The third race of Central Athletic Club’s 2021-22 Cross Country Series was held on Saturday 18 December in Laighhills, Dunblane in fairly misty and cold conditions and there was a heartening turnout of some 41 young runners who faced up to the approximate one lap challenge set by Derek Easton.

Here it was Under-15 Boy Fergus Young who showed great promise to win in an excellent 5 minutes 54 seconds. Scott Hill (6:06) came home a worthy second, followed home by another solid run from Alex Dunlop (6:14). There were further good runs in this age group from Jamie Connor (6:24) and Conall Paterson (6:40). Joel Gillan (6:02) had another strong run to win the Under-13 Boys age group and here he was followed home by Fraser Kingsley (6:53) and Noah McIntyre-Simm (7:44). Luca Shepherd (6:45) was well to the fore in the overall race and led in the Under-11 Boys with further useful efforts from Alfie Laing (7:29), Matthew Owen (7:38) and Austin Evans (9:12). The two Under-9 Boys finished close together with Zachary Walker (8:17) prevailing by two seconds over Jude McIntyre.

The Girls races saw further top performances with Under-17 Catriona Kane posting the fastest time of 6 minutes 4 seconds ahead of another good run from Scarlett Roy (6:16) while Millie O’Neill (6:36) edged out Rachel Warden (6:39) and Tara Mathewson (7:32) will have learned much from this experience. Niamh McKinley (6:06) caught the eye in heading the Under-15 Girls age group with Leah Brown (6:26) pushing through well. Tabitha MacKenzie (6:52) continues to pick up useful points in the Under-15 Girls age group and headed home Olivia Ashworth (7:20) and Eva Ragona (7:46). There was a good turnout of Under-13 Girls and here it was Fia Watkin (6:41) who prevailed from Ciara Middleton (6:58), Dara Clark (7:13) and Lilia Warden (7:25). Further good performances amongst the Under-13 Girls came from Anna Gunn (7:39), Orla Pieroway (7:49), Eliza Pont (7:53), Anna McKie (8:16), Norah Thompson (9:55) and Evelyn Craig (11:00). It was Eilidh Connor who led in the Under-11 race with a tasty 7:43 with Zoe Beaton (8:02), Emily Watkin (8:08) and Jessica Walker (8:15) finishing closely together. Further good efforts from Sadie Young (9:22) and Iona Clark (10:34) rounded out this age group. Special mention for Hannah Inman, the only Under-9 Girl, who came home in an excellent 7:24. Thanks are due to the volunteers who helped with warm-up, recording and marshalling to make this a successful event on a cold, misty morning.