October 2006

Club Junior Cross Country Series – Kings Park – 7 October 2006

There was some excellent running on show at the first of this season’s Central Athletic Club’s Junior Cross Country Series held in King’s Park, Stirling on Saturday 7 October.

David Hutchison set the pace throughout the one mile race making it a tough race for his pursuers, and it was only over the last few hundred yards the Roddy Irvine moved on to David’s shoulder. Roddy has used his sprint finish to great effect all Summer but here David matched him stride for stride as they crossed the line together to finish equal first in 5minutes 9seconds.  Adam Hinton showed good form in his first race at this level, finishing in 6min 13secs and Sam Fraser never looked out of place as he came home in 6min 23secs. The youngest athlete, Jack Kerr, has been an enthusiastic supporter of this series and here finished in a very competitive 6min 37secs.

Catriona Buchanan underlined her continued return to form with an excellent 5min 35secs clocking to win the Girls race, with Becky Hay finishing second in a very useful 5min 58secs.  Kirsty Buchanan showed some confident running and significant progress with a fine 6min 6secs clocking while Shona Buchanan came through with a late run in 6min 22secs.  It was good to welcome back Amy Hendry who showed she has lost little of her form, finishing in 6min 44secs.

Junior Home Running International – Belfast – 8 October 2006

There was some top class competition in the Junior Home Running International in Belfast on Sunday 8 October with Central Athletic Club’s brothers Michael and Matthew Gillespie well to the fore.

The Under 16 race over 3.5 miles with 330 metres of climb saw Matthew coming home in a superb third place in 26mins 7secs which saw Scotland win the team competition ahead of their English counterparts.  Michael tackled the Under 18 race over 4.5 miles with a 370 metre climb and again proved his worth to finish fifth overall, and first Scot with an excellent 33min 34secs clocking.

McAndrew Road Relays – Jordanhill – 7 October 2006

Central Athletic Club’s ‘A’ team finished in fourth place in a field of 99 teams at the McAndrew Road Relays held at Jordanhill, Glasgow on Saturday 7 October.  Robert Russell ran to the third fastest time on the day, 16min 11secs for his 3.25 mile leg.  Kyle Cowie was another to catch the eye with a 17min 3sec timing as third fastest Under 20, with the ‘A’ team of Ross Houston (17.43), Kyle Cowie; Lewis Millar (17.04) and Robert Russell finishing in 68min 1sec.

Central proved their strength in depth with the ‘B’ team of Robert Wiseman (18.21), Murray MacLarty (17.26), Alan Hume (18.29) and Michael Wright (17.57) finishing in 72min 13secs and the ‘C’ team of Gavin Hogarth (17.33), Martin Crawford (20.04), Phil Williams (18.18) and Craig Walker (18.31) completing the event in an overall time of 74min 26secs. A composite team of Ainsley Normand (19.43), Sarah Jane Pickett (20.34), Guest (26.05) and John Millar (21.44) came through in 88.06 overall.

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East of Scotland Cross Country Relays - 14th October 2006

Central AC won a record three out of four titles at the East of Scotland Cross Country Relay championships at Dunfermline, taking the Senior Women’s title for the fourth year in succession, and taking back the senior Men’s title won two years previously. As the first cross country outing it provided first guidance of early season form, and will allow team managers to refine selections for the National relays in two weeks time.

There was a superb race for the Gold medals in the Mens 4 x 4 kilometre with the experienced Hunters Bog Trotters team matched against Central’s youngsters.  Indeed it was seventeen year old Michael Gillespie who led off for Central and although he had to give best to Trotters Northern Ireland International Steve Cairns on this occasion, he set the foundations for a good team performance with a 12min 43secs clocking to hand over in second place.  Alastair Hay soon showed his class as he quickly pulled Central through to first with the joint fastest time of the day (12.13). Hill Running internationalist Alasdair Anthony showed good form and some speedy running throughout his leg (12.50) finishing in virtual touching distance to the fast finishing Welsh international steeplechaser Donald Naylor.  It was left to Robert Russell to finish off Central’s effort as he effortlessly passed the Bog Trotters last leg runner.  Robert equalled the fastest time on the day with 12.13, ensuring a comfortable 25 seconds team victory over their nearest rivals.

Central’s ‘B’ team of Lewis Millar (13.20), Kyle Cowie (13.05), Michael Wright (13.12) and Murray MacLarty (13.10) showed that there is good competition for places with great consistency of performance to take a magnificent fifth place overall. Not to be outdone, Ross Houston in the ‘C’ team showed he has lost none of his determination as he sped through on the second leg to clock 13.02, picking up some 15 places with form that should see some promotion for the National Relays. Ross was ably backed up by his ‘C’ team colleagues Alan Hume (14.35), Ewan Gault (13.51) and Miguel Merayo (14.47) for a superb 16th overall placing, well ahead of a number of other Club’s ‘A’ teams.

Further down the field the Central teams all showed gritty determination with the ‘D’ team finishing in 37th through Martin Crawford (14.45), Gordon Adam (14.40), Phil Hendry (17.33) and Liam McCabe (15.09) and the ‘E’ team in 40th through Stuart Watson (15.28), Roger Greenaway (15.50), Robert Hutchison (15.38) and Hugh Buchanan (15.45).  The ‘F’ team, fondly known as the ‘Old Yuns’ also showed the same determined qualities in finishing 49th of the 62 teams through Hugh Kerr (15.48), John Millar (16.44), Cameron Campbell (16.32) and Alan Gall (17.32) to cap off an all round satisfactory day for the men.

The Senior ladies had much to prove after winning the previous championship in controversial circumstances after a disqualification but there was no argument today. A fine first leg by Ainsley Normand with 15.26 brought the team to the first changeover in fourth place in close contention allowing second runner Morag MacLarty to set about reeling in the lead within the first mile. Morag was delighted to have the fastest leg of the day (14.51), passing over a 70 second lead to fellow student Fiona Thompson (15.43) who kept the tempo up, increasing the lead to 83seconds over Edinburgh Southern.

The ‘B’ team had a satisfying race, well ahead of many other A teams and were first B team home.  The trio of Hazel Dean (16.18), Stephanie Auge (17.21) and Sarah Pickett (15.49) took a great 8th place.  In the ‘C’ team Jane Waterhouse (17.14), Andrina Buchanan (17.44) and Becky Wilson (17.59) came in 19th place with the first two runners planning an attack on the Masters title medals in two weeks time.  Always smiling, Janice Leitch (22.05), Morag Adam (19.52), Tracey McNally (22.38) and Mary Kerr (19.20) finished off a record turnout for the senior ladies.

Central’s boys teams all ran with distinction with the ‘B’ and ‘A’ teams taking Gold and Bronze medals respectively, showing the great strength developing within the club.  Promising Under 13 athlete Conor Kerr found the course to his liking with a fine effort of 9min 54secs to hand over a 10 seconds lead to another Under 13, Tom Watson, competing on the Under 15 leg.  Tom stuck well to his task and although he lost a place to Under 15 Scott Fraser of Corstorphine still kept the team in contention for Gold with a superb 9.35 clocking.  It was left to Scott McDonald to pull the team back into a leading position which he never looked likely to relinquish as he came home with the third fastest clocking of the day in 8min 26secs.  Central’s next team home of Roddy Irvine (10.07), David Hutchison (10.08) and Under 17 Sean Reilly (8.13) were always in close contention although it required Sean to run the fastest time of the day to ensure that the team went home with the Bronze medals.

Further down the field there were a number of superb performances from Central’s ‘C’ and ‘D’ teams. Martin Hall (Under 13) demonstrated his progress with a superb 10min 18secs to hand over in sixth place. It was another Under 13 Logan Bonar who was given the tough task of taking on the Under 15’s but still ran well to finish in 10min 56secs and Alexander Hendry (8.54) stormed through on the last leg to bring the ‘C’ team home to a highly creditable 12th place finish. William Jamieson (11.35) led off the ‘D’ team in fine fashion and it was good to see another Under 13, Kelly Carruthers (10.53), attacking throughout his leg.  Under15 Scott Green (9.49) will look for promotion through the teams for the National event in two weeks time as he came through well on the final leg for his team to finish in eighteenth place overall.

The junior girls combined to bring out a record five teams with encouraging performances throughout. The A team was led away by Rachel Adamson on the first leg who recorded a high quality 10.15 to bring team to the changeover on 4th place behind a mesmerising run by Gala’s Alice Haining who had the fastest leg of the day across all age groups.  Lorna Cameron continued the good form and held onto 4th place with a fine 10.38 on the under 15 leg.  Rachel Hunter found it harder going to bring the team home in a creditable 7th place.  The B team were happy with their 11th place, with Kirsty Buchanan achieving 11.41 on the under 13 leg, Mairi Gillespie running freely with 11.23 for the under 15 leg and second Buchanan sister, Catriona, coming home with an excellent 10.30 on the under 17 leg. The next teams from Central came in 19th and 20th place with Shona Buchanan (12.24), Fiona Cameron (12.30), Becky Hay (12.01), Lauren Steele (13.10), Rosie Hastings (12.05), Anna Jamieson (13.41), Amy Hendry (12.59) and Dawn Kerr (12.10).

On a day where so many teams were on show it was a challenge for the Team Managers to ensure things went smoothly so considerable credit is due to David Hay, Mandy Gillespie, Jane Waterhouse and Derek Easton.

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East League Livingston - 21 October

Central AC athletes won four out nine individual races at the East of Scotland Cross Country League match at Dechmont Law, Livingston. With some 72 club athletes performing for Central it was a great first outing for the League, as defending Champions.

Dollar schoolboy Michael Gillespie took the first junior (under 20) accolade in coming 7th in the senior 8.4 km race with a time of 26m53s, Alasdair Anthony worked his way through the field for 8th place and 27.07, Kyle Cowie and Murray MacLarty performed well up to their current good form with 14th (27.41) and 20th (27.55)respectively, with Ross Houston 24th (28.17) and Michael Wright (35th in 28.47s) Another 18 Central men provided the large club contingent.

The senior women’s race saw competitive performances with Ainsley Normand taking a fine third place in 22.20. Alison Docherty made her debut for the club and put in a useful 7th place in 22.34. Hazel Dean continues to return to fuller fitness after a winter and summer dogged by illness and injury to achieve 15th place for third counter and a time of 23.27s. Another 10 ladies showed the strength of the squad.

In the younger age groups, there was also a massive turnout of under 13 boys with some 12 athletes, headed by a winning run by Conor Kerr with 10.52. Alexander Coubrough (11.15) put in a mature performance, just two places behind his training partner with an exceptional third place. Logan Bonar, as third counter, could be justifiably proud of his improved performance with an excellent 14th place in 11.38. Other places, including races from newcomers were 18 Kelly Carruthers 11.48, 23 Martin Hall 12.13, 26 Calum Gathergood 12.16, 31 Robbie Gathergood 12.56, 31 Adam Hinton 12.56, 34 Rory Bain 13.27, 36 Gregory Gaughan 13.54, 37 Sam Fraser 13.59, 39 Gordon Milne 15.11.

In the under 13 girls race, Rachel Adamson put in another pedigree performance with third place in 11.07. Kirsty Buchanan, led home her sister Shona with the girls recording 14th place in 12.43 and 19th in 13.20 respectively, with Amy Hendry with 28th place in 14.13.

The under 11 race over 1600m was another triumph for Kathryn Gillespie who continued her unbeaten run in the age group from the previous season with a 6.48 timing. Farren Parkin (24th girl in 8.19), Philip Wright (17th boy in 7.48) and Jack Kerr (21st boy in 8.17) will have learnt much in their first outing as they made their first cross country races representing the club.

The combined under 15/17 girls race was another with another great turnout in strength. Catriona Buchanan was first Central runner home with an excellent 5th place in 16.35. Becky Hay and Mairi Gillespie broke the line together to record 14th and 15th places with the same time of 18.53s. Claire Tunaley and Dawn Kerr had good runs with 18th (19.59) and 21st (20.29).  In the under 17 event, Rachel Hunter just got the advantage with 9th (17.39s) over Gemma Milne (10th in 17.40s) after a nip and tuck race, encouraging to see both girls up there racing well. This race saw a series of sprains, through some muddy, rocky puddles leading to Kate Morris and both Lorna and Fiona Cameron joining another two runners from other clubs on the casualty list. 

Sole under 15 boy runner Scott Green put in another competitive performance with a fine 11th place in 15.20.

Scott MacDonald running well within himself at the front of the field to record his fist big race win in the under 17 race with 20.02. Alex Hendry showed his major improvement with a fine 3rd place 20.23s.

Other Results;

Senior Women; 23 Claire Waterhouse 23.57, 28 Jane Waterhouse 24.31, 39 Andrina Buchanan 25.10, 63 Becky Wilson 26.40, 76 Mary Kerr 27.33, Jo Pollak 28.30, Morag Adam 29.50, Janice Leitch 31.06, Tracey McNally 32.25, Julie Hay 36.20.

Senior Men; 37 Phil Williams 29.48, 65 Lewis Millar 30.08, 87 Alan Hume 31.03, 95 Graham Harvey 31.13, 108 Gordon Adam  31.55, 119 Will Hensman 32.21, 131 Liam McCabe V 32.50, 138 Hugh Kerr 33.01, 149 Hugh Buchanan  33.44, 152 Philip Sweeney 33.51, 159 Roger Greenaway 34.15, 192 Robert Brown 35.34, 200 Cameron Campbell  35.57, 222 David Hay 37.28, 228 Adrian Louden 38.02, 229 Phillip Hendry 38.11, 248 Jim Drummond 40.11, 262 John Dickson 42.55

 

AAA road Relays

A trio of Central's under 13 boys also travelled to Birmingham to compete in the Young Athletes National Road Relay Championships at the weekend. Over a challenging hilly course of 3.861Km in pleasant weather Ross Milne led off and completed the course in an impressive 14.55 handing over to Roddy Irvine in 20th position. Roddy just about held that position going round in 15.22 and handing over to Tom Watson in an overall 21st position. Tom ran a storming final leg in 14.28 (including a dramatic sprint finish to make up another place right on the finish line) making up eight places in all to finish in an overall 13th position  in a total time of 44.45 ahead of 30 Clubs from all over the UK. Team Manager for the day Alex Milne prepared the boys well with an inspirational team talk which took the breath away almost as much as the race itself.

The race was won by the only other Scottish Club represented in the race Giffnock North A team in a time of 42.00, a full 74 seconds ahead of the second placed team.

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NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY RELAY CHAMPIONSHIPS – 28 October

Central AC had to contend with pre-event billing of main contenders in the National Cross Country Relay Championships at Cumbernauld. Some thrilling racing saw the club take two silvers from the six titles on offer and taking the unlucky fourth places in two further events.

There were some high quality running in Central’s Mens team competing over 4 x 4000 metres, with pride of place falling to the ‘A’ team who provided arguably the best race of the day.  Scottish Under 17 Cross Country Champion Michael Gillespie stepped up to mark on the first leg, showing maturity beyond his years as he made light of the heavy conditions coming home second with the seventh fastest time on the day in 13min 39secs.  Under 20 Scottish Cross Country Champion Alasdair Hay picked up the challenge soon stretching out into the lead with a superb 13.32 run for the third fastest run of the day.  Third leg responsibilities fell to Stirling University student Kyle Cowie as the race became a two team affair between Central and Inverclyde Athletic Club as they left the rest of the cream of Scottish Club running in their wake. Kyle finished his leg in 14.21 just five seconds adrift of Inverclyde, holding off the challenge to the last kilometre. The 2005 Scottish Cross Country Champion Robert Russell looked assured as he quickly locked horns with Inverclyde’s Mark Pollard on the final lap with hardly a stride separating the pair over the first 3000 metres with each testing the other to the full in an epic contest.  It was within the final kilometre that Mark pushed the pace, making the decisive move as the course dipped towards the finish.  On this occasion, although continuing to push hard, Robert just couldn’t find an answer as the gap grew in front of him but still finishing in the fifth fastest time of the day (13.36) as Central bagged the Silver medals in 55.08 overall.

Central’s ‘B’ team were led of well through a resurgent run from Ross Houston who handed over in twelfth place with 14.13. Lewis Millar also showed excellent form as he continued the challenge with a 14.43 leg in thirteenth place.  Michael Wright kept the pace going with a 14.51 leg pulling back two places and it was left to Murray MacLarty to complete an excellent team performance with 14.54 for twelfth in an overall time of 58min 41secs.

Gavin Hogarth was charged with the responsibility of starting Central ‘C’ team’s challenge and Gavin looked good as he came through in 31st in 15minutes exactly. Phil Williams showed good form as he pulled his team up to 24th place in 15.09. Both Alan Hume and David Lindsay stuck well to their task as they recorded 15.53 and 16.01 to bring their team home in 27th overall in 62mins 3secs.

The ‘D’ team’s effort was started off by sprinter Ian McDonald who must have found this a marathon effort. Ian kept going well around the muddy course as he handed over to his older brother Jamie in 93rd place in 17.54. Jamie tried to relive some of his runs from former years and had the satisfaction of picking up 22 places as he completed his leg in 16.06. Martin Crawford continued to pick up places with his 16.42 effort to put Philip Sweeney away in 65th place.  Philip held onto 65th as he pushed on the final lap for 17.21 and an overall time of 68.03.

Central’s young looking ‘Masters’ team were led off with the typically determined run by Alex Milne in 15.40 in 54th place.  Stuart Watson kept the momentum going with 17.56 for 68th and with great back up from excellent runs from Gordon Adam (62nd in 16.28) and Liam McCabe (17.11) the team finished in 60th place in 77.15 and fourteenth veteran team.

Hugh Buchanan was the lead off runner for Central’s second veterans team finishing in a very useful 17.5 in 77th.  Robert Hutchison pushed the pace on the second leg for a fine 17.37 and it was Cameron Campbell (18.15) and John Millar (19.03) who brought the team through in 78th overall and exactly 72minutes for seventeenth Masters team.

It was great to see Central finish a seventh team through David Hay (19.23), Alan Gall (19.38), George McHardy (19.40) and Philip Hendry (19.46) for 91st team and twenty first veteran team in 78mins 27secs.

The senior women’s race also proved to be a nail-biting affair with five ladies teams from Central. The first leg was full of action as the form book was thrown away, with Hazel Dean spoiling the script by being the first Central runner home, though she was running for the Master’s Central team. Hazel came in with a time of 16.55 in third place. ‘B’ team lead runner Alison Docherty was next with an inspired run and 7th place in 17.05 in 7th place showing her further improving form. The pressure from her two team-mates probably contributed to Fiona Thompson, in the A team, running a bit out of steam on the heavy ground, even though posting a very respectable time of 17.17 with 10th place. Jennifer Emsley returned from France to take on the task of A team second leg and with her 17.16 brought the team up to changeover in 5th place. Claire Waterhouse also pushed on the pace in the B team with a further form improving race in 17.35 and 6th place. Andrina Buchanan had by now set the stall out for the Master’s team by consolidating second place in the masters team with a run of 19.02.

Ainsley Normand took on the A team third and anchor leg, tasked to claw back a deficit of almost a minute to the medal positions and closed inexorably on Giffnock North to be shoulder to shoulder at the final turn. Inevitably, Ainsley burnt out her sprint finish in the process, so that on the run-in to the finish Giffnock had the edge. Ainsley was pleased to finish with the 7th fastest time of the day in 16.39. Sarah Pickett was next Central runner home with a fine run of 17.26 to clinch a great 7th place overall result for the B team. Jane Waterhouse ran the anchor leg for the Masters with a 18.37 to clinch their silver medal placing behind local rival Falkirk against 19 other Masters teams.

The two other Central teams were Becky Wilson (55th place, 19.51), Elinor Coombs (54th place, 21.46) and Stephanie Auge (45th final place with 18.57) and an incomplete team of Mary Kerr (61st, 20.40) and Gillian Gilvear (52nd, 20.19).

The 12 young male athletes who represented Central in the 3 x 2500metre race all ran with distinction and Central’s ‘A’ team of Conor Kerr, Tom Watson and Sean Reilly proved to be one of the class trios on a day of high quality competition. It was Conor who started off Central’s challenge with a gritty and competitive run of 10.25 to hand over in seventh place after the Under 13 leg.  Tom Watson has been making headlines in the Under 13 category but here had to shoulder the responsibility of running the Under 15 relay leg. Undaunted Tom set to his task coming home with a very useful 10.09 clocking which saw the team through in eleventh place. With the first two teams of Kilbarchan and Giffnock North well away and fighting out for gold and silver positions the most Central’s young lads could hope for was bronze.  Sean Reilly used all his formidable strength and experience as he pulled back the deficit passing runner after runner as he scythed through the field to the fastest time of the day (8.49), but a heartbreaking one second short of a podium position as Central’s ‘A’ team finished in fourth in an overall 29min 33s.

The ‘B’ team was set off by Ross Milne who powered through in eleventh place with a classy run of 10min 37secs and it was Scott Green who kept the momentum going with another noted performance of 10.22 on the Under 15 leg to hand over in sixteenth. Picking up the challenge on the Under 17 leg, Scott McDonald was soon making progress through the field, coming home with a superb 8.55 clocking (the third fastest time of the day)and bringing the team through to ninth (29.54 overall). Central’s ‘C’ team were led off by Roddy Irvine who once again produced a fine performance of 10.45 for seventeenth overall. David Hutchison had an improved run on the Under 15 leg with 10.29 to bring his team through in nineteenth place.  Under 17 runner Alexander Hendry underlined his progression with an excellent run of 9.27 to bring his team home in 30min41 in sixteenth overall.

Central’s ‘D’ team was led off by a hallmark gritty run from Alexander Coubrough as he completed his leg in 10.48 in nineteenth place.  It was always going to be a big test for Under 13 Kelly Carruthers to take on the Under 15’s, however once again Kelly rose to the challenge with a 11.24 run, unfortunately seeing his team slip to forty second overall.  Jonathon Tolson was undeterred as he set about his last leg run, bringing the team through to thirty seventh with a fine 9.59 run for 32mins 11secs overall. With sixty eight teams completing the course it was great to see the four Central teams finishing in such high positions, once again underlining the Club’s strength in depth.

Central junior girls mustered two teams, after injuries at last week’s Livingston event, and other commitments, decimated the squad. Nevertheless, all six girls demonstrated individual progress . Sisters Kirsty and Shona Buchanan took on the under 13 leg, coming home in 26th place (12.20) and 51st place (12.58) respectively with Kirsty handing one the third Buchanan sister, Catriona, who ran with continued confidence to finish her leg in 20th place in 11.08. Beck Hay ran the other under 15 leg, again picking up on last week’s performance (43rd, 12.29). On the under 17 leg, Gemma Milne (11.59) ran strongly to bring her team home in 22nd place and under 15 Mairi Gillespie, stepping up to do the under 17 leg, brought the next Central team home in 36th place with 12.17.

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