s Mens ‘A’ Relay team finished fifth in the prestigious Allan Scally 4 x 4.8mile Road Relay in Baillieston in a time of 1hour 40mins 51secs. Murray MacLarty was the star act confirming his debut selection for the A team with an outstanding opening leg of 25mins 24secs, bringing the team round in 10th place. Ross Houston ran 26min 8secs to make up 2 places. Lewis Millar picked up a further 2 places with an official time of 25min 16secs (although his coach timed this at 25.33).  Robert Russell ran the final leg in 23min 43secs, fourth fastest leg of the day (officially 24 03) to catch Ron Hill Cambuslang and pull Central up into 5th place.

Central’s ‘B’ team finished 20th through Gavin Hogarth (25th - 26m 53s), Alex Milne (21st - 27m 24s), Alan Hume (17th - 27m 16s) and Martin Crawford (20th - 29m 15s).

 Other Central athletes taking part were Kyle Cowie, running the last leg for Stirling University ‘A’ team - finishing 16th (25m 39s).  Michael Wright ran the second leg for Heriot Watt University in 26m 44s and Fiona Thompson ran 30m 01s for Aberdeen University.

Central girls on top

Central AC's cross-country season continued with the Lasswade Open Cross Country Races at Gorebridge on Sunday 5 November.  With other commitments, it was a sparse Club showing, but resulted in a superb victory for the Under 15 Girls team of Catriona Buchanan (6^th, 13.53), Eilidh Hargreaves (7^th, 14.09) and Lorna Cameron (10^th, 14.33) running over a 2. mile course.  The victory was by the narrowest of margins as Edinburgh Southern Harriers finished on the same points but Central won by virtue of having their third runner home ahead of Edinburgh’s third counter.  Fiona Cameron didn’t count for the team on this occasion but ran well to finish 20th in 16.29.

Central’s other victory of the day was by Rowena Bell-Scott who ran strongly to win the Under 20 Women 3 mile race in 20.21, with Rachel Hunter coming 7^th (22.46) over the same course for the Under 17 Women.

In the under 13 girls, sisters Kirsty (11^th, 15.19) and Shona Buchanan (21^st, 16.49) ran well, but lacked a third runner to have a chance in the team competition.  It was a similar story for the under 13 boys, where Alexander Coubrough came away with an excellent fourth individual placing in 13.20, with Roddy Irvine not far behind (11^th, 14.12).

Among the seniors, Andy Buchanan was Central's sole woman competitor, and finished well in 16^th with 29.23 over a 3.8 mile course.  The senior men's team, running over 6 miles, was an all-veteran affair with Robert Hutchinson (27^th, 44.58), Euan Bell-Scott (33^rd, 45.45) and George McHardy (57^th, 52.45) all showing their usual grit and determination.

Braids Hills Race

Central AC senior ladies cross country team made their annual outing at Edinburgh University’s Braids Hills race. The team had to give way to the capital’s Hunter’s Bog Trotters, strengthened by a resurgent Gillian Palmer newly returned to competition, who took first team prize and Leeds University who were second equal on points with Central taking the 3^rd team prizes after countback. Ainsley Normand continued her good form with 7^th place in 19:00, with Alison Docherty close behind in 9^th with 19:12 and third counter Claire Waterhouse in 20^th place with 20:02. Jane Waterhouse took the leading veteran prize money in 28^th place with 21:00. Felicity Milton, from Durham University was the comfortable winner ahead of Palmer, setting a new junior record for the event. The 19 year old has been gathering headlines down south since taking up running seriously from hockey only 6 weeks ago and is already widely tipped for a senior European Championships place. Begona Julian running for Stirling University was 33^rd in 21:15. Phil Williams was the only man in Central colours with 52^nd in the Mens’ race in 36:43. Michael Wright captaining Heriot Watt University was 30^th in 34:51. The Men’s team race was also won by Hunter’s Bog Trotters, although their top runners had to give way to Leeds University pair of Adam Grice and Joe Symonds who were well clear of the field in the individual stakes.

Master’s Cross Country

The annual Great Britain and Ireland Master’s Home International Cross Country featured Central stalwarts Hazel Dean and Jane Waterhouse representing Scotland in the prestigious event hosted at Falkirk’s Callendar Park course. Hazel finished 11^th in her age group race, 28^th overall with a timing of 25:26 over the 6 kilometre course, taking a team bronze medal behind powerful teams from the Irish Republic and England. In the Over 50 contest, Jane Waterhouse, in her 10^th successive appearance in the fixture, finished sixth in her age group and first Scot with an overall placing of 58^th in 27:01.

Gauldry Gallop

A Central AC contingent headed to Gauldry, Fife for the annual cross country races. Over a renowned undulating course, conditions underfoot were soft. Kathryn Gillespie retained her lifetime unbeaten record to claim 1^st in the  Under 11 race in 5.47 with Jack Kerr finishing in 7.30. The Under 13 race proved to be the most competitive race of the day with a head to head battle for 1^st place with Alexander Coubrough just narrowly missing out but claiming a well deserved 2^nd in 12.12, followed by Ross Milne (12.40), Conor Kerr(13.15) and Gordon Milne(17.04). In the girls under 13 race, sisters Kirsty (14.19) and Shona Buchanan(15.39) ran splendidly attacking the hilly course throughout finishing in 6^th and 8^th position respectively. Catriona Buchanan ran solidly to finish 2^nd in the U15 girls in 18.05 with David Hutchison, still smiling as he pushed up the steep uphill finish, 4th boy in16.21. A superb 1^st place was comfortably claimed by Alex Hendry in the Under 17 men’s event(19.59) with team mate Jonathan Tolson crossing the line in 22.06. Rowena Bell-Scott was the 1^st junior lady in the main senior event. Another five Central stalwarts tackled the 8km senior event. Hugh Kerr(33.48), Euan Bell-Scott(34.29), Andrena Buchanan(35.51), Phil Hendry(37.40) and Mary Kerr(39.54).

East District League – 26 November 2006

Two individual race wins and two teams wins were highlights for Central AC at the second match of the East of Scotland Cross Country League based at Beveridge Park, Kirkcaldy.

Tom Watson and Scott McDonald caught the eye with victories in the Under 13 Boy’s  and the Under 17 Men’s races respectively.  Tom’s 9min 9secs run was an impressive clocking over a one and three quarter mile course.  Ross Milne (4^th in 9.36), Connor Kerr (5^th in 9.38), Alex Coubrough (6^th in 9.43) and Roddy Irvine (8^th in 9.51) packed the front of the race, strengthening their lead in the league. Rory Bain (33^rd in 11.54), Adam Hinton (35^th in 12.06) and Sam Fraser (40^th in 12.41) also had handy runs in this age group. All bodes well for team medals in this age group in the East District Championships in two weeks time.   In the girls race, In the under 13 age group, Amy Hendry made a good return to cross country with 41^st in 12.39 with Ruth McCabe 55^th in 13.59.

Scott McDonald took the honours in the Under 17 race, covering the 3.5 mile course in 24min 14secs and it was left to Alexander Hendry (4^th in 25.26) and Jonathon Tolson (12^th in 28.26) to prove the Club also has strength in depth in this age group, taking second team place on the day.

Central Senior ladies continued their stranglehold on the competition, as defending three time winners of the league title, they put themselves into a strong lead in league after a further match win on the day’s competition. European Junior 1500m champion Morag MacLarty was happy with her second place (27.16) as she works back to full fitness. Ainsley Normand was tantalising close to taking her scalp with third place in 27.18, continuing her major lift in form since last year. Alison Docherty was also close to hand with 6^th in 27.52 to complete the trio of scorers. A strong supporting cast followed with Claire Waterhouse (12^th, 29.10), debutant Polly Harrison (21^st, 30.29), Stephanie Auge (36^th, 31.22), Mary Kerr (67^th, 34.09), Elinor Coombs (72^nd, 34.34) and Louise Harris (99^th, 46.42).

The Senior Mens race was contested over 6miles and saw Alasdair Anthony as the pick of Central’s men finishing 6^th in 32min 23secs closely followed by Under 20 Kyle Cowie in 7^th (32.24).  Ross Houston had another good run for 9^th in 32.57 with another Under 20, Murray MacLarty, 28^th in 33.47. Steve Laing led home Central’s Veterans in 62^nd (36.07) with Alex Milne 63^rd in 36.10. There were also useful runs from David Lindsay (65^th in 36.12), Martin Crawford (94^th, 37.40) and Alan Hulme (96^th, 37.50).  There were a further 11 Central finishers; Liam McCabe 115^th in 38.42; Robert Hutchison 155^th in 41.01; Stuart Watson 161^st in 41.27; Robert Brown 162^nd 41.30; Cameron Campbell 170^th 42.09; David Hay 189^th 43.39; Allan Gall 193^rd 43.52; Graham Harvey (U20) 214^th in44.55; Phil Hendry 217^th in 45.02; Jim Drummond 249^th in 50.17 and  John Dickson 258^th in 54.05. Overall the senior men finished second on the day behind a strong City of Edinburgh team.

The day had started with another spirited run in the one mile Under 11 race by Philip Wright finishing in a fine 8 min timing with Jack Kerr also proving his worth in 21^st in 8.40.  Newcomer Emily Greenan ran well to record 28^th in her first outing in the girl’s race in 9.20.

The Under 15 race was contested over 2.5miles and here it was Scott Green who came through well in 7^th with a 16min 28sec run while David Hutchison also performed well with 11^th in 17.05. Matthew Hinton proved to be an asset in this age group with a fine debut run for 16^th in 17.32. The under 15 girl’s race saw Lorna Cameron perform to her usual high standard with 10^th in 18.07 and Becky Hay recorded 26^th in 20.25