The third and final fixture of the 2025-26 East League cross country series took place at Bathgate’s Balbardie Park on Saturday 17 January. The ground underfoot was mostly dry and in places quite hard from the recent persistent frost. The East League provides competition for categories from Under-11 up to Seniors and Masters, so there’s something for everyone. The League is a team competition in each category with overall League scores the aggregate of the three individual League fixture scores.
The first race of the day was the Under-11 Girls and Central were well represented by Annie Arnott finishing very well in second (6:45), supported by Ruth Thomas (24th, 7:58) , Noa Martinez-Molina (36th, 8:13) in her first cross-country race and Niamh Hastie (48th, 8:48). For the younger categories it is three runners to count for the team and the Central girls were sixth in the team rankings on the day. In the Under-11 Boys, Harris Robertson, Central’s sole competitor, finished a very strong fourth in 6:20.
For the Under-13, Under-15 and Under-17 age categories we had a sole representative in each. For the Under-13 Boys it was Hugh Thomas who showed great determination as he finished in 40th place in 12:43. Among the Under-15 Boys, Thomas Arnott worked strongly to come home in 34th place (18:38), and Under-17 Woman Katherine Mitchell demonstrated her strength of character to finish 50th in 21:13.
The Women’s was the first contest of the Senior races, and it was Central at the forefront again with Morag Millar leading the field home in 20:19, with Grace Whelan supporting well in second place in 21:31. Ellyn Smith completed her first season for Central in 20th (23:05) closely followed by Amy Gough (22nd, 23:45), with our final finisher being Liz Robertson in the middle of the field (69th, 27:17). The Senior Women’s team result is calculated on the first four finishers and while it was very close between Central and Edinburgh after the first three finishers, Amy finished well ahead of the fourth Edinburgh runner giving the Central team the victory on the day. Unfortunately the Central team hadn’t finished as consistently in the first two races and so the Senior Women had to settle for third overall in the League.
The final race of the day was the Senior and Masters Men, where Central held a clear lead after the first two League races. Central’s strength in this category was once again evident with 23 finishers with Jamie Crowe the flag-bearer leading the field of 223 finishers in 25:39, closely pursued by second placed Hamish Hickey in 25:59. The rest of Central’s six team counters were made up of Alastair Marshall (fifth, 27:25), Calum Phillip (seventh, 27:32), Iain Jordan (10th, 27:47) and new father Cameron Milne (12th, 28:16) and these were closely followed by Luca Fanotolli (13th, 28:22), recent arrival from Northern Ireland Mark Carberry (17th, 28:37) and Alex Dunlop (18th, 28:38). Ross Houston was the first of the club’s Masters finishers (26th, 29:14) and there was a group of younger club runners Euan Andrews (44th, 30:20), Josh Wood (46th, 30:29), Andrew Irvine (54th, 31:05), Jack Honeyman (66th, 31:42) and new recruit from Cardiff Findlay Smith (81st, 33:03) before the next two Masters finished in the persons of Donald Shaw (125th, 35:50) and Jens Subke (126th, 36:03). The rest of the Central finishers were Neil Ferrier (135th, 36:24), debutant Sean Morrison (159th, 38:07), Gordon Appelbe (167th, 38:26), David Eckersley (174th, 38:46), Hugh Buchanan (197th, 42:36) and Allan Gall (214th, 47:50). With excellent packing at the front and the strength in depth, Central’s Senior Men were clear winners in the team competition on the day which carried them to a comfortable Senior Men’s victory across the League.
The cross country season moves steadily to its climax at the National Championships in Callander Park, Falkirk on 21 February preceded by the club championships at Queen Victoria School, Dunblane on 14 February and for those over 40 the Masters Championships at Tollcross Park in Glasgow on 31 January.