Garscube Harriers

The first week of the year is always a slow news week isn’t it?😉📰

Our very own athlete and Vice President Jim Boyle is this week’s guest on the Press Play & Run podcast where he talks about his running journey, the “sliding doors moment” that gave him the confidence to join the club and squeezes in a plug for our Beginners and Improvers Group which starts next week. 🎙️🎧💙

He’s definitely their best guest of 2024 so far.😊

S3 E4 - OUT NOW

Join us for a conversation with , one of the true good guys of the Scottish running scene.

We touch on marathons, ultras, parkruns, finding your tribe and rediscovering your mojo before taking Jim through the quickfire round and getting his song choice for the Press Play & Run Playlist.

Please share, like, comment and review to spread the word and show our guest all the love he deserves.

This is a lovely update from Coach Tommy, and perfectly timed to highlight the value of the BIG sessions starting next week at Garscube. In his own words…

The long road back to running

“I have been running for the last 30 years, but I had a heart attack in May 2022. After a triple bypass surgery, I asked my physios if I could start running again. I told them about the BIG group (Beginners and improvers), a 10-week training programme that is suitable for both beginners and those looking to improve their running. They said go for it. So I emailed the coaches and told them it was OK with the physios to return to running. I had not been to the club for 6 months, and also I am 66 year old. To be honest I was a little scared, wondering if I was doing the right thing.”

“The coaches told me that I would be more than welcome, so on a cold and wet January night (12th January 2023 to be precise), I was about to leave to go to the club. My wife looked at me and asked “are you going to be all right?” I told her I would be with some very good people and not to worry. More than 40 people turned up. Lots of new faces and some not so new. A quick talk from the coaches about the big group and about safety in the groups running at night. Out we go into the dark across the Maryhill Road into the Kelvin estate. The session was 200m x 6 to 8 times, so very hard but the best time I have had in the last year.”

“The next 9 sessions flew by so quickly but I had a great time and got stronger and quicker. So much so that just 9 weeks later I found myself on the start line of a park run. My friend and fellow club member Stuart came along to support me. I did a 10 minute warm up. And yes I was scared, wondering if I could do 5k after just 10 weeks. But I walked and ran with the help of coaches Isobel and Maureen. Relief”

“Thoughts? Running really is a sport for all. If you are a beginner or coming back to running, this club and their BIG group is for you. The coaches and follows members will help you all the way. Nobody is too slow and you will never be left behind. And it is great fun. As for myself, I am running twice a week, back coaching the juniors, and playing walking football. I could not have done it without the love and support of so many people - my wife, daughter and grandson especially. The physios at Gartnavel hospital, the coaches and fellows members at Garscube harriers, Stuart, Paul, Dave and Robert. I thank you all. Tommy!”

As always it’s a quiet couple of weeks on the racing front but here’s the festive period roundup. 🎄🎅🦌

Sinead McLaughlin and Jim Boyle started the New Year with the popular Greenock double header, following up the NYD parkrun with the Lyle Mile uphill race. What a way to start the year. This year the event was held in memory of Greenock Glenpark Harriers athlete George McCallum raising funds for Ardgowan Hospice. Both managed to shave a few seconds off their 2023 times. Well done 🗻🥳

Across the water Shauna McMullan took part in the hilly Run the Glens 10k on New Year’s Day around Glenariff Forest Park in County Antrim with her family. Well done Shauna. 👏🏻💙

On 2 January Craig Brown, Alison Wood and Jim Boyle tackled the “moderately undulating” Beith Harriers New Years 10k. This year the event was held in memory of their former member and legendary former athlete and race photographer Kenny Phillips. Well done all of you. 👏🏻📸

Meanwhile on the parkrun front we had a selection box full of soggy Santas at Victoria Park on Christmas Day, a good turnout at Erskine on 30 December (one of few to beat the freeze) and a healthy scattering of New Year’s Day parkrun revellers at events including Springburn, Victoria Park, Aviemore, Troon, Pollok and Tollcross. Shoutouts to young athlete Connor, who backed up a second place at Victoria Park with a first place at Erskine, and Graeme Little who completed his 100th at Erskine.🧑‍🎄❄️🌳🌲👏🏻

Congratulations too to the many of our members who completed Marcothon by running every day in December 2023. What an achievement. Well done. And thanks again Debbie for leading the way. 🗓️🏃🏃🏼‍♀️☃️

Happy New Year everyone. We hope 2024 brings you everything you’re looking for.🥂🔔

📸 Pics via our athletes

🧊 Today was the last parkrun of 2023 and this time last year Victoria parkrun, Glasgow was the catalyst for Suki Lam and Kieran Daw to join our BIG training programme. In this edition of Inside the Cube we find out about their to get fitter and faster and how BIG helped them on that journey…

👉 Whose idea was it to sign up to BIG and what made you decide to do it?
Both of us wanted to sign up, as we had completed Couch to 5k and were doing regular parkruns at the time. We wanted to improve our parkrun times and our running form in general, but weren’t sure about joining a club so we thought BIG was a great way to see what a running club would be like. We also knew Garscube Harriers was a long standing club, so we knew we would be in good hands! 🌳⏱️🤗

👉 What did you enjoy most about it?
Suki - BIG really helped me to build confidence in my running journey and helped me improve my parkrun/5k time massively! Every time after a session I felt a sense of achievement and could really see myself improving. This gave me a lot of motivation to continue. This year I’ve completed many races with the club and ran my first half marathon. I would definitely not be where I am with running without the club and would recommend anyone of any ability to join! 💪🎽

Kieran - Having a consistent schedule which we can stick to is crucial. We both work a lot so it’s easy to find any excuse to miss a run if we attempt to do this on our own during the week. Dedicating just a few hours each week to the club sessions has kept us consistently going to most sessions over the last year, even on days we might not feel like it. 👌😇

👉 When did your running journey start and when did you get the run bug?
Our running journey started together only about 9 months prior to joining BIG. We were not active at all and wanted to be a healthier couple, so we thought running would be good exercise to do together. We did our first parkrun in March 2022 and we only managed by walking most of it. It was such a struggle, but it made us realise how much we wanted to learn how to run, so I guess that’s when the running bug started for us!! 🏃‍♀️🏃

👉Do you prefer running together or separately?
It depends on the run! For the club sessions we prefer to run separately to get the most out of the sessions. The club does two senior sessions every week, where we run in different groups according to our own speed/pace. However, during the weekends, we prefer to run together and explore new parts of Glasgow! 👀🗺️

👉 What advice would you give to anyone who’s nervous about giving BIG a go?
Just go for it and try to turn up for every session to make the most of it! It’s such a friendly and supportive environment and you will meet people alike very quickly. We enjoyed it so much that we are both back again to (help with) BIG 2024 so hopefully see some new and old faces this year. ✊🫶🙌

🫵 Do you want to set a running goal for 2024? Then why not try BIG like Suki & Kieran did.

ℹ️ See Comments for BIG details.

A Merry Christmas from all of us to all of you. A huge thanks to everyone who coaches, volunteers and helps keep this great 125 year old club thriving. Thank you so much for your hard work and support. A special thanks and good tidings to our friends at kit supplier Migo Sports too. 👏🏻🥳🎉

We hope Santa brings you lots of nice new running gear and we can’t wait to see you back at training in the New Year.🎽🩳👟⌚️🎅

We know that this time of year can be hard for many of you so if you’re looking for a friendly ear or some running company over the festive period then please do reach out.

🎅🦌☃️🎄❄️🎁

🧊 Our BIG training programme returns in the new year and what better time to get Inside the Cube with the masterminds behind it, Amy Cromarty & Paul Collins.

👉 When and why did you start the BIG training?
Paul: The club has done beginners groups for a number of years. I took over as Lead Coach in 2020. During lockdown a lot of folk took up running or started again, so Amy and I chatted about widening the Beginners sessions to include those runners who wanted to try club sessions. 💡🏃‍♀️🏃

👉 What can someone expect to get out of BIG training programme?
Amy: A brand new group of friends who won't get tired of talking about running. We also hope to not only build your fitness but build your confidence in your running ability. 🥰💬💪

👉 Favourite BIG achievement?
Paul: Seeing so many joining the club after BIG finishes. It’s what Amy and I hoped for… and it’s worked! (Amy gave the exact same response) 🧑‍🎓👩‍🎓➡️💙🤍

👉 What’s the best thing a BIG grad ever said to you?
Amy: "I'm really happy I came along" I know that can be the hardest bit. Turn up and we'll take it from there. 😁👌🤗

👉 What advice would you give to anyone who’s nervous about signing up?
Paul: Don’t be! We’re there to look after you. You’ll have fun and meet some lovely folk. 🫶🥳😍
Amy: Please just come along and give us a go. We'll never make you do something you don't want to do but you may well surprise yourself with how much you'll enjoy it. Almost everyone else coming along is in the same position. Turn up, find a buddy and before you know it you'll be chatting about the latest shade of high viz running jacket so you can spare your family & colleagues from more running chat. 🤩🦺🤭

🙏 If you want to join Amy and Paul in January then don’t delay, sign up today!

ℹ️ See pic for BIG details.

Midweek Roundup

It was a relatively quiet weekend for Garscube runners. Clan Smith were out in force in Malaga as Athole, his brother Michael and his sister Celine all ran the half marathon, cheered on by their Mum. A great family trip. 💙❤️

Elsewhere, the quickest male at a park run this weekend was Iain McFarlane (18:47), and the quickest female was Eilidh Fitzgibbon (20:09), both recorded at Victoria Park.

Coach Paul Collins has looked out his santa hat so Christmas has officially arrived at Garscube. A bunch of hardy elves ran the Christmas lights on Monday night in typically weegie weather. The sharp eyed might notice that they started and finished in a pub. Photos by John Bell. 🎅🏻🤶🏻🧑🏻‍🎄🏃🏼‍♀️🌧️☃️🎄💡

✊ Join us for our 🔟 week Beginners & Improvers Group in January. Coaches Amy and Paul have a plan that is suitable for both beginners and those looking to improve their running.

👉 Here’s the lowdown:
✅Follow a structured training programme in a friendly and supportive environment.
✅ Improve your running technique.
✅ See the benefits of running in a group.
✅ By the end Beginners will be able to run continuously for at least 30 minutes and Improvers run for longer.

🗓 10 week programme every Thursday at 6pm, starting on 11 January.

💷 £10 for 10 week programme.

🗺 Training will take place in Garscube Estate and surrounding area.

📧 To sign up or to find out a bit more then drop Coach Paul a message at [email protected]

🙏 Please share 🙏

⛄️ Running in a Winter Wonderland ⛄️

🏁 Closing out the 2023 XC races was Saturday’s Scottish Athletics West District XC Champs ❄️ In a snowy Strathaven it was a spectacular display of steel and team spirit that led our 4️⃣7️⃣ athletes to a successful day on the tough course 🥇🥈🥉

🤩 There were brilliant performances from our U13s, U15s and U20s but the first medals of the day came in the U17 Mens race 🏃 James was 🥇 overall and he led Rory & Daniel to🥈team. The U17 Women made the podium too and it was 🥉 for Sophie, Nina & Charlotte. Fantastic!

👉 Over in the Senior races Lesley Bell was 4th Women and 🥇 Master with Monica Blair hot on her heels in 5th. Great work ladies! Both our Masters teams struck gold too:
🥇 Women - Lesley, Gill Blee & Catriona Padmanabhan
🥇 Men - James MacLeod, Nick Gemmell & Grant MacDonald.

🙌 High-5s to them and to Catriona Tennant & Meg Currie-Moodie who made their XC debuts.

🥳 Congrats to the super 6️⃣ who made automatic selection for the Inter District XC in January: Erin (U15), Daniel (U15), James (U17), Rory (U17), Lesley (SEN) and Monica (SEN).

🤞We’ve got our fingers crossed that Jack Trainer (SEN), Sophie (U17), Nina (U17), Connor (U15) and Daniel (U17) will be selected too.

📊 Full results here:
https://data.opentrack.run/en-gb/x/2023/GBR/westxc/event/

💙 Big heartfelt THANK YOU to host East Kilbride AC and all the volunteers who made this such a great event.

📣 Last but not least a wee shout out to our student members Anya McLean, Beth Trainer, Fergus Currie, Finlay Ross-Davie and Mia Padmanabhan who were running for their universities in the East and West. Anya was🥈U20 🥇 team, Finlay 🥉 U20 🥇 team and Mia and Beth got 🥉team medals too. Bravo!

📸 Action shots by Bobby Gavin, Junior group shots by Catriona Padmanabhan, Womens Team by Graeme Taylor and Mens Team by Gill

Whilst those of us back home were enjoying our snowy runs a number of our athletes were in sunnier climes this weekend.☃️❄️🇪🇸✈️☀️🏖️

On Saturday we had a Gang of Four taking on different distances in Lanzarote. Coach Paul Collins took on his first road marathon in nearly 7 years and got round the hot, hilly and windy course in a very good 4:18. Well done Paul. Great effort. Fellow athlete Allan Wallace completed the half marathon whilst Kath Scott and Norman Baillie both took on the 10k, with Norman finishing as 🥇V70. Well done everyone.💙

Meanwhile on Sunday two of our athletes were in Valencia taking on the marathon there. Congratulations and well done to Emily Tomasso and Chloe McAdam who completed the marathon in fantastic times of 3:16 and 3:38 respectively. That’s a brilliant new PB for Emily shaving 32 seconds off her previous best. 👏🏻🕶️😎

Well done team and enjoy the recovery and celebrations. As they say: The pain in Spain earns drinks before the plane🍺🍷🥂✈️

Stay tuned for our bling-laden report from a rather chillier Strathaven. 🥇🥉🥈❄️⛸️

📸 Pics from our athletes

Just a short midweek race round-up this week. 📰

Glasgow Green was the place to be this weekend. 🌳🌲

Friday saw this month’s instalment of 3k on the Green. Congrats and well done to our two athletes Jordan Queen and Graeme Taylor who clocked 9:48 and 12:11 respectively. Brilliant running💨⏱️

Sunday then saw the annual Charity Mo Run, also in Glasgow Green. Well done to Cat Tennant who finished first woman🥇in the 10k race in a brilliant new PB of 41:54 whist Bex Currie-Moodie smashed her PB in the half marathon by an incredible 18 minutes finishing in 1:56:23. All that hard work and consistent training is paying off. 🥸👏🏻

Next weekend’s race reports will have a distinctly Spanish flavour with the Lanzarote and Valencia marathons on the roster.

Buena suerte y viaje seguro ✈️🇪🇸☀️

Great performances and attitude from all our juniors this weekend in Liverpool.

See John Bell’s full race report here https://www.facebook.com/groups/4697197731/permalink/10160418707622732/

Full Results here https://results.sporthive.com/events/7134117734387810560

Race videos here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrIsK-yQYok

Photos courtesy of Catriona Padmanabhan

☀️❄️ On a bright and baltic day on the Bonnie banks we said hello to the first long course of our XC season at the Dunbartonshire AAA Championships. Balloch Country Park is famed for its challenging route but for the Garscube gang the tougher the better… right? 💪

🏰 In a rather fitting setting of the castle grounds the XC Champ crowns were awarded to:
👑 James “Americano” Wilkes
👑 Monica Blair

🏆 Americano and Monica led Garscube to the team prizes too:
🏃 Americano, Crawford, Nick Gemmell, James MacLeod
🏃‍♀️Monica, Gill Blee, Holly Smith, Laura Gray

👏 There were also medals for:
🥇 U20 Crawford
🥇 U20 Lucy Donaldson
🥇 V50 Nick Gemmell
🥈 U13B Max
🥉 U11G Constance

🥳 Well done everyone that’s quite the haul! Congrats to all our runners - you’re looking in great shape for next week’s West District Champs 🙌

💙 Thanks to Isobel Martin, Stuart Irvine, Athole Smith and all the volunteers for making this event happen 🫶

👉 Full results here: https://www.dunbartonshireaaa.co.uk/xc/results-2023.php

👀 Stay tuned for more XC news from the British Athletics Cross Challenge in Liverpool.

📸 via Gill Blee

Our juniors are down in Liverpool this weekend for the British Athletics Cross Challenge. Ahead of the big event, our junior girls received all of the free kit so generously donated by Laura Muir.

Race report to follow. Live video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrIsK-yQYok

Thanks again to Scottish Athletics and Laura.

As well as the cross border Vengabus adventure to Carlisle, our athletes also popped up in Peebles, Kilmarnock and some of Glasgow’s parks at the weekend. 🚌💙

Congrats to David McKay on a brilliant run at the Tweed Valley 50k ultra through stunning and undulating forest trails featuring over 1,200m of ascent. David completed the course pretty much on the nose on 6 hours. Great running and well done on another ultra. 🌲🌳🗻

This was one event in a weekend of races hosted there by High Terrain Events that also included a 10k and half marathon trail race. Congrats to Nicky Parker whose prolific recent racing continued in the half marathon. Nicky finished 🥉V50. Well done. 👏🏻

On Sunday afternoon John Murray, Craig Brown and newly wed Amy McCallum took on the very muddy Acorn Trails 5k in Linn Park. Well done to all of you and huge congratulations Amy on your recent marriage. 👰👌🏻

Also on Sunday Mykola Kulakov completed the Up and Running Bellahouston 10k finishing 4th overall and taking 🥈V40. Great running. 👍

And last but not least congrats to young athlete Alexandra on a great run at the West District XC league at Kilmarnock flying the flag for Garscube as our sole representative. Brilliant effort.🎽🏃🏼‍♀️

📸 from Nicky Parker, Lesley Bell, Meryl Cooper and Blythe Lindsay

✨ The Brampton Miracle ✨

👉 Senior Coach Paul Collins took the gang for a trip across the border and we’re handing over to him to tell us all about it. Over to you Paul…

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 A trip down to the Brampton to Carlisle race has become a highly anticipated annual event for the club. It’s well known as the oldest 10 mile road race in the UK, with the first event taking place in 1952. Previous winners of the race include Steve Cram and Ron Hill.

🚌 This year the seats on the Vengabus (as we love to call it) were sold out within a few days. Leaving at 7am, 31 not so bright eyed athletes and our lovely supporter got on the bus to make the 2 hour journey to Brampton.

🤩 After the ritual of any pre race ie trying to find a loo and a warm up…a miracle happened. Every Garscube Harrier in a pre race photo! We all headed to start line and took on the undulating route on mostly country roads. It’s well marshalled by Border Harriers & Athletic Club who organise the race.

🥳 A cool day with just a bit of wind gave us decent running conditions. James “Americano” Wilkes was first Garscube Harrier with a cracking 🅿️🅱️ of 53:55. Emma Blair was first women home in 68:14.

👏 Norman Baillie was 🥇 V70 76:40 and Emma bagged 🥉 V40. Full results are here:
http://www.timingupnorthresults.co.uk/results.aspx?CId=16576&RId=9000&EId=1&dt=0&adv=1

🍺 As is tradition we headed to the local pub for a couple of hours to grab some food and isotonic recovery drinks. Proper athletes always recover well!

💙 We set off home, looking forward to next year’s trip. If you’ve not been before, it’s definitely one to put in the calendar.

📸 via Paul

This week we feature our youngest Inside the Cube star so far🧊💙

We’re delighted to shine a light on one of our student members, Anya MacLean, who in spite of her young years can consider herself a veteran of the club, as well as being a member of the new “Edinburgh branch” of Garscube Harriers under coach Alex Chalmers’ guidance alongside Finlay and Jack.🔦⭐️

It was great to see Anya back on the podium at Lanark earlier this month and her well-deserved Scottish Athletics Scotland call-up this week. I’m sure you’ll find her story and perspectives inspiring.🎽🏃🏼‍♀️🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

When did you join and what’s your earliest Garscube memory?

I joined at 9. Most of my early Garscube memories are at the iconic Maryhill track.🔁

What’s your favourite distance/discipline and why?

I love XC because it’s tough, exciting and a good challenge, although I also love a track 1500m.🎽

Of your many Garscube races and achievements is there one that sticks out above the rest?

I think the one that stands out would be the National XC in 2017 as it was my first national podium. I also love the course at Falkirk 😉👏🏻

You’re now a student member and also represent Edinburgh University Hares and Hounds. What are you studying and how’s it going? How do you manage to juggle your studies and training?

I am studying medicine. It’s full on and a lot of work but so interesting and I’m loving it. I try to stay on top of my work and not let it all stack up. But think it’s also important to look after yourself and make sure I have time to socialise and relax.🩺🩻🚑

Congrats on a brilliant run at Lanark. You finished 13th overall and first U20 and were part of the 2nd placed team. How did that feel?

I didn’t put any pressure on myself before the race. I just wanted to enjoy it but it felt so good to be back at the front end of a race! It’s been a tough few years with injuries etc so I am just so happy to be back and enjoying racing again.🥇🥈

You’ve been with the club over a decade. If you could go back and give 9 year old Anya some running or life advice what would it be?

I would say don’t be too hard on yourself or take racing/training too seriously. Train and race because you love it and the results will come! 💙

As you mentioned earlier you’ve had a few injuries in the past and had to show a lot of patience and resilience. Our head coach John Bell once said you have the heart of a lion. What advice would you give to young athletes facing similar injury struggles?

Stick in there and don’t give up!!! Let your body recover. Talk to people!! I found the more I talked about my injury and talked to others in similar situations it made me feel so much better and reminded me that I will recover from it. Use it as an opportunity to try new things. Find a new hobby. Keep yourself busy, stay connected to your friends and family and try to stay as positive as possible but also remind yourself it’s okay to have down days too.🦁💯♟️🎳

Do you have any big running ambitions for 2024?

I’m not sure yet! My biggest ambition is definitely just to enjoy training and racing again while staying injury free.🤞🏻📆🏃🏼‍♀️👟

🤩 Massive CONGRATS to Anya MacLean who has been selected to represent Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🎽 at the British Cross Challenge later this month 🏃‍♀️

👀 Find out the story behind Anya’s inspiring journey in tomorrow’s Inside the Cube 🧊💙

Picked for Scotland! Our selections for British Cross Challenge races - Scottish Athletics scottishathletics are delighted to select 24 athletes to represent Scotland at the British Cross Challenge event in Liverpool later this month. The Euro

A dozen of our hardy athletes took on two of the last remaining 10k races of 2023 at the weekend. In spite of icy underfoot conditions both days there were some cracking times and a few season’s bests. 💙🏃🏃🏼‍♀️🍁☀️❄️

On Saturday Laura Gray, Jim Boyle, Helen Collingwood and Lyndsay Kerrigan took part in the Newton Road Races 10k fundraiser for SAMH in memory of their former member Cat Gaskell. Pick of the bunch on the day was Laura who led the team home in 43:51 to take V40🥉Great running team.👏🏻

On Sunday Craig Brown, Amy Cromarty, Alan Dick, Stuart Irvine, Graeme Little, Tim Martin, Nicky Parker and Kath Scott took part in the Bellahouston Road Runners Jimmy Irvine 10k. First Garscuber home was Tim in a fabulous 36:07. Kath also took V60🥈Well done everyone. 👍

📸 from Jim Boyle, Amy Cromarty and the Bellahouston Road Runners FB pages

Magnificent 7️⃣

It was a wonderful day for Garscube Harriers at the British & Irish Masters Cross Country International at Tollcross Park on Saturday. The weather was scarcely believable for November, and the course was looking picture perfect thanks to the efforts of so many Garscube members out from 6am in the freezing darkness. Meanwhile the tunes were being provided by young Callum on the bagpipes at the top of the last hill. To the running, it really could not have gone any better on the day. Seven Garscube Harriers had been picked for Scotland, Ann White, Katie White, Mary Senior, Lesley Bell, Norman Baillie, John Coyle and James MacLeod. Cheered on by a huge club contingent on the day, the seven runners came home with nine medals in total - one individual gold, one individual bronze, two team golds, two team silvers, and three team bronzes. Ann White was the deserved winner of a very hard fought W70 category, Lesley Bell was third in the W45 category, while the M40 and M50 teams recorded rare team victories over tough English and Irish competition. All in all, it was a day to be very proud of Garscube Harriers, on and off the course. 💙💙

Full results are here: https://myrunresults.com/events/british_and_irish_masters_xc_international_2023__glasgow/4902/results

Race Report & Videos are also here: https://myrunresults.com/events/british_and_irish_masters_xc_international_2023__glasgow/4902/racereport

Lots of photos around the course, no doubt others will add more but here are a few that we have seen so far.

💙 Celebrating Success is at the heart of what we do and we’re turning our attention to our Junior section to recognise 3️⃣ athletes who have stood out amongst their peer group.

🤩 Congrats to Crawford who is our new Keeper of the Cube holder 🧊 He had a phenomenal outdoor track season, set 6 🅿️🅱️s and carried this form into last month’s Scottish Athletics National XC Relays!⚡️🏃Way to go Crawford 🙌

🎁 Recently Laura Muir donated a treasure trove of her excess kit to us 🫶 AND what better way to use it than as awards for those who have displayed the resolve & heart of the inspirational Olympic medalist 💪❤️ Lucy Donaldson and Nina have shown dedication to training & racing over the last few years and they were both presented with a pair of Nike trainers to acknowledge their hard work 👟 Great job girls and we’re sure that a little sprinkling of will be added to your steps ✨🏃‍♀️

🧢 Crawford also received a 🇬🇧 skip cap from Laura’s kit bag.

📸 by Alex Chalmers

SAF National Cross Country Short Course 4k Champs 💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿💙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

It was starters orders for 6️⃣7️⃣ Garscube thoroughbreds today, as the Short Course XC returned to its spiritual home in the ‘shire at Lanark race course 🐎. In a refreshing change of circumstances for Scottish cross country racing, there was no mud, no rain, no hills and precious little wind, making it ideal for the track speedsters rather than the mud stayers. ☀️😎

First up on the race card was the Girls U15 race, which saw the girls come home in 8th place, led by Erin in a very impressive 11th place, followed by Chloe, Isobel, Skye, Lucy, Anna and Jodi. The next race saw the U15 Boys do battle, with the boys coming home in 7th place, led by Connor in 12th place, followed by Daniel, Jamie, Theo, and Jackson. In the Women’s U17 race, the team also came home in 7th place, led by Sophie in 30th place, followed closely by Nina, Jennifer, Alice and Anna. In the Men’s U17 race, the team finished 6th, led by James in a very impressive 8th place, followed by Rory, Daniel, Fraser, Christopher and James. 23 juniors in total donned the vest for the club, a great turnout. 💎🎽

The Women’s Senior and Masters race was next up. Monica Blair continues to go from strength to strength with a mighty 17th place in the Senior race 💪🏻, followed closely by Frances Wardle and Holly Smith. Katie White just missed a medal in the V40 race, coming home in 5th place and within touching distance of the podium 🤏. Our very own social media star Gill Blee also showed a welcome return to form in 10th place. Mary Senior went one better than Katie, with an impressive 4th place in the V50 race. Kath Scott was 8th in the V60 race, and Ann White marked her return to form with a sparkling 1st place in the V70 race🥇. In another stunning return to form, Anya MacLean was also a gold medal winner in the U20 race representing Edinburgh University🥇. 20 Ladies in total toed the line for the club in the senior/masters race.

The last race of the day was the Men’s Senior and Masters race. The stand out performance here was none other than El Presidente himself 🫡, Dan Scroop romping home to silver in the V50 race🥈. Fastest Garscube man of the day was James Wilkes with 12:40 in 31st place, just losing out by one second to Jack Trainer in his Edinburgh University vest. 24 men toed the line for the club in the senior and masters race.

📸 from Gill Blee.

Official 🏁 results here http://results.perfecttimingscotland.co.uk/Results.aspx?CId=20065&RId=1092&EId=2