Scottish short course cross country championships
The cross country running circus travelled to Kirkcaldy for the second successive weekend, this time at Dunnikier on the north edge of town on Saturday 7 November. The short course provides fast and furious racing over high-speed courses of 2km for juniors up to 4km for seniors.
The first race was 2km for Under 16 Girls and Central AC was excellently represented by fine runs from Lila Robertson in 7:36, chased hard by Olivia Denholm in 8:19 with Summer Johnston a little further back in 8:44. When the focus turned to the Under 16 Boys over the same distance, it was Brody Scanlon who ran a very sharp 7:04 to carry the club’s name forward. Next up were the Under 18 Women racing over 3km and Ella Hunter stormed home in 11:14, hotly pursued by Emily Watkin in 11:27. The Under 18 Men tackled the same challenge and Finlay Sharp continued his recent form to clock a great 9:57.
When the Senior Women took the field the course lengthened to 4km and Morag Millar showed her enduring class to score 13:10 earning third place overall and first in the V40 class. Club supporters didn’t have long to wait before applauding Tuscany Wright home in 13:51, chased hard by Grace Whelan with 13:58 and Leah Brown completing in 14:25 to give fourth place overall in the four person team rankings. Kate Gallagher continued her promising return to competition with 14:40, Natalie Stewart, another welcome return to Central’s ranks, scored 15:32, tracked by Scarlett Roy with a strong 15:45. Central AC’s V40 duo followed and it was Liz Robertson in 17:14 who finished ahead of Laurie Douglas with 17:43, and the club’s account was completed in style by V50s Mel Bowie in 18:54 and Linda Cunningham in 21:17.
The final 4km race for Senior Men saw a pell-mell dash of some 450 starters head uphill from the gun and a mere 11:07 later Jamie Crowe charged home in second place, followed narrowly by Iain Jordan in 11:33, Alastair Marshall with 11:50 and a close tussle on 12:14 where Alex Dunlop edged out Josh Scott on the same time to complete the four man team and secure third place in the team competition. The club’s colours were soon thick in the finish funnel with Daniel Sutherland in 12:29, Mark Carberry clocking 12:30, Max Stevens in 12:37 edging ahead of Euan Andrews, Lewis McComb running strongly for 12:49 and Jamie Stevenson gaining 13:03. Connor Bell continued his steady return to fitness in 13:08, keeping ahead of Andrew Irvine (13:19) who had Gavin McCaffrey close behind in 13:32 and Findlay Smith just a little further back in 13:42. Kevin Amos brought his post-marathon legs to the field and achieved a courageous 14:51, ahead of David Eckersley in 15:57, just outside the V60 medals, and Alastair Cunningham in 17:51.
Full results at https://protay.co.uk/lindsays-short-course-xc-2026/index.php
Road roundup
Jill Scott tackled the Strathclyde Park 5k on Sunday 8 November and picked up second place in her age category with her time of 28:53. Full results at https://protay.co.uk/strathclyde-nov-2026/#1_2B18A7
Bellahouston Road Runners celebrate their club founder Jimmy Irvine at their annual 10k in Bellahouston Park, this year on Sunday 8 November. Despite the rigours of the previous day’s cross country the club had three runners there, all running close to their personal bests: Findlay Smith (35:59), Ally Cunningham (43:50) and Linda Cunningham (55:56). Full results https://results.perfecttimingscotland.co.uk/Results.aspx?CId=20065&RId=1300