East District League cross country

Saturday 31 October brought hundreds of runners to Kirkcaldy, the linoleum capital of the world, to polish off the floormidable challenge of the first fixture in the East District League cross country series for 2026-7. It was a warm and sunny afternoon and the undulating courses at Beveridge Park were carpeted in well-kept grass - the courses work up through the age groups with different combinations of a long loop of 2.6km and a short loop of 1.7km. In the league there are team prizes calculated from the fastest club finishers on the day and cumulated through the three league fixtures.

First up for the club was Caelan Bromley in the Under 12 Boys clocking 7:15 for the 1.7km. Soon afterwards, the Under 14 Girls took the line for their 2.6km challenge and Annie Arnott had a fantastic run to finish fourth in 10:32 with Zara Williams breathing down her neck in fifth recording the same time and Olivia Weir backing up with 14:24. The Under 14 Boys tackled the same 2.4km course and Harris Robertson was well up in 13th (10:15) and Hamish Gallagher ran well for 12:26. The Under 16 Boys tackled a longer 4.3km course and Brody Scanlon was our first athlete home in a gutsy 17:48, closely followed by Thomas Arnott in 18:03 and Finlay Gallagher in 18:51 who was in a blanket finish of three athletes. The Under 16 Girls and Under 18 Women ran together over the same 4.3km and Emily Watkin worked hard as one of the younger Under 18s to record 19:10. The Under 18 Men tackled two long loops totalling 5.2km and Hamish Gillies flew our flag with style to come 14th in 19:29.

The Senior and Junior Women took on the same 5.2km challenge and Morag Millar showed great style to finish second in a fine 19:43, with Grace Whelan working hard for seventh in 21:05, Natalie Stewart scoring 23:10 on her return to racing in Central colours and Megan MacDonald putting in a determined 23:53 to complete the closely packed 4 person team. A little further back was Laurie Douglas (26:19) just edging the honours from Liz Robertson who finished one place and one second later. Those results see the Central outfit in a solid third place in the team rankings.

The final race over 7.8km was for the Senior and Junior Men and 18 Central runners joined the field of some 220. Jamie Crowe trounced the opposition by leading from the gun to dominate the race and come home over a minute clear in 25:19. Behind Jamie, Iain Jordan had a tussle with a strong Edinburgh University runner before he prevailed to take a comfortable second in 26:28. Alastair Marshall was next home in seventh place in 27:20 and was closely followed by Alex Dunlop in 27:43 in eighth. The men’s team of six was completed in close order by Luca Fanottoli in eleventh (27:58) and Daniel Sutherland who was two places later in 28:20 setting up a clear lead in the team competition.

A few places later in 18th, Ross Houston was our first veteran home in 28:40 and had the much younger Euan Andrews chasing him down to record 28:42, Mark Carberry a little further back in 28:53 and Lewis McComb finishing well in 29:42. Gavin McCaffrey (31:04) had to work hard to keep ahead of Findlay Smith (31:11) and Andrew Irvine (31:21) before Gordon Appelbe added to our veteran tally in 36:26. David Eckersley was pleased with his 37:25 after a spell of injury troubles, leaving daylight between him and Tony Disley (38:22) who has also had an enforced absence, and our account was concluded by Hugh Buchanan (42:38) and Allan Gall in 46:30. Full results at https://www.salxcrr.uk/Archive/East%20District%20League/Template%20Files/Results/2020s/EDL%202026-7.html

Tinto hill race

The Tinto hill race took place on Saturday 31 October over its long-established out and back course between Thankerton and the top of probably the most prominent hill in the southern central belt. The course totals 6.7km with 500m of climb and a matching amount of descent. Sean Morrison chose this tough option over cross country racing and clocked a fine 44:08. Full results will be available on the Carnethy club website https://carnethy.com/

Auchterarder Chilli 10k

The Auchterarder Chilli 10k is a spicy 10km trail race with 250m of climb which heads southwards from the A9 on minor roads before dropping into the Cloan Glen to return to the start point. Central featured proudly in the results thanks to the exertions of Colin McCreadie who finished 14th in 44:43 and Nuala Bell who was pleased with her return from injury in 54:29. Full results at https://results.perfecttimingscotland.co.uk/results.aspx?CId=20065&RId=9140&EId=1

Junior club cross country, Airthrey Castle

The first stage of the winter junior club cross country series took place on a gloriously sunny Sunday 1 November at Airthrey Castle on the Stirling (University campus with Derek Easton at the helm. Derek led the 21 athletes through a thorough reconnaissance of the undulating course around the woodland surrounded by Airthrey Castle, the (University Loch and the rugby pitches, followed by a warm-up routine of stretches and running exercises all in preparation for the cross country itself.

Brody Scanlon (U16M) led the field home in 5:26 by a narrow margin from Harris Robertson (U14M) who recorded the same time. Finlay Gallagher (U16M) had the leaders in his sights as he clocked 5:35, and had Cas van der Zwet (U12M) hard on his heels in 5:44 with Hamish Gallagher (U14M) running strongly for 6:03. Finlay Kynaston (U14M) was next home in 6:11, closely followed by Richard Scruton (U12M) 6:12 and Gracie Short (U14F) taking the laurels among the girls in 6:17. The finishers continued thick and fast with Seth Stewart (U12M) achieving 6:22, just ahead of Tom Mackintosh (U12M) in 6:23, Annabel Black (U12F) with a strong 6:34, Robyn Golden (U12F) moving well for 6:43, Connor Simpson (U16M) recording 6:50 and Isla Mawer (U14F) showing great form in 6:56. Arlo Metcalfe (U09M) showed his strength in 7:48, Matilda Robertson (U09F) performed well in 7:56, Struan Torr (U09M) powered through to 8:10, Niamh Mackintosh (U09F) ran smoothly for 8:25, Eilidh Mawer (U09F) scored a fine 9:19 narrowly ahead of Ailsa Torr (U09F) in 9:23 and Norah Thompson (U18F) showed great determination with 11:49.

Congratulations to all the athletes, and thanks to all the volunteers for marshalling, time-keeping and registering. Apologies for any spelling mistakes in the athletes’ names – let us know. The next event is at 11am on Saturday 14 November at Dunblane High School – all welcome. Full details of the series are in this news story https://www.centralathletics.co.uk/2026/10/13/central-ac-winter-cross-country-series-2026-27/ .

 Antonine Trail race

The Antonine Trail race is a challenging 10k from Twechar which takes in the summit peaks of Antonine’s Wall – hilly, but fortunately for the participants Antonine chose a flatter route across Britain than Hadrian had done. The route heads east over Bar Hill and then heads for Croy Hill before returning past Bar Hill on a lower route. Ally Cunningham showed good form with 55:07 while Linda Cunningham ran strongly for 69:03. Full results at https://liveresults.kitst.co.uk/#antonine26.csv